Genealogy Tips

Genealogy Tips 

#1 - Create a family tree using an online service such as Ancestry.com ($$), FamilySearch.org (free), or purchase a family tree software program ($$)

#2 - Verify information you find on other family trees by finding your own sources as definitive proof. Many errors can be found in family lines. Always search for multiple records that verify your family line.

#3 - Research each ancestor thoroughly and create as detailed a record of each person’s life. Include photos, their religion, names of churches they were baptized and married in, god-parents, cemetery they’re buried in, photos of headstones, occupation, military service, land holdings, newspaper clippings, history books they’re mentioned in, etc.

#4 - Important records that establish connections between families:

Birth, Baptismal, Marriage, Death, Census, Social Security & Military

#5 - Census records contain a ton of information. You can track a family’s location and family members every 10 years. Other information: Education, Occupation, Religion, Country of Origin, Parent’s names, relatives living nearby, if they rent or own a home and can read or write. Include all family members listed on the Census in your family tree. This will help to ensure that you’ve found the right Census record for your family, especially if they have relocated to another state.

#6 - Women and men often were married multiple times. The widow/widower often remarried within a year. Men remarried when women died in childbirth. It’s important to verify a spouse’s date of death, and compare that to your ancestor’s date of birth to verify the correct paternal and maternal line.

#7 - Tracing your ancestors back to Europe is not easy. You need some definitive piece of information to pinpoint your ancestral home.  Birth and death records contain the names of the decedants parents, as well as their country of origin. Some records may only list the country. If so, search the lines of your ancestor’s siblings for a birth or death record that gives the town/location and country.

#8 - Use DNA testing to help with your research. If you can’t find a record that lists both the father and mother as your ancestor’s parents, DNA testing provides a list of DNA matches. This list will help you search for shared ancestors and matches with the same family surnames. You will need a subscription to Ancestry.com to take advantage of this perk.

#9 - Use Google.com to search for records not available on Ancestry.com.

·        Get creative and search for a surname along with country or state and a date (ex: ‘Pierre Tanguay in Quebec in 1750’s’ or ‘Pierre Tanguay’s descendants’ or ‘Ancestors of Pierre Tanguay’ or ‘Pierre Tanguay and Marie Poulliot in Quebec’). Search for an ancestor’s obituary. Many records can be found on other Internet sources.

·        Research the history of the area where your ancestor emigrated from or immigrated to. Example: ‘History of Normandy, France in the 1750’s’ or ‘Why did people from Normandy immigrate to Quebec, Canada in the 1750’s’. This research will begin to paint a picture of why your ancestors left their homeland, and why they chose to immigrate to the U.S. or Canada.

·        Search for the names of churches in your ancestor’s town. Then search for baptismal, marriage and death records for those churches.

·        Locate maps of the area they emigrated from, as well the area they immigrated to. This will help you see where their homelands were located in their country of origin, and their new country of choice, too.

·        Using the ‘images’ feature on Google you can look at your ancestor’s hometown in the time period that your ancestor lived there.  Simply do a search such as, ‘Ploudiry, France in the 1750’s’ or ‘Quebec, Canada in the 1750’s’.

·        Search ‘Google Books’ for your ancestor’s town history, and perhaps a mention of your  ancestor.

·        Utilize ‘Google Translate’ if you need to translate a foreign documents.

#10 - Enhance your skills by watching genealogy how-to videos on YouTube.com.