The most common question I get is, how can I do my own family tree? So that is why I wrote this guide. It’s really much easier than you might think. Your family tree always starts with you. So write down your first, middle and last name as well as your date of birth and where you were born. Now do you have any brother or sisters? You will want ot write down this for everyone.
- First, middle and last name. (always use maiden name for females)
- Date of birth (month, day and year)
- Location of birth (city, county, state and country)
Do you or any of your siblings have kids? Well write down their information as well. Again you every person you want to write down their …
- First, middle and last name.
- Date of birth (month, day and year)
- Location of birth (city, county, state and country)
Now let’s go to your parents. Call your mom and dad if you have to ask as them if you aren’t use of the needed information. Do your parents have brothers and sisters (your aunts and uncles)? What about their kids (your cousins)? Also find out the date your parents got married and where they got married at.
Once you’ve written all of this information down you are really getting somewhere. These are typically all living in your family. So now it’s time to get a little historical.
You want to get information about your grandmother and grandfather from each of your parents. If your grandparents are alive call them. They are going to be the key to getting to the next level of your tree. Find out the name of their brothers and sisters and most importantly their parents.
They may not always remember exact information but get what you can. Write down what they think may be accurate, you can always correct it later.
Next call their brothers and sisters (if they have any) and find out about their kids and what they remember about their parents information. See if any of them know when your parents were born, where they were born and hopefully what their grandparents names were.
At this point things get a little more complicated. The further back in history you go, the less likely people are to remember.
Take all the information you already have and start entering it in at a site like ancestry.com. Once you get all the above information filled out, chances are you’ll start to get hints and pings on historical documents that will lead you to more and more members of your family.
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