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25 + Tips On Doing Your Family Tree

Research

This is a guideline on researching family information on your familytree. Your family genealogy starts with you, expands back through yourmothers & fathers parents. Family genealogy research can be fun, it is s adetective story of how you came to be where you are today. Family historycan be a combination of words, photos, stories, articles, artifacts thatpertain to your own family.

The following are 25 + tips will assist you in doing your familyhistory and genealogy.

1-- Start with yourself, writing your auto biography in picture and word.

2-- Be fairly detailed, record the family information on yourself relating towhat questions you would like answered about one of your ancestors 100years ago using this list of questions as a template for your research.

3--Start with two 3 ring binders with dividers one for your mother's side andone for your father's side or if using a computer a family tree program touse in a similar way.

4-- Repeat tip 2 on both your fathers and mothers side as well as forbrothers sisters,

5-- Do likewise for your aunts & uncles and grand parents

6-- Collect documentation on deaths, marriages, births/baptisms, vitalstatistics, the locality where birth, marriage or death took place, areanewspapers for obituaries - death notices, marriage, birth announcements.

7-- Record your sources for all information you collect, name of person,date, location, newspaper name, cemetery name, vital statistic source.

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8-- Always record full dates -- Month Day Year, always record full name ofperson and maiden name of women when available

9-- List the full names, dates of birth, marriage, deaths, location of wherethey lived for your 1st, 2nd & 3rd cousins. Where applicable. Repeat tip 2for researching that information

10-- Repeat tip 9 for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins of your father and yourmother.

11-- Record Religious affiliation of each person

12-- Do an audio and video interview of these relatives where possible

13-- If the family has moved over time map that journey

14-- Where, for who, did these people work, what was their career

15-- Where did each person go to school, high school college, university.What did they study, what degrees did they obtain.

16-- Are any of your family listed in a book, like Who's Who, etc, if so recordsource title, etc.

17-- Chances are strong that you will run into glitches, discrepancies andmistaken information. Record all of it until you can better determine thecorrect informational process.

18-- It is better to have duplicate information in your files than to leavesomething out

19-- Remember that christian names have variations, multiples in somecases.EX: Helen, Ellen, Nelly

Catherine, Cathy, Katy, Katie. KittyElizabeth, Eliza, Betsy, Betty

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20-- If working on a computer always schedule a regular back up for yourdocumentation. Likewise for paper work as well.

21-- Collect family stories, letters, photos, books which include familyreferences

22-- Label accurately all photos with names, dates, location

23-- Talk to grandparents, aunts & uncles for their stories on the familyhistory & record information received.

24-- Keep asking the questions Why, How, When, What, Who & Where toget a more accurate outline of your family history

25-- Where there might be a block in researching one line, doing researchon another common line, such as your 3rd or 4th cousin, could overcomethat initial block. You and your 4th cousin have a similar, common familyconnection or ancestor. This action might assist you in filling in the gapsyou are working to solve.

26-- Deal with each previous generation in your family within the timeperiod in which they lived.

27-- Today's standard is only viable for today.My name is Alex W Fraser brought up on a farm just outside of Lancaster,Ontario. In September 1971 I was inspired to do my Fraser & MacDonaldfamily history. Both my mother & father were of UEL stock. This familyhistory interest absorbed me. It deals mostly with the MACS which can bedeep, confusing as well as rewarding. I have been doing family genealogy,publishing on Glengarry County & area ever since, in which time period wehave published over 24,000 pages of material on that area including family

histories, Gravestone of Glengarry inscriptions, Gravestones of PrescottCounty, church records- St Finnan's Alexandria, St Andrew's Williamstownetc. more info on this journey go to http://glengarrycounty.com/awfrrbks.htmlAuthor*Alex W FraserCourtenay, BCInfo @ glengarrycounty.com 866 517 2113 9/27/12

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