Thursday, March 12, 2009
Genealogy Links
I added a new website called Genealogy Links to the Web Sites list to the left. Lots of great links categorized by location.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Setting Goals
Usually when we set out to trace our family history our goal is to "trace our family history". Now this is fine if you want to go back to Adam and Eve but it is best if you put some goals in place to guide your efforts.
When creating a tree I recommend that you set a generational level as your initial goal and then complete that tree before you go any further. For instance your goal can be:
5 Generations
That means that until you have all the tree elements for 5 generations (basically a tree of 31 people you, 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, and 16 Great Great Grandparents).
It is far to common for someone to find an "easy" branch of their tree and start running with it for 15 or more generations and ignore the "harder" branches. Now of course you can run into dead ends or research that you simply can not do (ancestors from overseas may dissapear into the church records oblivion) but you should be prepared to exhaust all resources you have available to keep your tree nicely pruned.
The payoff in the long run will be greatly appreciated by the other leaves in your tree.
When creating a tree I recommend that you set a generational level as your initial goal and then complete that tree before you go any further. For instance your goal can be:
5 Generations
That means that until you have all the tree elements for 5 generations (basically a tree of 31 people you, 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, and 16 Great Great Grandparents).
It is far to common for someone to find an "easy" branch of their tree and start running with it for 15 or more generations and ignore the "harder" branches. Now of course you can run into dead ends or research that you simply can not do (ancestors from overseas may dissapear into the church records oblivion) but you should be prepared to exhaust all resources you have available to keep your tree nicely pruned.
The payoff in the long run will be greatly appreciated by the other leaves in your tree.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Step 4 - Errors and Transcriptions
Most of the tools that let you search Census records have conveniently transcribed the data for you. Beware. The transcriptions are chock full of errors.
Always look at the document itself, always compare letters to other letters and always remember that census takers, while usually dedicated public servants, could sometimes be lazy.
I have found "Eva" transcribed as Era, Thomas transcribed as Thos, etc..
I have also discovered that when it comes to the censuses that include birth state of parents, that sometimes the census takers just flat out listed the same state for everyone. Out of all the census data, this is the column I have found wrong most of the time.
Refreshingly the Ellis Island site has a wonderfully correct (99% of the time) transcription set. I have only found minor variations and considering the fact that the transcribers are dealing with unfamiliar names like Wierzichowski, and Ellenfruog it is great that they did a great job.
Always look at the document itself, always compare letters to other letters and always remember that census takers, while usually dedicated public servants, could sometimes be lazy.
I have found "Eva" transcribed as Era, Thomas transcribed as Thos, etc..
I have also discovered that when it comes to the censuses that include birth state of parents, that sometimes the census takers just flat out listed the same state for everyone. Out of all the census data, this is the column I have found wrong most of the time.
Refreshingly the Ellis Island site has a wonderfully correct (99% of the time) transcription set. I have only found minor variations and considering the fact that the transcribers are dealing with unfamiliar names like Wierzichowski, and Ellenfruog it is great that they did a great job.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Another great resource
The Church of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) have a great database that you can search online for free. Their website is FamilySearch.org
Thursday, March 5, 2009
3rd Step - Start your tree
Their are many free (or close to free) tools out their to help you build your tree. I am going to concentrate on 2. Ancestry.com and MyHeritage Family Tree Builder. Both of these tools have a built in search function that assists you in finding data.
Using Ancestry, follow the steps to create a login and start building your tree. Start with yourself then add everyone and every fact you collected in the last step. Remember to add every little detail. Ancestry uses supplemental data like birth date and city to sort its findings so that more relevant data is on top. For instance a Joe Smith Born in 1880 will be higher than a Joe Smith born in 1910 if you have his birth year marked as 1878.
Ancestry will scan every person in your tree and provide you with Hints if it finds a possible match. I said POSSIBLE. Please be sure to use diligence to ensure that the data it found is a true match. It will also search other family trees for data and these must be used only with a large amount of caution.
The many documents it will find can be a boon to your research. From Census records to Social Security Death index data. Take your time and as you find details about the people (or new relatives) be sure to update (or create) the profile sheets we created in the first step. Dont forget to document your sources.
Next step, errors and transcription.
