One family history class at the library…
and we’re hooked! Last
January, I was looking for a way for my mom and I to jump into family history
research. I knew there were countless genealogy websites on the Internet, like
Ancestry.com. I had bought my mom a book on genealogy for Christmas (I’ll write
a post on this once we have had time to read it). All the available information
and resources were a little overwhelming, and we really needed some guidance to
get started. Then while scanning through my Feedly blog list, I came across a
post on the Kidoinfo.com blog (Link) about the Family
History Workshop Series (Link) at Providence Public Library. The first class,
“Genealogy 101,” was scheduled for the following Saturday morning. Luckily,
there were still spots available so we signed up immediately.
That Saturday morning,
we were so excited that we arrived before the library opened. By the end of the
hour-long class, we were hooked! The class was an excellent introduction to
family history research. The instructor, Kate Wells, is the Rhode Island
Collection librarian for the Providence Library and had helped so many other
people with their searches that she decided to start working on her own family
tree about five years ago. She did a great job outlining the basics of
genealogy, and offered many tips on how to get started and how to avoid common
pitfalls of new genealogists.
Here are my
notes from the class. Keep in mind that before the class I knew very little
about genealogy—everything seemed interesting and important.
Sources
·
Primary
– a record created at the time of the event (ex: birth certificate)
·
Secondary
– records created after the event took place
·
Census
– data is protected for 70 years = the 1940’s census was just released
Tips for filling out the
forms
·
Women’s
maiden names – be consistent, for ex: first middle (maiden) last
·
Be
consistent with all notation – suffixes
·
Search
by all names: maiden, nicknames, etc.
·
Parents:
Father – up, Mother – down
Where to get information
·
Family
resources: interview family members, photo albums, family bibles
·
Libraries
– local libraries have local history
·
Online:
Ancestry.com (free at library), Familysearch.org (the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints)
Basic info (try to find
primary sources)
·
Birth
date and location
·
Names
of parents, siblings, spouses and children
·
Occupation
·
Death
date and location
·
Burial
location
·
Obituary
Documentation
·
Family
Group Sheet – lists spouses and
children, plus their vital statistics
·
Pedigree
Chart – lists only your
direct ancestors and their vital statistics
·
Research
Log – to cite your sources
·
Online
family tree makers: Myheritage.com, Familysearch.org
o
Can
link you to other people with the same relatives
Numbering systems
·
Ahnentafel
– you are #1 and the numbers grow larger as you go further back
·
Register
style – your furthest ancestor is #1 and the numbers grow as you move forward
in time – used for published genealogies
After the
presentation, we had some time to work on a couple handouts: a pedigree chart
and a family group sheet. Step One to beginning your family history research is
to record what you already know, starting with you and working backwards. On
the pedigree chart, my mom wrote her name and her parents’ names, Fenwick Bowen
Small (1918-2003) and Marion Drucilla
Whichelo (1922-2006). She also filled
out a family group sheet for Fenwick and Marion, listing their children:
William A. Small (1941-1955), herself,
and her 2 sisters. We added as many vital statistic (birth, marriage and death)
dates and locations as we could remember. The excitement was building as we
talked about the many documents that my mom already had about other relatives.
We couldn’t wait to get home to gather more information and fill in the blanks.
After the class, we knew this hobby would become a new passion for us.
