How I Developed an Interest in Genealogy
Hi, I’m Amber. I first became interested in genealogy the summer after my freshman year of college. I was searching my parents’ room for a brooch when I came across a miniature portrait of a woman. I found the name Rebecca Blodget engraved on the back of the portrait. I was curious about this woman so I entered her name into Google and one of the first results that came up for her was a letter she wrote to James Madison. After seeing that letter, I began wondering what this woman's life had been like. I wanted to learn more about her and about my other ancestors, so I spent the next couple of weeks tearing apart the house, looking for all of the information I could find about my family's history.
In case you're interested, here is a brief video detailing how I became interested in genealogy and highlighting some of the more interesting pieces of my family history. I originally made the video because I was planning on entering it into a contest for ancestry.com (I ended up not entering it because it was too long for the entrance requirement and I didn't want to shorten it), so you will hear a number of plugs for ancestry in the latter half of the video. However, all in all it's a neat little video and it's worth watching if you're curious about my family history and my methods for conducting genealogical research.
Getting Started
If you are interested in genealogy but have no idea where to start, here are some tips to help you begin researching.
Outline Your Family Tree
The purpose of creating a family tree is to gauge how much you already know about your ancestors. Once you have your known genealogical information organized in a family tree, it will make it much easier to keep track of what information you have and what information you need. Go online and locate a free printable family tree template, such as this one. Alternately, you could create a family tree online. MyHeritage family tree builder is a family tree software program that can be downloaded and used for free, though there is also a subscription version of the software.
Start your family tree by filling your information in the first box. After you have finished filling out your information, fill in information for your parents in boxes 2 and 3 and grandparents in boxes 4 through 7. It’s fine if you don’t know, say, your grandparents’ wedding date or some other piece of information. Just write in the information that you do know. If you know the names of your great grandparents, write their names on the designated lines, then print another copy of the chart for each great grandparent and make each great grandparent person 1 on the corresponding chart.
The names of your great-great grandparents should go in boxes 2 and 3. Continue filling out the charts until you have listed all of the information you know about your ancestors. When you are done, you should end up with charts that look something like this (click to enlarge):
Family tree chart for myself
Family tree chart for my great grandmother (person 8 in the chart I made for myself)
Once you have compiled all of your known genealogical information, it's time to begin looking for new information. A good place to start is:
Family Letters, Documents, and Photos
The best place to begin your search is in your own home. Even if you do not have in your posession any family letters, other documents, or photos, there may be someone else in your family who does have these items. Ask around to see if any of your relatives are willing to let you borrow family records or are willing to make copies of these records for you. If you do not have any access whatsoever to any family documents, there are plenty of other sources of information you can start from, as will be discussed in subsequent blog posts.
Letters
Family letters can provide a wealth of information about your ancestors, including names, important dates, and places where they lived. For example, in this postcard my grandfather sent to his mother during World War II, I can see when and where my grandfather sent the postcard from, thus telling me where he was located on this given date. I can also see where his mother was living and I learn his mother's second husband's name from the Mrs. E. J. Moore (since her first name was Mildred). Letters also can provide information about some of the more intimate details of an ancestors' life. More on using letters to decode genealogy will be given in a later blog post.
Family documents are any sort of papers by or about your ancestors. Below are some examples of family documents:
Obituaries
Obituaries can provide a wealth of genealogical information. From this fairly extensive obituary for Margaret Peebles I can garner information about her spouse and parents, her marriage date, her death date, her age at death, where she lived and died, and how she lived. Not all obituaries are as extensive as this one but most will provide basic genealogical information such as names of relatives and birth and death dates.
Vital Records from Family Bibles
Many old Bibles provided space to record birth, marriage, and death dates. These vital records sheets may still be tucked inside an old Bible, or they may have since been removed. These records can provide a lot of names and dates. Sometimes they will contain some extra information, such as in the marriage record below which provides the name of the bishop who officiated the marriage ceremony.
Newspaper Clippings
News was very different a century ago. Events that may seem trivial today could have been front page news. There are numerous reasons an ancestor could have been mentioned in the local paper. For example, the following news clipping details my great grandparents' wedding ceremony in Jackson, North Carolina. This clipping provides not only the wedding place and the names of the bride and groom but also describes the ceremony and names the members of the wedding party.
Programs, Books, and Yearbooks
Programs from commencements, marriages, baptisms, and other events can provide information about education and religion in addition to names, dates, and locations. Family books, such as bridal and baby books, can provide a tremendous amount of information that goes beyond names and dates. For example, my great grandmother's bridal book contained a detailed list of wedding gifts and a description of the honeymoon. Yearbook contents vary depending on the size of the school, the grade in school, and location of the school, but at the very least you should be able to extrapolate information about an ancestor's education and geographic location.
A program from my grandmother Julia Bowen Peebles' high school graduation
Wills and Other Legal Documents
Wills can provide information about an ancestor's relatives and property holdings, among other things. Other legal documents might contain information about land disputes or divorce proceedings, for example.
A portion of my great grandmother Julia Southall Bowen Peebles' will
Miscellaneous Items
There are many family documents that do not fit nicely into any one category. Perhaps the document is a note scrawled on the back of an envelope. Don't pass over a potential source because it is unconventional. Any papers your ancestors left behind may be of value to you.
Genealogical information scrawled on an envelope
A calling card for my great grandmother Josephine Southall, prior to her marriage in 1877
A calling card left for my great great aunt Bland Clifton Bowen from a Miss Kirby
A note on a bell. "E.M.M." is Ellen Matilda Moore nee Britton
Family photos
Check the back of old family photos for names, dates, locations, and other details.
"1st [illegible] 2nd Lollie Selden 3rd Rettie Bowen 4th Sallie Peebles 5th Josephine Bowen 6th Julia Bowen 7th Ellen Bowen 8th Blannie Bowen 9-2-92"
If photos were taken professionally, many may have the name and location of the portrait studio marked on them. This can provide you with clues about where your ancestors lived or traveled to.
This is just the beginning of the genealogical quest. Stay tuned for more information.
