Your Family Tree – Copying Online Trees – Genealogy Pitfalls & Possibilities

Beginners to genealogy are often very excited to find family trees extending back several more generations from grandparents or great grandparents. Wow – there are names, approximate birth years, and more details. It immediately fills in your family line on one side of your family. Great – now you can brush your hands off and go look for more information for one of your other family lines.

But, wait a minute here before you copy or merge that new-found family tree with yours. How can you be certain that those ancestors are truly yours? That any of the details are even correct?

You may find – as I did – that an online family tree had the wrong great-grandmother for one family line of mine. That error meant that many other people had copied the incorrect information into their own family trees, adding several generations of the wrong ancestors. Whoops! How did I know it was an error? Because we had a family story of my great grandfather’s wife’s family having a “Grover” as a maiden name several generations back… plus there were totally different family first names in my family line. More searching online, with details of marriages, and it became clear where my great grandmother’s family line came from: Buell, not Doolittle. By going up and then down the family line, I was able to confirm detail after detail with documents and registrations, plus obituaries, in order to be certain of the accuracy of my results. As you can imagine, I learned a great deal with this research project!

One of the things that will strike you as you look at online trees, is that many people simply copy one person’s family tree. So there may be 15 family trees all saying exactly the same thing about names/dates/places… But that may be the result of 14 copies of one original. The fact that there are many copies does not make the original, true!

How can you tell if this wealth of detail you found is correct for your family tree? There is only one way: verify each of the details with original source material if at all possible. An excellent source could be birth registrations (government or church) which list both parents including maiden names of mothers. Other sources may include the following: gravestones, church registers, pension records, census records over several decades, or marriage registrations which also may list both parties’ parents names and birthplaces or residences. Once you are back to the early 1800s or before that time, it may be quite challenging to find sources, but keep digging and you may find treasure.

At times, there may be published histories or genealogies of particular towns or villages which detail some of your ancestors. As the histories were often written about 80-100 years or more after the fact, taken from sources you may not be able to find or read, you will need to consider them secondary sources which will still need more verification. In the late 1800s in the United States, for example, family genealogies became very popular and many families had “professionals” write out their family tree in detail. Some of these are very well researched, and the sources used are detailed in the published material. Others are based on hearsay and conjecture, and contain many errors. The further back in time, the more likely there are to be errors of various kinds.

For example, in one family line of mine, there are many Grover Buell men, generation after generation, through siblings and side-lines. So many of them, born close together in time and place, that some histories have condensed several of them into one, thinking that “someone” made a mistake with the dates etc. I have had to list each one and research each one to be sure I have “my” Grover Buell! Luckily, others have been doing some of the research as well, and share their results online. We have shared finding gravestones with the correct person and his wife, and documents of tax rolls and more. “Cousins” online are so helpful!

That said about pitfalls, there are often very accurate family trees online, that have been researched well, and have source material attached to individuals in the trees. For instance, a published history details when an ancestor first came to a newly carved out village in Connecticut, names his sons and their ages at the time, describes his occupation over time, and his daughters’ married names. Wow – what a find! And there are additional details found in the village’s church registers of each person, marriages, their children, plus deaths and burials. Even a few gravestone photographs. Confirmation of details is so exciting!

One of my family lines joined up with a well-known surname family line which had been researched extensively. As the surname organization had original sources and details verified, I was able to merge safely and accurately with that ancestor’s descendants. For the challenge, I still researched through the direct line to be sure that in fact the family tree worked in both directions, up and down, and there were primary sources to support the details. Yes it did, and I was thrilled to find so much interesting information on that family line.

If you find a family tree line which merges with one of your line, take the time to write the person who has input the details, asking for their research or sources of the information. Several times I’ve received a response of “I can’t remember where I found this information but it was online somewhere.” Oh dear. Now you will need to be very creative looking for those records. Of course, this will remind you that you must make certain that if YOU find a source for details, you will definitely copy the source and webpage address into the individual’s record for future reference.

