Family History/Genealogy  Tags: genealogy family_history  

Basic charts and forms to help organize and conduct your research.

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• Start with yourself. Print off a copy of the ancestry chart on the left and write down your name and everything you know about yourself–date and place of birth, parents and everything you know about them. Talk to your parents, grandparents or other family members who can fill in blanks in the information you are compiling. Don't concentrate only on direct ancestors. Knowing siblings can help verify and prove relationships.
• Document your sources. That way if you have questions later, you know where the information came from.
• Organize your research notes. Use the ancestor charts and family group sheets found in the Research Tools Box to the left.
• Know and understand the records you are researching. For example the US census is a picture of a family at a specific place and time. It was compiled every ten years beginning in 1790. But the majority of the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire in the early 1900s.
• Don't rely on the research of others. Especially if this research doesn't cite sources.
• Understand the history of the area you are researching. You won't find a birth certificate for someone born at Fort Boonesboro in 1776. 1852 was the first year that birth records were kept in Kentucky. Books like Kentucky Ancestry by Roseann Hogan are good resources for this type of information.
• Don't focus on just names, dates and places. Learn about the people you're researching and make them come to life.

Census

The US Federal Census has been taken every ten years from 1790 to the present. The amount and type of information changes each census. For details on what is available on each census check this website. Keep in mind that the census is a snapshot of a person or household at a specific point in time. US census records hane a 72 year delay, so the latest available year is 1930. All US census records can be found at ancestry.com.

Vital Records

These records consist of birth, marriage, divorce and death records. They can be found on a local or state level depending on the state and time period. Early records are very sketchy and many of the earliest records are found in township or church records. Most states have recorded marriages much earlier than other vital records. In Kentucky divorce records before 1850 were required to be approved by the state legislature and can be found in the Kentucky Acts of Legislature, but there is usually also a legal suit on the county level.

Local Records

Many local records are useful for determining family relationships. Examples of these are tax lists, deeds, law suits, guardianships, wills and other estate records.

Military Records

Service in the military generates volumes of materials that in pre-photocopy days could include original correspondence, marriage records and even pages from family Bibles. Service records were generated from the time served in the military and could include medical conditions and physical descriptions. Pension records are excellent sources of family information as well as bounty land records which were generated when a soldier claimed the land he received for military service.

Church Records

Church records can be excellent sources of early birth and death information as well as adding interesting information to your family story. You can find out which members of your family were dancing and 'running off' to join other denominations. Even if your family isn't mentioned, they can be very interesting to read, giving you excellent insight into what was important in different eras.

Other Records

Many other records can also be used to add to your family history. Family Bibles records vital information at a time that other records may not be available. Family letters or even letters from other families in the area, funeral home records, newspapers, family files at local libraries and cemetery records and tombstones can all add additional information to your research.

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