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Tracing Your Family Tree |
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Hilary
Machan was into genealogy long before it was hip. Her older
sister started mapping the family tree almost 25 years ago,
so Hilary was always listening in when grandmothers and
aunts were asked about long ago weddings and missing
gravestones.
As a teenager, Hilary got involved with her
local Genealogical Society chapter, where she volunteered as
cemetery coordinator. The job involved keeping a database of
local cemeteries and helping the cemeteries transcribe the
names of people buried there. She once found the gravestone
of the long-lost ancestor of a man from New York State. He
sent her a cheque in the mail for the task: her first paying
job.
Now
32, Hilary's still a genealogy buff. She's started tracking
her husband's line and, along with her sister, has taken her
own family back several generations. In their quest, the two
have discovered family all over North America. They've got
the names of one murderer, several murder victims, and one
brothel madame.
You
can start your own journey into your family's past with very
few tools. Your computer and avid curiosity will do it.
Here's how to trace your family tree:
Getting Started
Start with what you know, suggests Hilary. You can even
begin to search databases or sift through archives unless
you know a few names and dates. First, write down all the
births, weddings and deaths in your immediate family.
Then
pay your grandmother, Aunt Lucy and third cousin Joe a visit
and ask them for everything they know about relatives,
living and dead. A few names, dates, timelines and places
will give you a place to start sketching your tree and a
list of questions you can ask others or start to look up in
original documents.
Go To The Source
Now
that you know some names, places, and vague dates, you're
ready to verify and expand your information. The very best
places to find original documents are archives. Every
municipality has its own, so start there. You can look at
original birth, death, marriage, divorce, census, school,
and land ownership documents, as well as photographs.
Since
your family probably spread across your province, a trip to
your provincial archives can be really helpful. If you're
visiting Ottawa you can get a plethora of information from
the National Archives of Canada.
Fortunately, you don't have to travel to the national or
even provincial archives in person to make use of their
information. Most have websites that list the information
they have available and whether you can E-mail, call, or
write to request death certificates or land claims. Keep in
mind that it nearly almost always costs money to get copies
of these documents, and that the price varies widely.
The
National Archives, at www.archives.ca, also has searchable
online databases of some censuses, names of soldiers from
World War I, and immigration records. If you discover some
of your relatives moved stateside, you'll want to browse the
National Archives and Records Administration at www.nara.gov,
or visit the Web sites of various state archives.
Other
places you can find original proof of when and where someone
lived are cemeteries (tombstones have birth and death dates)
and churches (many of which have records of members,
marriages, baptisms, and funerals).
Keep reading for tips on finding out about your past.
Get It From The Web
Anyone and everyone who's hunting down ancestors inevitably
turns to the internet to find information, living relatives,
and like-minded genealogists. To get your hands on hard-to
find information on your family, try the Latter-day Saint's
Family Search site at www.familysearch.org.
You don't have
to be a Mormon or even religious to benefit from the
church's comprehensive genealogical data that you can access
for a fee.
Hilary's sister, for instance, was able to order
a microfilm that showed a page from a Scottish parish
registry, documenting the marriage of a several-times-great
grandfather. If there's a church in your area, you can also
visit its Family History Center.
You
can also pay to join websites such as www.ancestry.com and
www.familytreemaker.com to gain access to special databases
and censuses. You can do free searches of all U.S. vital
records such as marriage, divorces, and births at
www.vitalrec.com.
To find more genealogy sites and to get
more helpful tips, go to a portal such as www.rootsweb,
which has links to dozens of other genealogy-related sites.
This is a great place to find mailing lists and message
boards. These are often divided by geography and family
name. At www.genforum.com, you can find forums divided by
name or geography. Posts and chats from others tracing their
trees can help you scout out new leads, discover information
errors, and even find distant relatives.
Keep Track Of It All
Sorting through everything you know, want to know, and
aren't sure about in your family line gets a lot easier if
you're using a proper family tree database program.
Widely
available and very affordable (under $50), these programs
draw out your tree and give you places to type in where you
found information.
That's important, says Hilary, since she
often discovers information she got from one source doesn't
jibe with another. When she keeps good notes in her
database, she knows which spelling of the name or birthplace
is likely more correct based on the source.
Popular programs
include Family Tree Maker (www.familytreemaker.com), Legacy
Family Tree (www.legacyfamilytree.com), LDS Family History,
and Generations. Talk to others who do genealogist research
or do some research to find out which program will work best
for you.
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Do you have advice or
resources that would benefit others in their family
searches? Send us an email with your information.
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