About Genealogy

What is genealogy and family history?

Genealogy is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members. The results are often displayed in charts or written as narratives.

Family history is broader than genealogy, and covers not just lineage but also family and community history and biography. It is an attempt to understand not just where and when people lived but also their lifestyles, biographies, and motivations. This often requires—or leads to—knowledge of antiquated laws, old political boundaries, migration trends, and historical socioeconomic or religious conditions.

How genealogy research works

In genealogy, one must work from the known to the unknown. This is done by obtaining records and other items that verify what is known. Research is then conducted to find additional information. In these records, family histories, and other resources, tidbits about individuals you may have known nothing about can be found.

Records and documentation

Genealogists use a wide variety of records in their research. To effectively conduct genealogical research, it is important to understand how the records were created, what information is included in them, and how and where to access them.

record types used in genealogy research include":

• Vital records (Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death)

• Bibliography and biographical profiles

• Cemetery records

• Census records

• Religious records ( Birth or Christening, Confirmation, Marriage, Funeral or Death, Membership)

• City and telephone directories

• Court records (Criminal, Civil and Probate Records

• Diaries, personal letters and family Bibles

• Emigration, Immigration and naturalization records

• Land and property records

• Military and records

• Newspaper articles and obituaries

• Photographs

• Poorhouse, workhouse, almshouse and asylum records

• Ship passenger lists

Some reasons for conducting family history research

• to gain a better understanding of who you are by learning where you come from

• to find out if you have famous, or infamous, ancestors

• to discover the immigration patterns of your family and what countries they came from

• to obtain evidence required for a legal proceeding

• to learn the occupations of your ancestors

• to find out if there is a street or town named after someone in your family

• to confirm, enhance or negate family lore

• to find stories in newspapers about your ancestors from old newspapers

• to ascertain whether your ancestor was a war hero, or perhaps a villain

What to expect

The following process is the starting point for researching your family history. As the project becomes better defined and understood, it will be revised to meet your goals and objectives:

1. I will REVIEW OF THE INFORMATION YOU ALREADY HAVE with you

   This helps to get an idea of what is known - and what is to be discovered.

2. we will Define the Research Challenge together

   I will discuss the research challenge with you and make sure we both clearly understand what you want to accomplish.

3. i will dEVELOP A RESEARCH PLAN for your review and approval

   A research plan that outlines what we will do to find the information you want will be prepared for your review and approval.

4. i will CONDUCT thorough genealogical rESEARCH

   Thorough genealogy research includes:

   • Researching the lives of each ancestor to ensure correct identification of each person includes determining place names, occupations, family names, first names, and dates. And then, going beyond the basic and placing this information in its historical context in order to properly evaluate genealogical evidence and distinguish between same-name individuals.

   • Analyzing whether Information found in historical or genealogical sources is reliable by evaluating all sources with a critical eye. Factors influencing the reliability of genealogical information include: the knowledge of the informant (or writer); the bias and mental state of the informant (or writer); the passage of time and the potential for copying and compiling errors.

   • Looking at the reliability of the informant of each record. The informant is the individual who provided the recorded information.

   • Considering the motivation of the informant. Even individuals who had knowledge of the fact, sometimes intentionally or unintentionally provided false or misleading information.

   • Analyzing the effect of time as the passage of time often affects an informant’s ability to recall information. Therefore, as a general rule, data recorded soon after the event are usually more reliable than data recorded many years later.

   • Analyzing the effects that copying and compiling errors may have had on the information in a source. For this reason, sources are generally categorized in two categories: original and derivative. An original source is one that is not based on another source. A derivative source is information taken from another source. This distinction is important because each time a source is copied, information about the record may be lost and errors may result from the copyist misreading, mistyping, or miswriting the information.

   • Determining whether the information has been obtained from primary or secondary sources. Primary sources are records that were made at the time of the event, for example a death certificate would be a primary source for a person's death date and place. Secondary sources are records that are made days, weeks, months, or even years after an event.

5. i will Analyze the Findings

   I regularly review the genealogy research and make conclusions about what has been found. I also compare my findings with other documents to confirm or disprove conclusions.

6. the findings will be reported to you

   You will be provided with periodic genealogy research reports about the research activities. The reports include photocopies, transcriptions or abstracts of important information. Research reports will also include suggestions for continued research.

7. Charts and Forms can be prepared in accordance with your instructions

   I prepare forms such as pedigree charts, individual and family charts.

8. PREPARE A FAMILY WEBSITE