#stop by step
How To Get Started on Building Your Family Tree Without Help From Elders
If you are like me, and do not have many elder family members to turn to for help in discovering your family history, here are a couple of things you can do to get yourself started.
- Talk to siblings and cousins. Ask them for anything they remember, names, dates, addresses, cities, church/places of worship, schools, anything they can remember will be helpful.
- Try and find any old objects: photos, papers, baby books, baptism, bible records-sometimes there is useful information written on the back of old photos and keepsakes such as dates, names, places.
- Start charting it out. Write down what you know. Start a free family tree online. Or just get a piece of paper and a pen and start charting out what you already know so that you can transition that to an online tree or a free template downloaded from online.
- What if you don’t have any siblings/cousins? If you don’t have any siblings or cousins, at least any that you are comfortable talking to, use yourself as a resource. What do you remember? Do you remember a last name, your grandmothers maiden name? A place your aunt or uncle may have lived with your grandparents? What church did they attend? Was it local? Even the most smallest thing that you can remember could be important.
- Perhaps turn to the local genealogy society/group in your hometown, or your parents/grandparents hometown. Local groups can be a most valuable resource.
The beginning is usually the hardest, but use what you know, use these steps as a mini guide, and get started. Remember, you can be your own most valuable resource.
