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Documenting and charting your family tree is necessary if you plan to put all your information together and write a family history. Of course, it would seem silly to collect all the information and not write a family history. Like I’ve mentioned many times: document, document, document. The starting place is to fill out a family chart for each family. Write down the date you obtained the information, who gave you the information, their address and telephone number. Take blank family charts everywhere you go: when visiting family members, to family reunions, to the library, trips to a LDS family history centre, even on a Sunday afternoon drive (you just never know where you will end up and who you might meet). Click on this link to go to a Family Chart we designed. You can mail out blank family charts to relatives and ask them to "fill in the blanks". This will be easier and cheaper than phoning, and also gives each relative some time to gather the needed information. On the other hand, sometimes you never get the chart back again. Most people lead busy lives nowadays, and not everyone will be as enthused, as you, about a family history. When the information is about recent generations, usually getting the information from a family member is accurate - but not always. As you go further back in documenting your family, it is wise to try to cross-reference the information you receive from relatives with information you can obtain from public documents. The province of Ontario had a census of the people every 10 years starting in 1851. There is also a census for 1842 and documents that date back further for such events as the Peter Robinson emigration to Ontario in 1825. The Ontario Census is only available up to 1901 at present. You can send for copies of birth, death, and marriage records (for certain years) of your relatives. Usually these records will also provide other information about your family. The marriage register (from 1859) for my great, great grandfather Joseph gave: the age of Joseph and Harriet (his wife), Joseph’s parents’ names, Harriet’s parents’ names and the name of two relatives that witnessed the marriage. There are numerous resources available to help document your family (check our links page for all organizations mentioned below). The LDS Church and their Family Centres provide a wealth of information. The Church has been microfilming documents for years and by far has the most resources of any one organization (other than governments). For years now, one has been able to go to the LDS centres and use their resources. They now have a web site with a database that you can search online for family members. Both the provincial and federal levels of government have various resources. Each province varies in the amount of information available, both in their libraries and on the internet. Most libraries now have a genealogical section or room, and share their information with the public through an inter-library loan system. Canada has provincial Genealogical Societies and the province of Ontario is divided up into numerous branches representing the various areas of the province. By joining your local Genealogical Society, you will be able to utilize the members vast knowledge and resources. Each Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) has listing of resources available from complete books on researching your family history to local databases from the 1871 Census of Ontario. Joining a Genealogical Society will also help promote the ongoing research for genealogical data. Check out the above links and more on our Genealogical Links page. |
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