His Story, Her Story, Your Story

HIS STORY, HER STORY, YOUR STORY:

PRESERVING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY

© 2012 Vera Zimmerman Revised 2022

verazgenealogy.blogspot.com

Whether you are just beginning to explore genealogy or doing a Genealogy Do-Over or just starting on a new branch, these steps will make your tree-climbing easier.

GETTING STARTED::

     BASIC FORMS are available at many website. One of the best is:

https://www.cyndislist.com/free-stuff/printable-charts-and-forms/?page=2

FAMILY GROUP SHEETS – Start with yourself.

     Make a Family Group Sheet with your father and mother, you and your siblings.

     One FGS is made for each marriage or union that produces children..

     Father goes on top line.

     Enter full name, first middle and last.

     Fill out in pencil if you aren't sure of the information.

     Enter dates as day, month year and spell out month: ie 2 Mar 2020

     Enter full place names: city, town, county, state, country, as it was at the time of the event.

     Mother goes on next line. Always use the maiden name for females.

     Include all children in birth order. Note if adopted, step or foster.

     Make a separate FGS form with natural parents if known.

     Sign the forms and date them.

PEDIGREE CHART– Shows ancestors for 4 generations.

     Enter your name on Line 1.

     Your Father on Line 2 and Your Mother on Line 3.

     Grandparents on Lines 4, 5, 6, & 7.

     Great grandparents on Lines 8 to 15.

SEARCH FOR FAMILY RECORDS:

     Newspaper clippings, vital records, bible entries, photos, scrapbooks, diaries, letters, etc.

     Take care of original source material.

     Do not write on, paste, tape, mount, laminate, punch holes in, or staple original documents.

     Store in archival sleeves, binders, folders or boxes.

COLLECT FAMILY STORIES:

     Write down stories you remember. One story per sheet with approximate date at top.

     Interview relatives in person or by phone, email or letter.

SHARE what you have found with your relatives.

     Scan or copy paper items and distribute copies to relatives.

     Consider placing a copy at a library or historical society in the town where your ancestors lived.

     Include your name, address, phone number and email address.

     Caution: Do not put information on living people on material to be shared.

     Do not use your mother's maiden name as a security password.

DOCUMENT YOUR INFORMATION:

     Identify what you found and where you found it.

     Why? So you can find it again and so others can find it.

     Give credit to the work of others.

     Also document what you did not find.

     Reference for documentation: Evidence by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

     Documentation Source #1 for your Family Group Sheets and Pedigree Chart:

     “Personal knowledge of [your name] [address] [date]”

BEFORE YOU DO FURTHER RESEARCH: 

Evaluate : Analyze your data and sources

     Find the most accurate information possible

     Closest to time of event

     Primary Sources, Direct Evidence.

     What information is missing?

Organize: Necessary so you can find the information quickly and easily

     3-ring Binders or File folders

     Divide families by surname and location.

     Unique file names.

          i.e. Surname, Given name (b.-d.) Place, Type of document, date

               Doe John (1900-1990) LA Census 1920

Choose a genealogy software program:

     Recommended: Legacy Family Tree: https://legacyfamilytree.com/

     Roots Magic: https://www.rootsmagic.com/

      Reunion (for MAC) https://www.leisterpro.com/

RESOURCES

     Visit the LOCAL GENEALOGY DEPARTMENT at the Cocoa Library, 2nd floor.

          How To books - Unpuzzling your Past by Emily Croom is an excellent guide.

          Check for previous research and/or published genealogies.

          Research your state. To find out WHAT records are WHERE.

Visit the FAMILY HISTORY CENTER in Rockledge.

The Family Search web site has free online records, including census indexes, and helpful tutorials:

     https://www.familysearch.org/en/ https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page

     Closely related is The Family History Guide: https://www.thefhguide.com/

FEDERAL CENSUS research.

     Latest one released is 1950. Find your family in that one and work your way back.

     Use Ancestry $ https://www.ancestry.com/ at home or free on Brevard County Library computers.

     Another source: https://www.census-online.com/links/index.html

Use the SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX to find unknown birth and death dates:

     https://www.genesearch.com/socialsecurity.html

     https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1202535

     https://www . ancestry .com/search/collections/3693/

VITAL RECORDS (birth, marriage, death) can be ordered from State, County or City offices.

   https://vitalrec.com/ https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/index.htm https://www.usgenweb.org/

   Click on your State and County to find out how and where to order records.

MAIL LISTS AND MESSAGE BOARDS of the county and state where your ancestors lived.

     are available free at : https://home.rootsweb.com/

MILITARY RECORDS and good tutorials are available at the National Archives site:

     www.archives.gov/ https://www.archives.gov/research/military/genealogy

CYNDI'S LIST is a web site with links to other web resources:

     https://www.archives.gov/research/military/genealogy

Attend a GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY meeting. Brevard Genealogical Society meets at the Cocoa Library,

     2nd Monday of each month. Sept. - June.. See their web site: http://www.flbgs.org/

     See my blogs for examples of what you can do with your information:      

belletisdale.blogspot.com/    and

verazgenealogy.blogspot.com