Organizing Your Research

I have been asked recently about how to organize 30 years of genealogy research.  I am going to share some simple thoughts and will be expanding on it over the next few posts and turn it into another presentation on Ancestorville Genealogy on Facebook.

Because this researcher has so much material, it is easy to feel overwhelmed or not know where to start. It is important to come up with even a vague plan of what you would like to accomplish and how you need to get there. Plan it out in small tasks and don’t think, “I’m going to get 30 years of paperwork organized in one day!”

Personally, I started out by putting all my certificates in one 3-ring binder with archival quality paper protectors. In this day and age, it doesn’t hurt to make a scanned copy (if you have a scanner) so you have a digital version which you can add to your database, send to other researchers who are looking for source material, etc.

Then I broke the family research into binders as well – thank goodness those page protectors are cheap because you will buy them by the 100’s but it’s worth it to have it all organized. You can sort you research by family, location, or record type – census records, cemetery lists and photos, etc.

Ask yourself some questions:

1. What am I looking for the most that I can’t find?

2. Ideally, I would like to have what piece of information most readily available?

3. If I scanned all my pages and then boxed up the originals, would I be able to find the digital versions any easier than the hard copies?

4. With census records readily available and easy to replace and the data transcribed and put into the notes of your genealogy database, do you really still need to keep the hardcopies? Would a scanned version be sufficient and then pitch the hard copy? That’s a lot of scanning though. Ask yourself – if these pages have been in a stack for 30 years and not looked at (or found) then do I really need the hard copy?

 More later...

Genealogy on a Dime link and Organizing Your Research

I was going to start a series based on the presentation I gave last night on the Ancestorville Genealogy page on Facebook but I think I'm going to just post this link instead for right now:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/ancestorville-genealogy/ancestorville-talk-genealogy-on-a-dime-by-danita-smith-3252010/384089193678.

This presentation has gotten a lot of people excited about their research and I have already been asked to present again.  I'm thinking about "Organizing Your Research for Both Beginners and Experienced Researchers".  If anyone would like to share with my some of their biggest problems with organizing their research, let me know and I'll see if I can't incorporate that it while helping you resolve the issue!

Happy Friday to all my Family Tree Hunters friends!

How to Trace Your Family Tree - Last Part in a Series

OK, I have been updating my tips for the 21st century but think I'm going to leave this one just as it was written.  My son wanted to know WHEN I wrote this - C'mon, Mom - VCRs??!!!

Well, those are my suggestions for how to START a family history. You’ll find a way that makes you comfortable after awhile. Remember, unless you work your line right back to Adam and Eve, a genealogy is never finished. Some other pieces of wisdom:

Tell your kids you love them.

Take a wet, cold day, fix a cup of tea, put an old movie in the VCR, and sit and start writing on the back of those old pictures.

Come home from the film development lab, look at the pictures you took on vacation last week, put an old movie in the VCR, and sit and write on the back of your pictures.

No one will think less of you or your family if your great-great-great-grandfather had an illegitimate child. I’m sure he didn’t do it to embarrass you. Don’t let things that happened a long time ago upset you. And try not to be judgmental of others, whether they lived 200 years ago or if it’s that “funny uncle” down the street.

You will meet a lot of wonderful, intelligent, funny people as you work on your family history. Be prepared to “meet” distant cousins on-line but please use common sense if someone seeks too much personal information or wants to come visit you at home the day after “finding” you. Also remember you may not mind the world knowing when you were born but you don’t have to share all the latest about the grandkids with strangers, either. The same goes for current pictures.  I could do a whole series on "Does Facebook reveal too much information?" but will leave that to others...

Have fun with your genealogy. It can be exciting, addicting, frustrating, boring, fascinating, and exhilarating, and that’s all before lunch! I think genealogy is the most wonderful hobby in the world and it most certainly keeps your brain active, keeps you in touch with your relatives, and helps you decide where to go for vacation. But it is not a matter of life-or-death if that county clerk doesn’t mail your ancestor’s marriage certificate today. Remember to keep it in perspective….it’s only a hobby, it’s only a hobby, it’s only a hobby...

Please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think about my tips and suggestions! 

