There have been movies made on the theme of finding one’s family and roots. So, why should you not direct your very own search for your complete family? Is it not an exciting thought that every person on the earth must logically be related if we go very deep into history, to the first ancestor? Making your own family tree is an educative and rewarding experience. It will provide you a medical history and a relationship history of your family and make you come in contact with those members you never even dreamed existed in your family. Here is how you go about making your family tree:
1. Start the researching from your family members
It would be a Herculean task to enlist all the family members that you currently have. To start with, you could make a list of the family members that you currently know. Talk to your uncles, aunts and cousins. Remember that the number of people will simply multiply with each generation because each marriage will bring in another family. Though the possibilities are endless you cannot explore them fully. This would also be a good time to decide the breadth and extent to which you would want your research to extend. Once that is decided, it is questioning time.
When you meet up with your relatives, find out about any names and relationships that you have missed out in the tree. The first part would be an extensive search. Find out about those that have died and those that have been separated in time or by distance. Then do an intensive research. Find out more about the people – the medical history, significant dates in their life, their place of residence and what they did for a living. It would be useful to gather more leads as to who else could be approached for the information you are seeking. Then, pursue these leads with the same questions and gather more leads. Go as far as possible or as far as you have decided.
2. Extend your research using available resources
Once you have filled up most of the blanks in the family tree, start digging deeper. The information of the newer generations who are so far apart on the family tree that they are almost strangers could be obtained using the internet resources. You could use social media for this. For the older generations also the internet could come handy. Many genealogy sites have now erupted on the internet and they could be made use of. The mode of functioning for these sites are based on an active and helpful web community. Ancestor Hunt, Family Search, Rootsweb and Genea Links are some useful sites of this nature.
The internet however, is a relatively new resource when it comes to family trees. So, you could now research into communities. This will mean travelling to the native places of your ancestors. You will have to meet up with the community members they interacted with and gather information. Speak to their neighbors and friends too. Also included will be visits to libraries, cemeteries and public-record offices.
3. Organize your family tree
Researching and gathering information is one thing. It is only when you process and arrange this information that the family tree will get life! This is a job that you can accomplish with great ease and elegance using internet resources. There are many websites which allow you to enter all your genealogy information and data online and store that information for you. You could classify and arrange everything online.
It would be more fun, interesting and easy for you to print out a family tree diagram and fill it up with a pen. These diagrams are available in many styles and structures on the internet and so can be freely downloaded. Making this family tree researching into a scrapbook activity will ensure that you involve the whole family with the kids into it. And the tradition will live on too. You can add pictures and stories to the scrapbook and it will soon grow into a rich history document of the family.
At the same time, to make the activity achieve a professional look and feel, you could opt for a genealogy software. This will neatly organize all your data and information. Family Tree Maker is one such software. Not only can you collate and organize all sorts of stuff – text, pictures and videos – you can also vary its presentation based on your needs.
4. Take breaks
All said and done, there will be times when you will face a dead-end in all directions. At such times, take a break. This activity should be done as long as it is fun. When done in a bad state of mind, it can get filled with errors. So, do it at your own sweet time and savor your findings.
