History and Genealogy

The interest in genealogy and family history research has exploded over the last 15 years or so. People are discovering that it can be an interesting and fun activity or hobby. The availability of information on the internet continues to rise at an amazing rate. More and more information previously stored in the archives is being made available for the hungry public. Some of this information is free, but a lot of it attracts a fee, so it is becoming a huge business, and is likely to continue to grow in the coming years.

Often the decision to get involved in finding your ancestors and documenting your family history comes when we lose a parent or grandparent or both! Let me tell you it is better to make a start while they are alive and able to assist you. Once they are gone, it is a real tragedy if you have not recorded the valuable family history that they have stored in their memories. You will also find that elderly relatives will be delighted to offer their assistance as it gives them the great opportunity to reminisce on a bygone era.

Step 1 – Interview Family and Friends and Record it

I guess I have already began to mention this above in my introduction, but it is to get a hold of your elderly parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties and friends and interview them in great detail about your ancestors and how things were when they were young. It may even be a good idea to use audio or video equipment to make a proper recording of this interview. Get out old photos, documents or letters to help jolt their memories, and find out if they have any such items that may also assist. If they have birth, death and marriage certificates, find out if you can get copies!

I highly recommend that you use a tool called a “Family Group Sheet” to record actual details of a particular family group (father, mother and children, with provision for dates like birth, death & marriage). You can fill these out yourself or you may even email or mail them to relatives and get them to do it for you. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you ready to conduct Arizona genealogy research? Congratulations. Not only can you find newly discovered family history; but if you are as fortunate as I was, you may discover new family members with whom to share your newly found information.

In 2009, my mother asked me to conduct genealogy research on her ancestral line. With no formal genealogy training, but substantial legal research training and experience, I began collecting data. Initially, I had just a couple dozen names to begin with. Less than two years later, there are over 1,700 names spanning over ten generations in our family tree. Not only did I (with the help of new found family members) discover the names of our maternal ancestors; but copies of photos, newspaper articles, and more where gathered and now fill three volumes of books on our Arizona family history.

I want you to be successful in your own research too. Based on my experience, here are a few of the top free web resources for you to conduct your own online Arizona family history and genealogy research:

1. FamilySearch.org

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints maintains one of the most extensive genealogy resources available. But, before you start your research, you need to have a way to organize the information you will undoubtedly collect. A free family history and genealogy program called PAF or Personal Ancestral File is available through the church’s website. They offer free online genealogy research classes as well. The classes include downloadable video and documents. In addition, maps and guides are also available for your use.

When it comes to census records, the LDS Family History Library is one of the premiere genealogy and family history resources. All available U.S. census schedules have been scanned onto microfilm, and are in a searchable database at the church’s official website. Church members are also encouraged to conduct their own family history and genealogy research, and share it with the general public by contributing to the library. As a result, the information you can find through this resource is extensive. Read the rest of this entry »

Genealogy and family history research have really become popular pastimes recently due to the Internet and peoples ability to access a vast amount of information with relative ease.

The aim of my article is to give a little guidance to people starting out in their search for long lost ancestors. There is so much information online today that it is extremely easy to suffer from information overload.

My own interest in genealogy began in 1998 after my father suddenly passed away. His mother had also passed away only 8 months earlier at the age of 108. If only I had started this earlier! I guess I felt that a lot of our history had already been lost forever. It was time for me to take action to ensure that the rest of our family history could get recorded while elderly members were still around to help me.

Before you start doing any online research, I would suggest that you note down exactly what information you already have access to. Old photos, letters and documents are a wonderful way to get started.

Do Interviews with Elderly Family Members

Take your old photos around to your elderly relatives and friends to get the people in them identified, and to find out a little bit of information on them. You will find that old people love to reminisce about the past and these old photos are just the thing to get them started. Perhaps even use an audio or video recorder to keep a permanent record of these discussions. While you are talking to them find out if they have any old photos and documents that you may not have seen before, ask if you can take copies. Read the rest of this entry »