The Family Tree Hunter

How to Trace Your Family Tree - Part 5 in a series

9. Now you are well on your way. Don’t expect this to take a week or a month, because family histories can take years of work, depending on how much you want to collect. Don’t expect to find famous people, presidents, or royalty somewhere along the line, either. The “common folk” who worked their whole lives, went to church on Sundays, and never had a school named after them are the same folks who built this country and made it the great nation that it is.   Not that I don't enjoy finding those famous cousins myself - some day I'll write a post on my 10 Presidential Cousins!

10. My opinion on internet genealogy. You’ll probably think this is funny coming from a person with such a large web page but here goes. Don’t believe everything you see on the web. I cannot stress this point enough so forgive me because I know I mentioned it the other day.  Don’t be afraid to ask for those sources for other people’s work or hesitate to correct an error if you have documentation to prove your info is correct.  Personally, I look at other people’s work and use it as a sign post along my road back in time. If they list sources, I check some or all of the information to see if I can find it, too. If it’s undocumented, it doesn’t mean it’s not valid. But no one is perfect and one of the biggest parts of genealogy is correcting honest mistakes made long before you ever entered the game.

Even though this is an article about the 10 easy steps to tracing your family tree, this Family Tree Hunter has one more blog to add with additional comments before moving on to the next topic - Genealogy on a Dime!

How to Trace Your Family Tree - Getting Serious About Sources (Part 4 in a series)

8. OK, so you’ve written your own info, and the kids and their families, and safely tucked away a couple of certificates. You discovered the amazing information found on the census, and want to know, “What Now?”. Well, first before you get in too deep, we need to talk about those sources again, this time in regards to documenting your work properly. It is so very easy to get all excited and copy information and write down things and keep going and going and going and then…. Then someone will ask, “I have a different date for when Uncle Harry died—what do you have that shows that date?” In other words, what source did you use? Believe me, whether you use a computer or an old spiral notebook to keep track of your work, after several generations of names, dates, and places, you will forget exactly where you got that one piece of data. But if you wrote it down, “Harry died July 3, 1956-source: picture taken at Maple Grove Cemetery” then you’ll have it when you need it. So when you first start, please write a source down for every date and place you enter, even if you have to write “personal knowledge of researcher” because you know when your brother was born but you don’t have his birth certificate.

This is even more critical now than when I wrote this several years ago.  My own database, after almost 20 years of research has about 12,000 individuals, which may seem like a lot but I am unique in that I research a surname (CASTO) and not just my own line.  Other people will have less names and many will have more.  Some people are what I call, "gatherers" - they surf the net and just keep adding other researcher's information to their own database without sourcing or verifying any of it so they have no idea if the names and dates are wrong but it looks impressive to have 300,000 names!  Since you are doing this for yourself and your family, it pays to take the time and start out doing it the proper way so you'll have something you can really be proud of and stand behind!

How to Trace Your Family Tree - Sources at Home (Part 3 in a series)

6. There are lots of sources that can be used to trace a family. When you are just starting out, you probably have a lot sitting around the house in old boxes. Copies of wills, obituaries or funeral cards, those old pictures (hopefully written on the back), newspaper clippings, or letters your parents received from their family years ago. And those are just what you find around the house. We'll discuss more sources in a future post.  Now it’s time to get serious….

7. Time for a history lesson from the "old pro" here before your first trip to the library or pay site. Every ten years, starting in 1790, the United States has taken a census and tried to count every person living in the country. These census’ are broken down into states and the counties in each state and then cities, etc. The only time period not available is 1890, which was destroyed (long story) and any after 1930 (census records are kept private for 72 years, 1940 will be available in 2012). But this is a great tool to help you go back in your family’s history in 10-year-increments. Most libraries have at least some, if not all, of the census’ available in their local history/genealogy department and will be glad to show you how to find it. It’s really exciting to find your family for the first time! 

Side note here:  When I first started out as a Family Tree Hunter, I didn't know what the census was and didn't want to seem ignorant so I just didn't use it.  Well, I felt more stupid when I realized what I had been missing!  Of course, back then it was (and still probably is) all on microfilm at the library and now can be accessed online if you want to pay for it.  But before going to that expense, write and ask me how to find free census records or watch for future postings about "Genealogy on a Dime". 

