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| My pioneer grandfather's memorial stone in Tillamook |
So, how do you get started in your genealogy?
Easy! Get something to write on or an empty word processing sheet and start with yourself!
What's your full name?
Where were you born?
When were you born?
Who are your parents?
Where did you grow up?
Where did you go to school?
When did you graduate?
Did you serve in the military?
When? Where? What did you do?
Anything historical happen in your life - i.e. been in the newspaper?
Are you married?
To whom?
When did that happen?
Where did that happen?
(Why did that happen? Cuz her dad had a shotgun....I actually got threatened at my wedding by my wife's grandfather....he has more guns than I do and is even more conservative than I am and told me in the Sealing Room of the Portland Oregon Temple "You'd better take care of her, you know how many guns I've got and I am dead serious about my grandaughters being taken care of." I was annoyed at the time - but makes a good memory and I think her grandad is pretty frickin cool.)
Do you have children?
What are there names? All the same questions above for them too!
What about your brothers and sisters?
Genealogy is EASY to get started on. And VERY addicting.
You can download a free bit of software to track you family tree like Personal Ancestral File (PAF) (more used by LDS family historians) or Family Tree Builder.
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| SS Konig Albert - the ship my grandfather came from Italy on |
Talk to family members. Ask questions. Write down what you find.
Old photographs? Find them and label them! Gather them together!
Then, when you've fanned out a bit, start taking a trip to the cemetery to photograph headstones if you wish and attach the photos to the names you find.
Or go to local museums and often there's some history there if your family history is located there - mine are located in Tillamook Pioneer Museum, Oregon. Actually, it was kinda....strange/cool to see my great-to-the-fifth grandfather's picture on the wall and have my wife say "oh....you have his eyes!"
Other things you can do? Go visit old homes your family has lived in - photograph those! Places they used to visit for dinner or work? Get a picture! Document it! Go visit! Write a letter to the ones who are still alive!
It's really that easy to GET STARTED. Later when you start getting "back there" or crossing oceans - that's a little bit more difficult and we'll save that for another day. I'm first/second generation American on my mom's side so my tree abruptly stops in Marseille, France and Alto Pascio, Toscana, Italy at my granparents (IN THE 1800's - it's 2011 and I'm in my 30's and my grandparents....1800's.... Europe..... horses..... grandparents.... no airplanes....not even WWI yet....grandpa fought in WWI....but - bit of a gap. That's what happens when you have a kid at 63.)
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| My grandpa did stonesmasonry on Timberline Lodge and wasn't in The Shining |
Anyways, that's how you start. And trust me - that's enough to keep you busy. You can if you wish buy fancy family trees to hang on your wall and fill it out - I have one that's very lopsided on dad's side of the family and empty on mom's side...that whole Europe thing...
But - yah! If you've never done it - WELCOME TO FAMILY HISTORY! I'll go over a bit more I hope as the month goes on.