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Beginning Genealogists

Family Bibles, The Genesis of Most Genealogy Research

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

The first place many people begin looking for their family’s history is in a Bible, and I’m not talking about Adam and Eve or all those begets. If we’re lucky, one of our ancestors started a tradition of writing their family’s marriage, birth and death records in their Bible. If we’re even luckier, we know where that Bible is today. If we’re Lotto-winner lucky, the information is correct. That’s right. Just because it’s in the Bible doesn’t mean it’s true. If the records were recorded as they happened, then they’re usually right. But if someone entered the who, what and when in hindsight, then Heaven help the person who relies on those names and dates to be facts. I did that and wasted nine months researching the wrong names. How can you know if the information in your Family Bible is accurate? Verify it.

Genealogy Programs, Organizing Your Ancestors the Easy Way

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

I love computer Genealogy Programs. I think they are the most useful invention since home computers and certainly the best reason to own a computer. Why? I don’t like getting organized. But genealogy requires organization and Genealogy Programs are a great solution to the problem. These lovely programs allow you to simply fill in the blanks with all the facts that you’ve collected in your research and add the sources for those facts. Just like that, you’re organized. See how easy that was? Then, with a click of the mouse, the computer’s little microchip brain starts linking all those facts together and spewing out detailed reports and charts about your ancestors that you’ll be proud to show off to everyone at the next family reunion. What could be more useful than that? Not even Tupperware.

In the Beginning . . . How to Start Your Family Research

Monday, January 28th, 2008

Want to know how to Start Your Family Research? start with yourself. Your name, birth date, where you were born. Now you have your first person in your family file. That was pretty easy. Next step, your parents and grandparents. Maybe you don’t know your grandparents’ names. Don’t be embarrassed. I thought I knew my grandmother’s name until the day I was hunting through a birth register in a courthouse in WV and came across her birth record. She had a different first name!