Using Ancestry, follow the steps to create a login and start building your tree. Start with yourself then add everyone and every fact you collected in the last step. Remember to add every little detail. Ancestry uses supplemental data like birth date and city to sort its findings so that more relevant data is on top. For instance a Joe Smith Born in 1880 will be higher than a Joe Smith born in 1910 if you have his birth year marked as 1878.
Ancestry will scan every person in your tree and provide you with Hints if it finds a possible match. I said POSSIBLE. Please be sure to use diligence to ensure that the data it found is a true match. It will also search other family trees for data and these must be used only with a large amount of caution.
The many documents it will find can be a boon to your research. From Census records to Social Security Death index data. Take your time and as you find details about the people (or new relatives) be sure to update (or create) the profile sheets we created in the first step. Dont forget to document your sources.
Next step, errors and transcription.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
I have how many relatives????
You may already have figured this out but I always enjoy when someone realizes how many people are in a family tree. I don't mean the families with 12 kids per generation. I mean just the basic doubling of each generation. You have 2 parents. They have 4 Parents. They have 8 Parents. They have 16 Parents. A simple 5 generation tree would have 31 people. Add one more generation and you are up to 63. One more and you have 125!!!
Most people think of a family tree as their last name. Most forget the spouses and their ancestors. Be prepared for it, it can make the task daunting especially for the women.
Unfortunately very few marriage records are online. It can take a lot of leg work to determine maiden names so you have to be extra diligent.
Most people think of a family tree as their last name. Most forget the spouses and their ancestors. Be prepared for it, it can make the task daunting especially for the women.
Unfortunately very few marriage records are online. It can take a lot of leg work to determine maiden names so you have to be extra diligent.
Second Step - Proving History
OK, you have collected everything you can from relatives and are now ready to begin using all the tools available to create your family tree (or research). Hold on, lets talk about proof.
The Board for Certification of Genealogists has established a Genealogical Proof Standard that you should become familiar with. I know, rigorously establishing proof is not fun and takes some time but their is a very good reason for it. Every beginning genealogist I know has fallen prey to letting an unproven link creep into their records and from that second forward two hideous things occur.
First, every second you spend finding links based upon the mistake is wasted. I know a young man who spent 2 months researching based upon bad data. All of it was essentially worthless.
Second, we all use knowledge that is our head and not documented for a lot of the data we research. If any of that knowledge becomes suspect and we did not document the links, we suddenly become unsure of vast sections of our research.
To prevent this we simply need to apply the 5 principles of proof. Simply put they are:
1. Reasonably Exhaustive Search - for example don't just take a single Census report, add every family member to your tree then move on. Look for more data from different sources to confirm.
2. Complete and Accurate Citation of Sources - Cite, Cite, Cite. Write it down. If done correctly another person should be able to totally recreate your research.
3. Analysis and correlation of the collected information - Don't just say you got the data from a website or book. Document it. Show it's credibility and try to ascertain how much it's data can be trusted.
4. Resolution of conflicting evidence - Sometimes their is conflicting evidence that must be resolved. If a census shows a persons parents born in Georgia and you have evidence they were actually born elsewhere, no matter how exacting your proof, document the reasoning behind your decision to overcome evidence.
5. Soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion - Document how you came to conclusions. This is especially vital when uncovering Maiden names of female ancestors.
The Board for Certification of Genealogists has established a Genealogical Proof Standard that you should become familiar with. I know, rigorously establishing proof is not fun and takes some time but their is a very good reason for it. Every beginning genealogist I know has fallen prey to letting an unproven link creep into their records and from that second forward two hideous things occur.
First, every second you spend finding links based upon the mistake is wasted. I know a young man who spent 2 months researching based upon bad data. All of it was essentially worthless.
Second, we all use knowledge that is our head and not documented for a lot of the data we research. If any of that knowledge becomes suspect and we did not document the links, we suddenly become unsure of vast sections of our research.
To prevent this we simply need to apply the 5 principles of proof. Simply put they are:
1. Reasonably Exhaustive Search - for example don't just take a single Census report, add every family member to your tree then move on. Look for more data from different sources to confirm.
2. Complete and Accurate Citation of Sources - Cite, Cite, Cite. Write it down. If done correctly another person should be able to totally recreate your research.
