research in family history (ch 11)

Begin by remembering, accumulating, and organizing information to identify members of your family. Each person can be identified by personal information, such as the following:

• Name (first name, middle names, surnames, maiden name, and nicknames)
• Relationship to other members of the family
• Dates and places of important events, such as birth, marriage, and death
• Ancestral home

• Occupation

Strive to be accurate and thorough. You may not need to fill in every blank on a family group sheet, but each piece of information helps confirm that you have identified the right person and helps you learn more about that person and others in that family line.

Look for sources in your home that might provide important family information (including information missing from your pedigree chart or family group records). Useful sources include birth, marriage, and death certificates; family Bibles; funeral programs; obituaries; wedding announcements; family registers; and ancestral tablets.

Add the information you find to your family’s pedigree charts and family group records. Record the sources of the information in the notes or sources section on the forms or in your family history program. This helps you and others know where the information came from.

Ask relatives for information. Make a list of relatives and the family information they may have. Then contact the relatives—visit, call, write a letter, or e-mail them. Be sure to ask specifically for the information you need. (For example, “Do you know when Aunt Jane was born?”) Ask if there is a document you can copy that lists the information.

Oral histories of family members are important and may be the only source of information for certain individuals. If possible, make a recording of the person telling the story. Write the story down; then list a source, such as “oral history, told by my grandmother Anne (Hamblin) Zabriski on November 30, 2011.”

As you expand your research, it is helpful to know the difference between original records and compiled records:

• Original records are records of life events kept by affected parties at or near the time the events took place. Original records can provide information about birth, death, place of residence, property, occupation, immigration, civil action, religious ceremonies, and personal achievements. Some original records, such as censuses, parish records, birth certificates, wills, deeds, and ship passenger lists, are kept by governments, churches, societies, or other institutions. Other original records, such as diaries and family Bibles, are kept by individuals or families.
  Original records are most likely to contain the most accurate information for your family history research because they were made by people living closest to your ancestor at the time of the event. Many original records have been microfilmed by the Church and are now becoming digitally available and searchable on FamilySearch.org. Volunteers can help make more records available through the FamilySearch indexing program.
• Compiled records are collections of information gathered from other sources, often many years after the event. Examples include family histories, biographies, place histories, society publications, periodicals, genealogies, and computerized indexes. Compiled records may be drawn from original records, other compiled records, or both. For example, a published family history may be compiled from civil registration records, census records, family papers, and local histories. Compiled records may not be as accurate as original records, but they are still important in family history research because they contain information that may not be available otherwise.

Civil records. Civil records are records kept by federal, regional, and local governments. These are located in government offices, archives, and libraries. Catalogs and indexes are often available on the Internet or at the locations where the records are held. The following are common examples of civil records:

• Birth certificates usually give the person’s name, date and place of birth, parents’ names (sometimes including the mother’s maiden name), and residence.
• Marriage certificates usually show the date and place of the marriage, names and ages of the bride and groom, places of residence, witnesses’ names, and sometimes parents’ names.
• Death certificates give the person’s name and may show a date and place of death, age, residence, cause of death, parents’ names, occupation, date and place of burial, and sometimes the date and place of birth.

Census records. Many governments have compiled census records for the past two hundred years or more. Early census records frequently name only the head of the household and give names, gender, birthplaces, and approximate ages of those in the household. Later census records include more complete information.

Be careful when using census records because they provide only a glimpse of the family. Following are some cautions to keep in mind when consulting census records:

• Family members may not be included in a census if they were not home when the census was taken.
• Censuses do not include deceased family members.
• The wife listed in the census may not be the mother of the children.
• Relatives and boarders are sometimes listed as children.
• Information may have been supplied by neighbors or approximated by census takers.
• Names might appear under a variety of spellings.
• Ages are frequently rounded, and birthplaces often approximated.

Computer programs provide the best methods for easy storage and retrieval of family history information. 

A computer file that keeps track of what you have searched for, where you have looked, and what you have found can also be a valuable resource, particularly when you have invested a lot of time and effort into family history research.

For additional information, see Chapter 11: Research in Family History,” Introduction to Family History Student Manual (2012), 92–99 or click this link.