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Your family tree can be as small or large as you want it to be. It all depends on how in depth you want to dig into your family's roots. You can accumulate information since your ancestors emigrated to Canada, which in my case was 1831. Or, you can go back as far as to the dawn of time. I talked with one family historian who had researched back to the 1300’s. She happened across some royalty in the 1700s and there was a lot of documented information in relation to her "royalty" ancestors. You can search back just the male side of the family tree. Or, you can also look into your mother’s family line, your grandmother’s family line and so on, and so on (which can become an enormous task). It really depends on how much time you want to devote to your family history. It also depends a little on how much of a "detective spirit" you have. |
| The place to start is with your own family. Use
our chart or one from the Latter Days Saints
family history centre to write down the most recent generation. Chart your mother, father,
brother(s) and sister(s). Next expand to your grandparents and your grandparents children
(your uncles and aunts). Then chart all your uncles and aunts’ children (your first
cousins). Depending on how old you are when you start your family history, your brothers
and sisters could have children, or even grandchildren. Your first cousins could have
children or grandchildren. The idea is to pick one central spot, you, and
to move out from there. The further out from the centre, and the more distant in time, the
more difficult it will usually become to gather information. Write down all the information possible such as: full names (including middle names), birth dates and birthplaces, marriage dates and marriage places, minister and church where married, second marriages, death dates and death places, and place of burial if applicable. It is a good practice to write down who or where you got your information. If you don’t, months or years into your family history you will be asking yourself "Where in the heck did I get this information from?" This always seems to happen when 2 different people give you different information about the same person. At times like these, checking your sources comes in real handy. When I first started my family history, the one comment I heard over and over again from seasoned family historians was "Document everything!" Once you have documented your immediate family, it is time to contact other family members. |
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