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How
to Get Your Family Tree Started
Family tree projects start with the person wanting to get started
-- which means "you" WHO cannot do it for you; WHO does
not have the credentials nor the personnel or time to search out documentation.
WHO connects you with others sharing your interests and roots.
Start with "you!" On paper put down your name and the names
of your spouse and children. By each name add their birth dates and
where they took place, then the names of your parents (both sides)
with their birth dates, marriage dates, and possible deaths with
a place name for every date. Add the siblings for every generation
and what you know about them. As for your four grandparents, put down
any details you and others in the extended family know about them.
Before you know it, you've got a family tree started!
Add
whatever else others in your extended or greater family can tell you.
Ask your aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws for their bmd dates and
details. (The letters "bmd" is an acronym for birth, marriage
and death.) The secret is sharing and enjoying the process. Before
you know it, a substantial family tree takes shape. Add pictures to
the file and any other memorabilia and documentation such as certificates,
letters, etc. that your relations can contribute or make copies. Keep
a record of all your sources.
This
is the way all family trees should and do get started -- working back
from "you". Never work forward. Do not start with the past
or the dead -- you always begin with you. Too busy? One step
at a time. One name at a time. Patience and perseverance. Before you
know it, your family tree becomes a conversational reality. Make
copies and share it with the greater family. It inevitably comes back
with corrections and additions! Post your family tree at WHO
for others to access and add their branches. One or more of your newfound
cousins may have treasures to share. Incredible? Yes, and to think
that it all started with "you!"
Purchase a computer genealogy program;
be sure it includes what is called gedcom which enables you to share
your data with others who may be using different programs (gedcom
translates from one program to another). Share your findings early
with WHO no matter how little you may think it to be because
posting early at WHO is more than likely to bring another researcher
or researchers into the picture who are "digging up" the
same ancestors! Keep WHO updated as you progress .
Family
Interviews
Beyond the family
tree, a great way to generate journalizing information for your heritage
scrapbook is a family interview. Sit down with a grandparent and a pile
of photographs and you will collect a wealth of family tales. You could
also ask specific questions to conduct a traditional interview. Use
the following suggestions to get started. Personalize the list by adding
your own questions and those of other family members. Be sure to bring
along a tape recorder to capture your relative's voice or better yet,
bring a video camera to get the whole picture.
1. What is your
earliest childhood memory?
2. What kind of games did you play growing up? What was your favourite
thing to do for fun?
3. When
you were younger, what was school like? What were your best and worst
subjects?
4. What world event stands out most from your early years?
5. Describe what a typical family dinner was like when you were growing
up.
6. How did your family celebrate holidays, like birthdays? Christmas?
Easter?
7. When did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
8. Explain the details of the time you proposed or were proposed to.
9. What memory stands out most from your wedding day?
10. What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
11. Why did you choose your children's names?
12. What was your proudest moment as a parent?
13. What did your family enjoy doing together?
14. If you could have had any other profession, what would it have
been?
15. Of all the things your parents told or taught you, what do you
think has been the most valuable throughout your life?
16. What accomplishment were you most proud of?
17. What makes you happy? Gives you peace? What makes you sad or angry?
18. What is the one thing you want people to remember about you?
19. If you could talk to your descendants living in the future, what
would you want to tell them?
20. If asked to describe yourself, what descriptive phrases will you
use?
Tape the interviews; video taping is even better! Then
transfer the interviews to paper and/or computer files. Create a heritage
scrapbook of photos and memorabilia. Better still, create a CD or DVD
which can be gifted for others in the family.
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