Tips for Researching Your Family History

Uncovering details about your family is a rewarding experience; for several reasons.  The pure curiosity satisfied by accurate genealogy research is one thing, but assembling a snapshot of your lineage also provides information about genetics, health and illness trends within your family, as well as definitive answers about your nationality and ethnic heritage.

Fortunately, it's easier than ever for dedicated researchers to get started digging up family dirt.  The paper trail genealogists have relied on for decades still exists, but today's research landscape also includes online resources, which continue to expand in size and scope. Compiling information about your family's past is a multi-faceted pursuit, using whatever avenues are at your disposal.  Try these tips for tracing your family history.

Start With a Game Plan

Jumping in without a goal in mind can be fun, but you'll quickly exhaust research avenues without a master plan.  Are you interested in a single family member, attempting to flesh out his or her history, in great detail?  Or are you more inclined to fill lots of the branches of your family tree with summary sketches of many relatives?

Answering a few questions up-front sets you on the best path for success, as you leave the gate on a defined mission.  Genealogy, in its simplest sense, is data collection, so set yourself up to efficiently compile information as it comes in.  Start with a family tree; either pre-printed or of your own crafting.  It can be accomplished digitally, online, but starting with a paper copy gives you a working document to expand-on and share with other family members as you fill branches.

Whenever possible, standardize your recordkeeping, so it's easy to compare entries as you accumulate them.  A personal profile sheet, for example, lets you plug information about each ancestor into a uniform format, adding consistency to the flow of information.  Do the same thing for online research, creating organized databases for your research.

The Three C's

As you begin to uncover family data, use the three C's to fill-in vital information about your ancestors.  Churches, Cemeteries, and Census records provide longstanding resources to draw from, on your quest for family history. 

Churches, for example, stood as the centers of many burgeoning communities in the past, acting as meeting places for those sharing religious beliefs; but also as civic centers, where citizens gathered to address all kinds of issues.  Schools were often extensions of churches too, creating scholastic paper trails helpful during genealogy research.  Also connected to local settlements, sometimes near churches; cemeteries contain lasting references to your family history.  Etched in grave markers and headstones, researchers find dates to corroborate research, and even uncover unknown relatives in family plots.

Census records provide snapshots of family life; outlining vocations, numbers of individuals living under the same roof, as well as skills of those polled - like the ability to read.  Tracing movement of family members is facilitated by census data too, showing where ancestors lived at various points in history.  For the most accurate information, use Federal Census records, supplemented by state census polls compiled in-between federal census years.

While each researcher's approach to family history is unique, starting with a well-organized game plan, and solid resources are two tips for genealogy success.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Sarah Brooks from Freepeoplesearch.org. She is a Houston based freelance writer and blogger. Questions and comments can be sent to brooks.sarah23 @ gmail.com