Research - Lesson 1
There are two types of sources, Primary Sources and Secondary Sources. Primary Sources are sources that are dated right after the event, or shortly after, whereas Secondary Sources are usualy dated some time in the after an event has occured.
A Birth Certificate is both a Primary and a Secondary Source. The information listed on a Birth Certificate that is a Primary Source is the information directly pertaining to the individual's birth. The information on a Birth Certificate that is considered a Secondary Source, is information on the parents Place of birth, as this information is given years after the event of the parents birth, and therefore has room for error.
As you are gathering sources of your personal information, be sure to look for information on your birth certificate, marriage certificate, your children's birth certificates, court documents, identification cards, tax records, deeds, wills, probate records, Bible records, baby books, Yearbooks, photo albums, and so much more! Since the information is about you, you may even use yourself as a Primary Source for the information!
All this information, documentation, notes, and whatever you find about you, should be neatly organized in some fashion. The earlier you get accustomed to organizing your data the way you like, the easier it will become to retrieve the information, and also to add to it.
Fill out two Family Group Sheets of yourself. One with you as a child, and the second with you as a spouse. You may print a copy of our Family Group Sheet HERE. Be sure to click your browser back button to return to this page.
After you have completed all your own personal research on yourself as a child and as a spouse, you are ready to go back one generation.
Print additional copies of the Family Group Sheet, and fill in the information, one for your Father as a child and another for your mother as a child. Agian, you will need to gather all the source documentation you can for any and all events.
After you have completed the research and gathering of information on your parents, you are then ready to go further back, one more generation. You will then need to complete additional Family Group Sheets for each of your grandparents as a child. After you have done this continue to do so for each generation that you go back.
Another vital tool used in genealogy is the Pedigree Chart. This chart is a tool to visualy see a certain number of ancestors for a person. The Pedigree Chart is also a numbering system. Keep in mind that person number 1, is yourself. Your father will be double, of what your number is, so he is number 2. Your mother, is double your number, plus one, so she will be number 3. If you can remeber that little system, you will completely understand the numbering system.
For example, there will be a person number 40. The father of person number 40, is double his number, so he is number 80. Number 40s mother is double his number, plus one, so she is number 81. This may come very important at some time, as you are reviewing another researchers work, and are trying to find the parents of number 1800. (Which by the way is number person number 3600 and 3601.)
Now that you have a good understanding of the Pedigree Chart, you need to fill one out. Remember, you are person number one, and your father is person number two, and your mother is person number three. Get your copy of the Pedigree Chart, click here.
You will notice there are a total of 31 persons (5 generations) of ancestors that fit onto one sheet. Numbers 16-31 (your Great Great Grandparents) do not get to fit all their information, plus you may have additional ancestors prior to that individual. Let us say that person number 16, you know further generations back. For that reason, you will need to fill out an additional Pedigree Chart, with number 16, as number one (the starting point). Then you will be able to fill in additional generations. It is important to keep track of who is where. That is why on the notation on your first Pedigree Chart, of person number 16, you write in the Chart Number that person number 16 starts out as number 1. This is why you need to number your charts as well. The chart with you as number one, is Chart # 1. The chart with your # 16, as # 1, becomes chart # 2. It may sound difficult, but it is realy easy, and you are then able to keep track of your progress in your genealogy research.
Now you are able to fill in your Pedigree Chart, and your family group sheets. When you have filled in all you can, with what avilable resources and documents that are readily available to you,you are then ready for further research. You now have a strong base to start much further researching.
Always keeping in mind the basics, documentation and recording your sources. In researching, remember to think of places that you may least find a source or documentation. Besides the basic birth, marriage and death certificates, there is a world or resources available! Never forget the obvious, and sometimes overlooked; living family members can be a goldmine of information.
|
| Search | Documents | Databases | Downloads | Photos |
Family Footprints website is owned, operated, and published by: Robert Powell
Family Footprints website and contents Copyright ©2000-2003 by: Robert Powell, unless otherwise stated, and used with permission. All rights reserved
| TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | DISCLAIMER | MISSION | FAQ-HELP | CONTRIBUTE |