As you can see, there are wonderful possibilities when searching online for family tree information. And of course, there are challenging pitfalls as well. Never use online trees as “sources” for your family tree details: they should be considered as tentative guidelines for your further researches, instead. Once you can verify details with other documents and sources, you will be able to cite those sources for others researching the same line as your family ancestors. Plus you will be certain of the accuracy of your family tree. Happy searching.

Retired from the fields of individual rehabilitation and family counselling, Celia is excited to offer quality information, resources, and services for beginners in Genealogy. If you are a beginner, check out RootsBasic booklet, at http://www.rootsbasic.com – an inexpensive guide to help you get started, including practical forms to help keep you organized. FREE resources: articles, newsletters, online links and more on RootsBasic: Genealogy for Beginners.

Tips For Researching Your Genealogy

There are many tips to help you build a quality genealogy. Most important down to least important follow: 1. Start. Many folks say they will look into their family tree when: pick your answer, the children are in college or have left home, the baby is out of diapers, the last child is in first grade, I retire, when so-and-so sends the part of the tree that he has researched, when I have more time. Start with yourself. Just start.

2. Keep an open mind at all times. Nothing is carved in stone, even the vital facts about your family.

3. Look through the house for anything helpful in cedar chests, closets, boxes of pictures, old letters and postcards, the family Bible. Even a statue or memento may trigger ideas.

4. Visit the public building in your town that would house vital records, such as birth, death, marriage, divorce. Ask questions of everyone you meet.

5. Correspond with all known relatives. Send family group sheets with birthday and Christmas cards for them to fill out and return. Start a family newsletter and urge participation.

6. Visit cemeteries. You may find birth dates along with the names on the grave stones. Some even have pictures and the place of birth. Take pictures of the stones and write down the area in which you found the grave. The whole family may be buried in one plot. Never assume, however, that the name of the wife buried with the man is the only wife that family man had.

7. Read old newspapers. This is fun. Finding ancestors not only gives you dates and facts but juicy tidbits of gossip. You may find a family member you never knew before.

8. Document! Document! People are so eager to do research and find their family that they fail to write down where they found the family. Start out with the good habit of documenting your sources right now.

9. Use a time-line. It really helps to put your family in perspective with world history. Find the dates of wars, famines and diseases that affect every ones family.

10.The web and the computer have dramatically impacted genealogy. Look online. If a relative is reluctant to divulge family history, tell them that it will all be online someday. No sense in keeping secrets.

11. Least, there is no least important tip. Collect and use all the tips you can. Genealogy
goes on and on. You never finish finding fascinating facts about your ancestors.

Elizabeth Larsen has researched her family tree for 35 years. For more information on beginning a good genealogy, lots of tips and good web sites, go to http://www.squidoo.com/basicgenealogy

Genealogy for Beginners

You are very interested in your family and where your ancestors came from, but you are unsure where to begin. That was me about 10 years ago when I decided to research my dad’s side of the family. For many years, I had always heard that my great-grandmother was Cherokee (I’m sure many of you have heard the same stories).

Taking on this task, I was not sure where to begin. One thing is for sure, with the internet researching has gotten a lot easier and can be done from your home. But, that is not where I began first. Although the internet provides some great tools for researching your family, you have to be really careful to verify your information as there is a lot of incorrect information out there.

My first step in my quest to find out more about my family, was to start talking with the oldest members of the family that were still living. I met with a great-aunt of mine (the daughter of my great-grandmother) who provided me with some bible records, pictures, and tidbits of information she remembered. It was this meeting that provided me with some of the surnames that were in my family. It was also interesting to talk with someone and listen to some of the family stories.

However, one thing I was surprised to find out was how little family members knew about each other. Although my great-grandmother was her mother, she knew very little about her being Cherokee. She knew that she was always told that her mother was Cherokee, but other than that she knew nothing.

In future articles, I will discuss other steps to help you in your genealogy quest.

Learning About Family History Can Be Fun For the Whole Family

In order to make family history research into your ancestors fun for the whole family, you have to think of what you would find fun, especially for the children. Unless your spouse is interested in finding his or her own family, it may be hard to get their interest.

If your family likes to travel it is a wonderful excuse to go where your ancestors came from. Often, that trip will be overseas and what fun. Start with your immediate family, however, and find all that you can about it. Then you can travel to where the family members lived in the United States and use all the resources available there before you head overseas. Make that trip as enjoyable as possible.