3. Analysis and correlation of the collected information - Don't just say you got the data from a website or book. Document it. Show it's credibility and try to ascertain how much it's data can be trusted.
4. Resolution of conflicting evidence - Sometimes their is conflicting evidence that must be resolved. If a census shows a persons parents born in Georgia and you have evidence they were actually born elsewhere, no matter how exacting your proof, document the reasoning behind your decision to overcome evidence.
5. Soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion - Document how you came to conclusions. This is especially vital when uncovering Maiden names of female ancestors.
The magic number is 1930
As a Genealogist one of your best resources will be the United States Census. These documents hold a treasure trove of data that will let you build a family tree.
Unfortunately, U.S. Law keeps Census records private for 72 years. That means you will need to get back to the magic number 1930 (for 3 more years then 1940 becomes the magic number). To make full use of census data you need a profile that shows a family that lived in a particular area in 1930. For instance if you Have Joe Smith (age 42), Mary Smith (Age 41) and Joe Smith Jr (age 12) living in Milwaukee Wisconsin in 1930 you will be able to use Census records with ease. The child is 12 so they will be on 2 censuses as a family (1930 and 1920).
So as you build up your sheets to prepare to search, dig extra hard to get data on your family back to the Magic number.
Unfortunately, U.S. Law keeps Census records private for 72 years. That means you will need to get back to the magic number 1930 (for 3 more years then 1940 becomes the magic number). To make full use of census data you need a profile that shows a family that lived in a particular area in 1930. For instance if you Have Joe Smith (age 42), Mary Smith (Age 41) and Joe Smith Jr (age 12) living in Milwaukee Wisconsin in 1930 you will be able to use Census records with ease. The child is 12 so they will be on 2 censuses as a family (1930 and 1920).
So as you build up your sheets to prepare to search, dig extra hard to get data on your family back to the Magic number.
Free Forms for Genealogists
The link on the left for Bailey's Free Genealogy Forms is a great free resource for the budding researcher. They have lots of forms in Excel and PDF format for your use.
Here's a tip, sign up for a G Mail account at Google and save the Excel forms in Google Documents. You will be able to edit them anywhere you have an internet connection. Plus you can share them with other family members.
Here's a tip, sign up for a G Mail account at Google and save the Excel forms in Google Documents. You will be able to edit them anywhere you have an internet connection. Plus you can share them with other family members.
First Step - Where to start
The adventure which is genealogy starts with a bit of work.
Their are a plethora of tools and technologies out their to help you build a family tree. But before you can use them, you are going to have to do a little work.
Before you begin your research it is vital that you document everything you know about your family. Get a hold of siblings, parents, grandparents, uncles, and everyone else and lay out a simple personal profile for each relative as far back as you can.
It is not vital that you know everything. Some of the most obscure facts can give you a huge advantage. Also keep in mind that what you and your family "know" may not be the truth so make sure you keep an open mind as much as possible.
So what personal information do you need to collect? Start with the basics. Name, birth date, place born, places lived, death date, death place, spouse, siblings, parents and children.
Make a simple document using a page for each individual. If you don't know exact data, that is fine, but at least write down any guesses.
For Dates:
If Grandma thinks her mother was born around 1905 don't ignore it because you only have a year and no month or day. Write down:
Birth Date: ~1905
That little "~" symbol means "around". And almost every search tool out there has the ability to handle ranges of dates so make sure you write it down.
Try to keep your dates in a consistent format. The one most commonly used is day 3 character month and full year. 23 mar 1905 for instance.
Places:
If all you know is a relative was from Georgia for instance, write it down. You can find counties and cities later if needed.
Try to keep your places in a consistant format. The one most commonly used is City, County, State, Country.
Birth Place: Jacksonville, Duval, Florida, USA
Why worry about counties if you know the city? Lots of records you will be researching are stored/collected at the county level.
Names:
Although it sounds wierd, always remember what you "know" and what you "think" are two entirely different things. I had a client who was researching a relative named "Charley Brown". It was on his tombstone, every living relative swore that was his name. Even his children. His real name was Ivy. It is impossible to know when your data is reliable so make sure you take everything with a grain of salt and document your sources.
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