How to Trace Your Family Tree
Make a pedigree chart with all the information you know., Interview family members., Search through family photos, clippings, and documents., Keep things organized.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Make a pedigree chart with all the information you know.
A pedigree chart provides vital information (full name, birth/death dates, birth/death places, marriage date(s)), beginning with you and branching out to your parents, your parents’ parents, and so on.
Siblings, step-parents, etc., are typically excluded.In the traditional pedigree chart format, your name is written on a line centered on the left edge of a sheet of paper, with your vital information below the line.
This line then splits and branches off into two lines, one for each of your parents.
These lines then split, making four lines for each of your grandparents, and so on.
Multiple sheets are added as needed.
You can find pre-made, printable sheets to make this process easier.
Search for a "printable pedigree chart" online.
There are also templates available that let you type in the information and save or print out a chart.
Fill in all the information you can gather as you go.
If you need to skip a line or some details, keep going and try to fill in the missing information later. -
Step 2: Interview family members.
Gather as much information as possible firsthand before digging into your research.
Ask the oldest family members available to you to discuss their ancestry.
You’re bound to discover some new and interesting things about your heritage.
Don’t take everything said to you as flawlessly accurate, however.You may expect a little fuzziness of recollection in an older person, but also remember that human memory is not a data recorder.
People can forget facts
-- such as a painful family secret, like illegitimate parentage
-- for so long that they become their truth.
Trust but verify.
Consider recording your interviews.
Not only will this aid in your research, it may offer you a nice family memento when that older family member is no longer with you., Now is the time to start browsing through those boxes in your grandmother’s attic.
You probably won’t be lucky enough to find an existing family tree or history, but browsing through photo albums, diaries, scrapbooks, etc., should produce some valuable genealogical information.
Look on the backs of photos.
People often write names and dates that could prove useful.
If you have names but are short on birth/death dates and other similar information, newspaper clippings and the sort can prove useful in setting up chronologies.
Being able to establish when your great-grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary can give you a better idea on date ranges for other life events. , Collecting family information is more enjoyable than organizing it, but without the latter the former will be less useful as you construct your family tree.
Make photocopies or scans of pictures and documents.
You may want to use them as part of your family tree, and they will be more handy this way regardless.
Enter information into a database as you gather it.
Find a format that works best for you.
If you’d prefer to keep the computer out of things at this point, index cards still work just fine.
Make a new card for each person you uncover; place name, birth/death dates, and relationship to you on the blank side, and notes and information on the lined side of the card.
You can lay the cards out on the table or floor to make a large pedigree chart as you work. -
Step 3: Search through family photos
-
Step 4: clippings
-
Step 5: and documents.
-
Step 6: Keep things organized.
Detailed Guide
A pedigree chart provides vital information (full name, birth/death dates, birth/death places, marriage date(s)), beginning with you and branching out to your parents, your parents’ parents, and so on.
Siblings, step-parents, etc., are typically excluded.In the traditional pedigree chart format, your name is written on a line centered on the left edge of a sheet of paper, with your vital information below the line.
This line then splits and branches off into two lines, one for each of your parents.
These lines then split, making four lines for each of your grandparents, and so on.
Multiple sheets are added as needed.
You can find pre-made, printable sheets to make this process easier.
Search for a "printable pedigree chart" online.
There are also templates available that let you type in the information and save or print out a chart.
Fill in all the information you can gather as you go.
If you need to skip a line or some details, keep going and try to fill in the missing information later.
Gather as much information as possible firsthand before digging into your research.
Ask the oldest family members available to you to discuss their ancestry.
You’re bound to discover some new and interesting things about your heritage.
Don’t take everything said to you as flawlessly accurate, however.You may expect a little fuzziness of recollection in an older person, but also remember that human memory is not a data recorder.
People can forget facts
-- such as a painful family secret, like illegitimate parentage
-- for so long that they become their truth.
Trust but verify.
Consider recording your interviews.
Not only will this aid in your research, it may offer you a nice family memento when that older family member is no longer with you., Now is the time to start browsing through those boxes in your grandmother’s attic.
You probably won’t be lucky enough to find an existing family tree or history, but browsing through photo albums, diaries, scrapbooks, etc., should produce some valuable genealogical information.
Look on the backs of photos.
People often write names and dates that could prove useful.
If you have names but are short on birth/death dates and other similar information, newspaper clippings and the sort can prove useful in setting up chronologies.
Being able to establish when your great-grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary can give you a better idea on date ranges for other life events. , Collecting family information is more enjoyable than organizing it, but without the latter the former will be less useful as you construct your family tree.
Make photocopies or scans of pictures and documents.
You may want to use them as part of your family tree, and they will be more handy this way regardless.
Enter information into a database as you gather it.
Find a format that works best for you.
If you’d prefer to keep the computer out of things at this point, index cards still work just fine.
Make a new card for each person you uncover; place name, birth/death dates, and relationship to you on the blank side, and notes and information on the lined side of the card.
You can lay the cards out on the table or floor to make a large pedigree chart as you work.
About the Author
Charles Mitchell
Creates helpful guides on lifestyle to inspire and educate readers.
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