How to Trace Your Family Tree - Certificates (Part 2 in a series)

4. Now you can think of certificates—do you have a copy of your own birth certificate? Where exactly did you put that marriage certificate? A key to good genealogy is organization. I keep a copy of all my certificates in a three-ring binder with archival-quality sheet protectors. [I keep the originals of my family's in a fire-proof box.] If you don’t have your certificate, then the easiest way to get it is either go down to the courthouse (if you live in your hometown) or write to the courthouse for it. And how do you get their address? There are several ways: call directory assistance and call (ask how much while you’ve got them on the line); look it up at the library’s reference desk—people will be happy to assist you—it’s their job; search on the internet—most counties have their info now online.  Sometimes you can also order the certificate online (VitalChek is one reliable source linked to many county clerk sites) but that will usually cost you more than dealing directly with the courthouse. 

5. Now you’ve got the certificate, take a good look at it. It is a primary source and after a couple of generations, those sources run out quick. Your birth certificate will list who your parents were, when and where you were born, etc. Well, your parents’ birth certificates will list the same information and their parents’ will list some basic information, too. You’d be surprised at the wide range of information you can gather off those birth, marriage, and death certificates. The information put on certificates differs from place to place, too, so don't be surprised if one birth certificate lists the father's occupation and another doesn't.  When dealing with marriage certificates, ask about the marriage application, which will list more than the certificate itself. But what if you don’t know where your parents were born to write for theirs? Or what if their births weren’t recorded? Don’t worry…..in our next blog we will deal with other sources that may not come to mind right awa.

How to Get Started Tracing Your Family Tree in 10 Easy Steps!

This will be a series of posts that offers guidance to new Family Tree Hunters on directions they can take to start finding their ancestors.  This was actually a list I created several years back to help my husband's aunt start her tree and I have used it as course material when teaching people how to get started.  I've added a few updated comments since then.  I hope you will find it useful as well and leave your comments and suggestions with more tips!  By the end of this series, most of you will be able to IMMEDIATELY name 4, possibly 5 generations on your family tree!


1. Notice how the title said "10 EASY steps"? Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. If you want to do a good job, then go in to it with “doing a good job” in mind and forget “Easy”.




2. Be Selfish. Start with yourself. You know (or hopefully you do!) when and where you were born, who your spouse is, and when you were married. Think of this as your universe and you’re the center of it!


3. Next, list your children and their information. If you want to include a little note as to why you were living in Maryland when Mary was born and Georgia when George was born, go ahead. There is no “Best” way to write your family’s history. These are those little details about YOUR family that your cousins just won’t know. You may even need to call the kids—you’d be surprised how many folks out there don’t remember their daughter-in-law’s maiden name.  One note here:  when you are starting out, you don't need to spend a lot of money on expensive genealogy software or websites.  I have all those things and still keep a notebook and pencil on my desk to write things down in.  If you're great with computers, you may be comfortable going that route.  But if you want to just write things down in a notebook as you're starting out and think about choosing which program works best for you later, then do that.  Remember, you are the center of this universe and you can do it anyway you want!


The next post will talk about certificates and how to find them...

Family Tree Hunters First Blog!

Welcome to Family Tree Hunters first blog!  The purpose of this blog is to let me, your humble correspondent, share with you what I have discovered while climbing my own family tree over the past 20 years and address topics like How to Get Started, Genealogy on a Dime, Great Resources on the Internet, and what types of things you want to watch out for as you are looking for your ancestors.  I hope you will find my postings to be informative, entertaining, and inspirational.

My background in terms of genealogy include being the writer and publisher of a genealogy newsletter which was read on 3 continents and requested by the Family Library in Salt Lake City, Utah; creator of a website devoted to the name CASTO which has been online for 13 years and has over 600 pages of data; volunteer instructor on genealogy to both children and senior citizens; and member of numerous genealogical and historical societies.  My main focus has been to help people find their ancestors and learn about the thrill and excitement of being a Family Tree Hunter for themselves.  It's really no fun if someone just gives you all the answers!

Thanks for dropping by.  Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions and I hope you'll visit my blog again!