I have been working on my family genealogy on and off for over 45 years and loved every minute of it! As a result, I have even garnered the reputation as a go-to person in my family when anyone has family history questions. And this blog, Selected Stories of My Ancestors, was built around my desire to share some of what I have learned with both family and friends.
I feel that I have run to the end of the family stories that I have discovered with my genealogy research over the years, so I am nearing the end of posting regularly to this blog. I plan to conclude with a couple of general genealogy posts and then end my regular blog posting sometime next month.
About ten years ago, in response to frequent questions about how I stay organized and keep track of all of the bits & pieces of our family history, I wrote My Genealogy Best Practices. With some updating and editing, I will now share it with you.
1) The internet and the computer have radically changed genealogy research for the better during my lifetime and have made it sooooo much easier to do research by giving us alternatives to having to travel long distances for many things. However, all genealogists need to remember that there is “good stuff” on the internet and “garbage” on the internet, and it should be a priority to question and doubt everything that is found and verify it with documentation.
The internet has really simplified our ability to find birth certificates, death certificates, obituaries, wills, probate papers, newspaper stories, passenger lists, censuses, family letters, bible records, diaries, gravesites, and the list goes on. Also, understand that even original documents can give you differing facts, but at least then you know the “possibilities”. For example, I have an emigrant ancestor, Thomas Patrick King, and original documentation not only shows different versions of his name, differing records (include his children’s death certificates, various censuses and even his own Civil War military records) also show different places for his birth to include Ireland, Australia, and the West Indies depending on which record you look at – we will probably never know which is right, but that’s OK, and the options provide hints for further research.
2) Organize yourself! Whether you want to use paper files and folders in a filing cabinet, three-ring binders, directories and folders on your computer or genealogy software – get organized so that you can find things when you need them, and look cohesively at family groups when working on your files.
I use: 1) paper in folders in a filing cabinet, AND 2) directories and folders on my computer, AND 3) a computer software program on my home computer. I organize both my paper file folders and my computer file folders first by family name, i.e. Smith, Jones, Hughes, etc. and then next by the names of my direct ancestor couples, i.e. Thomas King b.1835 & Margaret Smith b.1838, etc. Keep copies of all original documentation either in your paper file or computer digital file. And definitely keep a current backup copy of those computer files!
3) Use a chart, a genealogy form, or a computer program to organize the basic information about your families. A visual representation makes things much easier for me. In the late 1970’s, I originally used a free DOS Personal Ancestral File (PAF) from the LDS Church, however now I use Family Tree Maker (FTM) software on my computer. And there are plenty of other computer software programs to choose from today. It doesn’t matter what system or software that you use, but use something to help you stay organized so that you can quickly see what you have AND what you don’t have.
Ancestry.com or a similar online tree should never be the only system that you use – it doesn’t belong to you. To maintain access, you would have to subscribe to the provider (i.e. Ancestry, or others, etc.) FOREVER, and you can’t pass it down to your children!!! Don’t get me wrong, online trees are a wonderful research TOOL. Ancestry is a great tool and you should definitely use it and build your basic family tree online. You will need to decide if you want your tree to be “private” or “public”. I prefer “private” but there are valid reasons for both – and it is worth thinking about. If you want to discuss those reasons with me, please feel free to contact me.
Do NOT merge another tree into your own online tree. When you find another Ancestry tree that seems to have branches of your family, and IF it seems correct AND well documented then use it to explore further – but DON’T merge it into your tree. You would be adding all of the inaccuracies in that tree to your tree, and will end up with a lot of people that are not very directly related to you as well. It can totally mess up your own tree that you have worked so hard to build! Simply use the new information found to further your own research, and then you can manually add new relevant individuals, details, documents and sources to your own tree program. If an Ancestry tree is “private”, you can still email the tree owner and ask questions or exchange information.
4) Record the “source” for every document that you keep. It might be as simple as putting a statement on the bottom of a letter that says “written by Ellen O’Conner Smith in 1971” or as formal as a bibliography citation for a book source, but put as much detail as possible into it. If possible, don’t simply cite a web address as your source because over time that web address could easily change or disappear. If you get a document image online from Ancestry or Family Search, use the full “Original Source” information that they provide in their detail – simply copy & paste it to your notes if you like, and then you can add the webpage address to allow you to easily return to that website in the future, as well.
5) Use ALL of the resources that are available to you. Call, write or email parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles and cousins – they all probably have different pieces to the puzzle. Also find out the people in your family that also have an interest in your family history – you can become a team. You might be surprised with the family stories and photos that will come your way. Learn to use both Ancestry and Family Search, both are great online resources.
Search newspapers online or in libraries. And learn how to order or find copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, and order or download files from the National Archives.
Don’t be shy about writing, emailing or calling others for assistance. I have called cemetery offices and out of state librarians looking for records and help, and also contacted local historical societies and town clerks. Often they are more than willing to either assist you or refer you to other resources. A few will ask for a small copy or research fee or donation, but I always felt it was well worth it to get the assistance.
Call or write letters to cemeteries and see who else might be in the old family plots; or contact churches whose old records aren’t online – they typically won’t “research” anything for you, but if you have specific dates, they will often look something up. I had one sweet church receptionist in New York that looked up an old 1853 marriage in a parish record book. She said that the register book was too fragile to fully open and put on the copier machine, but she was more than happy to take a photo of the page with her phone and text it to me!
Check, check and double check! You should always base your conclusions on ALL sources available to you. Census records often contain errors. And surprisingly, death certificates have often been found to have errors when listing the date or place of birth and/or the parents of the deceased because that information is always provided by a third party after the death. In the case of the death of an elderly person, the individual providing the information for the death certificate is often a couple of generations younger than the deceased. And during the time of grief and anxiety surrounding a sudden death, providing answers to those questions can easily result in errors.
Last, but not least, learn to use your local library, and also their ability to access even more materials for you through the interlibrary loan system. Our library in Midland has an excellent genealogical department that I believe is one of the finest in the state. I don’t have any ancestors from Texas, but this library has helped me find resources on my family from all over the United States.
6) Practice genealogical courtesy. Don’t assume that if someone in your family or even a fellow genealogist gives you a copy of a document or photo that you should put it online for everyone to see and copy without asking first. It could be copyrighted; it could be a very personal family memory; or it might have taken years of research and/or expense to find and your source just may not want all their hard work passed out to everyone in mass. By respecting the wishes of the person giving you documents or photos, you can hope that they will let you know in the future when they find something else that may be of interest to you.
7) Enjoy your quest! You will learn fascinating family stories and vignettes that will amaze you, make you laugh, and make you cry. There are plenty of wonderful family stories around – and some of them are yours. You’ll also connect with interesting people along the way that you might never have otherwise met. Genealogy is a hobby that can hold your interest and last a lifetime – and it is addictive!
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Notes:
I remind you that ancestry research is ever changing as new documents may become available in the future that could add to your knowledge and break down your brick walls. Also, be prepared for new information that could disprove things that you thought were correct – be flexible when that happens.
And as a final comment, it is quite possible that something I have written in any of my blog posts will prove to be incorrect. In that case, I apologize and remind you that my work is only as good as the material that I found available at the time.
– Jane Scribner McCrary
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