Tell your children about their ancestors. They will love to hear how they resemble grandma and grandpa and maybe an aunt or uncle. How excited they will be to hear about the escapades of their relatives in college or the military.

Children love cemeteries. On a nice day, just amble through one and see if you can find any relatives. Usually the caretaker will have the names of the people buried and the area where you can find them. Just be sure you find the right names. Relatives are not always buried close together and I have an uncle whose first wife is not buried in his plot but clear across the cemetery.

It is fun to make rubbings of the stones and save them. The practice is controversial, however, as most stones are getting old and fragile. Always ask the cemetery caretaker or historical society if they allow rubbings. Some do not even allow the taking of pictures, but if they do and don’t allow rubbings, take pictures with your digital camera and then you can load them into your computer. Children love to take pictures.

If you are allowed to make rubbings, use crayons and large pieces of white paper such as butcher paper. Tape it down over the whole stone and gently and then maybe, use a little more force and rub the crayon over the stone. Never rub over a worn or cracked stone.

If you take pictures, label them with the row and number of the plot, the names of the ancestors, the ages and sometimes you will see the name of the birthplace. Do not write on the pictures but label them on the back or bottom in pencil putting all the information you would need to find the graves again.

Research may be boring for the rest of the family, but your enthusiasm will no doubt rub off onto them. Set a time limit and have treats after so much is accomplished. Dedicated genealogists seem to never tire and go on and on. Use your imagination and you will come up with ideas that will make the search enjoyable for the whole family.

Elizabeth Larsen has researched her family tree for 35 years. For more information on beginning a good genealogy and lots of tips, go to http://www.squidoo.com/basicgenealogy.

Tips For Filling Holes in Your Family Tree

Putting relatives in those holes in your family tree may require time, patience and some expenditures on your part. Genealogists are a most helpful bunch and they share their tips generously. Here are some.

If you are plugging holes, you probably have most of the tree researched and documented. This is a good time to take a deep breath and start over. Genealogists love to do research. The thrill of the chase, the deep satisfaction when you find the right relative or ancestor keeps you going and piling up reams of sheets of paper, piles of documents and unnamed photos.

File, bad word, but you must do it and I hope you have filled out research sheets so you can quickly see what you need to do next. Label and attach those pictures to the right ancestors. Enter into your family tree the data you have verified since the last entries.

If you are using the internet, revisit all the sites you have in the past. Genealogy sites constantly upgrade their sites with millions of records added daily. Even the paid sites have free trials for a limited time, but you should have a list of your holes ready to look up.

The most important thing for a genealogist is to keep an open mind. If you have visited Ellis Island, say, re-log into the site. Many emigrants returned to their native countries for visits or maybe you missed them the first time you looked. Many family members came ahead of the rest of the members to find jobs and homes with the rest coming later.

Counties have changed names and boundaries. States were formerly called territories. Try to find your whole family in successive censuses. You may have made an honest mistake when you first searched. Or the census enumerator made a mistake.

Revisit the public building where you first searched for your ancestors. Many of them are upgraded and rebuilt. Maybe, there are more helpful staff available than when you first started.

Maybe you are waiting for reluctant relatives to share their knowledge. Resend family sheets with a gentle reminder. It seems people love or hate genealogy with not much in between. If there is any interest in research, try to fire it up. Finding just one ancestor or an unknown fact may do the trick.

Every time you carry on a conversation with a relative, briefly mention the missing ancestor. You never know what might trigger a memory. Show them pictures or take them to the cemetery.

This might be a good time to consider a trip to the ancestral home. If you have the census records, you have the county, city and state and the country of origin. It is such a thrill to walk where your ancestors walked and visit the buildings and churches where they went.

Visiting the courthouses or churches in the countries where your ancestors lived may be the only way you will plug those holes. However, finish your research in the United States before going overseas.

Elizabeth Larsen has researched her family tree for 35 years. For more information on beginning a good genealogy and many good tips and resources, go to http://www.squidoo.com/basicgenealogy