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Researching your family’s ancestry can seem overwhelming with all the different genealogy sites out there. So how do you go about this task of discovering your ancestry? What sites do you want to use? How do you choose the right sites for you?
I signed up for Ancestry.com several years ago and I am so happy I did. Their site allows you to build a tree; very easily; with just a few names to start and you are on your way. Once you get your tree started, you will get “hints” from other member’s ancestry trees.
There are also several hints from various sources like Findagrave.com, Familysearch.org, photos, Census records and many more. Luckily, information is constantly being updated, so if you run into a dead end – check back in a week or two and see if there are any new hints.
How do you know which information is correct?
Verifying the information is a tricky process, I usually start with the records and view the ancestry member tree hints last, usually very cautiously. While there is a lot of great information in the member trees, there is also a lot of misinformation.
As you get more and more comfortable with researching your history, you will be able to determine what hints you think are valid for your history.
Additionally, keeping notes is a great way to keep tabs on various pieces of information, the sources, etc. It will also help prevent researching the same thing a second or even third time. Yes, I have done that!
What happens when your tree is so large you start to get confused?
I have been working on my ancestry for several years. My tree has over 2,000 people; and I am certain some are orphaned (meaning individuals not connected to anyone – but are floating out there on my tree). At this point, I was very overwhelmed and confused. Therefore, I went back to basics.
Thus, I got together some paper, good pencils (and erasers!), and started printing. A lot of my three ring binders I was able to get from The Dollar Tree store – for just $1 for the 1” binders that I use. Since I already had a bunch of 3″ binders on hand, I repurposed them for my genealogy.
Ancestry Family Information Forms
Although there several ancestry forms available on the internet, none of them really worked for me. Consequently, I created my own forms. My forms consist of three pages; page one lists the family name, the husband and wife along with their data; continues down to their parents, their children and their spouses. Additional children are continued on the second page.
Can you believe that some of my ancestors had 12-18 children. Wow! I cannot imagine having so many kids running around! Also, there is a separate third page for notes, if needed. I kind of scribble on mine, and also will use arrows to add notes to the back of the pages. You will see that on my photos below.
How to Organize the Family Information
The most difficult thing I found was how to organize the paper form, especially when you have a family with males and females. Typically, genealogy charts track the males. So when I had a female, I didn’t know what to do with them and how to organize them. Do you keep them under the family name, or move them to their husband’s family name? I am sure there are many ways to do this, but I finally settled on one which works for me, which is keeping the females within the family group pages.
Keep the Family Together
First, I like to start with the mother and father, number each child – for example I am the fourth child of four. Therefore, on my “family sheet” I put my husband on the left side with Carlson / Goff as the family name. Then I would write #4 to show where I would be placed in the family order. (After this post I started adding the total number of siblings – #4/4) You can see from my forms, at the end of this post, how I keep track of the sibling order.
My family book is organized as follows:
Mother and father – Indicated with a red separator sheet (red for Bloodline):
Siblings – Indicated with a blue/pink separator sheet (blue for male/pink for female) :
Sibling’s families – behind each sibling (I recommend using different colored separator sheets to keep from getting confused.)
If the sibling’s family starts to get really large, I will use a separate book just for them – with a placeholder page indicating that they are now in their own book. This is a project that starts small but grows very large, however, it is extremely fascinating and rewarding. Get your free Family Sheet Forms here
Organized and Focused
Organizing the families this way allows me to dive deep into one family line at a time. This is helpful for many reasons, but mainly because you make more discoveries than if you were working multiple family lines at a time.
One day I may work on my husband’s side; and a family line on my side the next day. It all depends on what I get interested in and how I follow the trail of information. Typically, I have these ancestry mysteries floating around in my head and I wake up and think – hmmm, let me look into this further. Sometimes, letting things sit is how I find some of the best information!
I hope this helps you to get started researching your family tree. Please email me with any questions or suggestions you might have. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sherri
Here’s a peek at some of my family sheets:
