Standing at the Base of the Family Tree: Beginning Your Genealogy Journey

Start your family history research with confidence using proven methods to inventory what you know, conduct effective family interviews, and preserve precious documents.

Beginning the Search for Your Family

Your genealogy is a little like a mystery. There are questions to be answered, clues to be found, and facts to be proven or disproven. In this sense, doing genealogy research is quite like playing the role of detective.

As a genealogy detective, you're at the beginning of a fascinating process. But, genealogy research done properly can be quite tedious and time consuming. Don't be put off by the time and effort involved; just think of the excitement and satisfaction you will experience when you make a family discovery!

Before you begin doing any research, however, you will need to start by taking inventory of what you know about your family so far. Then you can determine where you need to focus your research efforts.

Creating Your Starting Inventory Worksheet

Create a working inventory of what you know about your family. To do this, you might want to start with yourself and work backwards listing the information that you know for sure.

Essential Information to Record

For yourself, you might write down:

Personal Information:

Full Name (include any nicknames that you are known by):
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth (include hospital, city, county and state if known):

Marriage Information:

Date of Marriage (if applicable):
Place of Marriage (if applicable):
Spouse Name (if applicable):
Names of Children (if applicable):

Family Connections:

Name of Father:
Name of Mother (include maiden name):
Names of Siblings:

Expanding Your Family Inventory

You should record this same information for as many relatives as you can. Start with your parents and then your grandparents (make sure to include your grandmother's maiden name – maiden names are often crucial to genealogy research), and work your way back as far as you can.

Additional Categories to Include:

Occupation Information: Jobs, careers, and professions
Military Service: Branch, dates, locations, rank
Religious Affiliation: Churches attended, religious ceremonies
Immigration Details: Countries of origin, dates of arrival
Education: Schools attended, degrees earned
Death Information: Dates, places, burial locations

Working with Incomplete Information

While you may not have all the information for each relative, go ahead and record what you do have. The information you don't have will become the focus of your genealogy research efforts.

Don't be embarrassed if you don't have much information to put on your starting inventory worksheet. Many people today are actually in the very same predicament. Extended families are often separated by hundreds of miles, and families today are often smaller than they were in previous generations. Most people begin their genealogy with a very small amount of information.

Gathering the "Low Hanging Fruit"

If you find that your starting inventory is rather short on information, you may want to begin your genealogy research by gathering the "low hanging fruit." What we mean by "low hanging fruit" is any genealogy information that is easy to get.

This would include information that you can get by calling relatives, digging through old pictures and documents, or searching through "junk" that you might have stored away.

Easy Sources to Check First

Immediate Household Items:

Family Bibles: Often contain handwritten family records
Photo Albums: Check backs of photos for dates and names
Old Letters and Cards: Holiday cards, birthday cards, correspondence
School Yearbooks: Names, dates, and sometimes family information
Military Documents: Service records, discharge papers
Insurance Policies: Beneficiary information reveals relationships

Digital Sources:

Computer Files: Digital photos with metadata
Email Archives: Family correspondence and announcements
Social Media: Family posts, photos, and connections
Online Accounts: Cloud storage with family documents

Storage Areas to Explore:

Attics and Basements: Old trunks and boxes
Closets: Stored documents and memorabilia
Garages: Forgotten family items
Safe Deposit Boxes: Important family documents

The Family History Interview: Your Most Valuable Tool

If you have the opportunity to interview living relatives (especially older relatives), make sure to take advantage of it! Family interviews can be great ways to gather large amounts of genealogy information quickly. Not only will relatives be able to tell you facts and dates, but they will be able to share stories and some of the more colorful details about your ancestors.

Essential Interview Questions

Here are some sample questions to get you started:

Childhood and Home Life:

Tell me about where you grew up. What was the house like? Who lived in the house with you?
What do you remember about your grandparents?
What was different about "the old days" from the way things are now?

Family Work and Service:

What kinds of jobs did members of your family have?
Did anyone in the family serve in the military?
Where did people in your family go to school? Church?

Family Stories and Traditions:

What do you remember about family members that passed away before I was born?
Are there any interesting stories that have been told about people in our family?
Are there any family traditions that you remember?

Resources and Connections:

Do you have any old family pictures or documents?
Do you know of any other relatives that I might be able to talk to?

