Where to Start Your Ancestry Journey

To start your own genealogy project, you do need to start at the beginning, which means getting some paper and pencils out and to start talking to your family about what they may be able to tell you.

Your first stop should be those that are older than you, the older they are the better. Start with parents, your grandparents, your uncles and your aunts. Anyone that is in your family’s line is an ideal person to start your research.

Here are some of the most important pieces of information to gather.

• List their name, including any maiden names they may have.
• List their date of birth and finding their birth, especially the city.
• Question about their youth, where did they grow up, what life they lived, what religious organizations they were part of.
• Who were their parents? What information about their parents can they provide to you? This should include information about where and when the parents were married, grew up or anything extra that they can tell you.
• When was the individual you are talking to married? Where were they married?
• Where did their parents meet? Where did their parents work, live and do what they did?
• Locations of parent’s burial sites can be helpful as well. When they died and where buried, including the cemetery name if available is important.
• Whom was their family growing up? Did they have aunts, uncles, cousins, distant family members that they remember? Gather the same information for these individuals as well.
• Are there family members that are living close by them?
• Are there family members buried at the same cemetery as relatives? If so, were and what were their names?
• Ask about their living relatives and the deceased relatives. Is there anyone in the family still alive that you can talk to? If so, how can you reach them?

Asking these questions is just the start, but a powerful one. You want to open the lines of communication between you and those that you have alive and available to you ways to do this are to use stories.