Advanced Interview Techniques

Preparation Strategies:

Research Beforehand: Know what questions to ask about specific people
Prepare Equipment: Audio recorder, notebook, camera for documents
Create Comfortable Setting: Relaxed environment encourages sharing
Bring Materials: Photos or documents that might trigger memories

During the Interview:

Listen Actively: Let them tell their stories completely
Ask Follow-up Questions: "Tell me more about that" or "What happened next?"
Clarify Details: Confirm spelling of names, exact dates if possible
Show Interest: Your enthusiasm encourages more sharing

Post-Interview Actions:

Transcribe Quickly: Record details while fresh in your memory
Follow Up: Send thank you notes and copies of what you learned
Verify Information: Cross-check facts with other sources
Schedule Additional Sessions: Many people remember more after the first conversation

Making Interviews Productive

Genealogy interviews work best when you don't try to rush them. People enjoy sharing family memories, and they will often think of more things to tell you as the interview progresses. Be prepared to conduct a number of interviews with the same person if needed.

Interview Best Practices:

Multiple Sessions: Plan for several shorter interviews rather than one long one
Flexible Timing: Work around the interviewee's schedule and energy levels
Respectful Approach: Honor their willingness to share personal information
Patient Listening: Allow for pauses and thinking time

Digital Photos and Documents: Preserving Family Treasures

Make sure to take pictures or make copies of any family documents or pictures that relatives share with you. Even if the pictures don't directly help your genealogy research, they will be fun to have, and they will help you develop a more complete picture of your family.

Document Preservation Methods

Digital Scanning: A good way to preserve family pictures and documents is to scan them onto your computer. This will create an electronic copy that you can store, share, and organize.

Scanning Best Practices:

High Resolution: Scan at 600 DPI or higher for archival quality
Multiple Formats: Save as both TIFF (archival) and JPEG (sharing)
Descriptive Filenames: Include names, dates, and locations
Backup Storage: Keep copies in multiple locations

Photography Techniques:

Good Lighting: Use natural light or professional photo lights
Stable Surface: Avoid camera shake with tripods or stable surfaces
Multiple Angles: Capture both fronts and backs of documents
Detail Shots: Zoom in on important text or signatures

Sharing and Collaboration

Speaking of sharing, if you create a family website, you will be able to easily share what you learn from your genealogy research with other family members! You can scan documents and pictures and then post them on your family website. This will be a great way to keep extended family members informed about your genealogy research, and they might even be able to help you with some of the details.

Digital Sharing Benefits:

Instant Access: Family members can view materials immediately
Collaborative Identification: Multiple people can help identify unknown individuals
Remote Participation: Distant relatives can contribute to research
Backup Creation: Sharing creates additional copies for preservation

Organization Strategies:

Chronological Albums: Organize by time periods or generations
Family Branch Folders: Separate maternal and paternal lines
Document Categories: Group by type (certificates, photos, letters)
Geographic Organization: Arrange by locations or migrations

Building Your Research Foundation

Creating Research Goals

Short-term Objectives:

Complete family inventory for immediate relatives
Interview all available living family members
Digitize and organize existing family documents
Establish basic family tree structure

Long-term Goals:

Trace family lines back multiple generations
Verify family stories and traditions
Locate immigration records and origins
Connect with distant relatives and cousins

Establishing Good Habits

Documentation Standards:

Source Everything: Note where every piece of information comes from
Date Your Work: Record when you obtained each piece of information
Organize Systematically: Use consistent filing and naming systems
Backup Regularly: Protect your research with multiple backups

Research Ethics:

Respect Privacy: Honor family members' comfort levels with sharing
Verify Before Sharing: Don't spread unconfirmed information
Give Credit: Acknowledge sources and contributors
Share Appropriately: Consider what information should remain private

Your Genealogy Adventure Begins

Standing at the base of your family tree, you're beginning a journey that will connect you with generations of ancestors and relatives you've never met. The inventory worksheet you create today becomes the foundation for discoveries that may span centuries and continents.

Remember that every genealogist started exactly where you are now—with questions, limited information, and curiosity about their family's story. The key is taking that first step to document what you know and beginning the systematic process of filling in the gaps.

Your family's history is waiting to be discovered. Start with your inventory, conduct those interviews, and preserve those precious documents. Each piece of information you gather brings you one step closer to understanding the remarkable story of how you came to be.