This document provides an introduction to genealogy research. It discusses that genealogy involves tracing family lineages through records and history. The document outlines four parts to genealogical research: getting started, family history, common mistakes, and resources. It provides tips for getting organized, researching one ancestral line at a time, and important record types like census, vital, and military records. Primary sources and oral histories are emphasized over written family histories. Useful online and local resources are also listed.

1. Introduction to Genealogy
By Julie Sikes-Speir

2. A FOUR PART
GENEALOGICAL PROGRAM
Julie Sikes-Speir
C JulieART Studios

3. Getting Started

4. Genealogy is the study of the descent of families and persons
from an ancestor or ancestors. It is undertaken by people interested in
their personal and family origins.
Family History involves the biographical research into a
person’s ancestors in order to produce a narrative history. It gives a
personal, in-depth look into the life and times of an individual or family
and shows the historical circumstances and geographical situations in
which they lived.

5. Keep in mind that
all the records you
discover are people…
YOUR ANCESTORS

6.  To satisfy your curiosity about yourself and your
ancestry.
 To provide your children with a sense of who their
ancestors were, where they came from and how they
lived their lives.
 To preserve family cultural and ethnic traditions for
future generations.
 To compile a medical family history to give family
members an advantage in the battle against
inherited diseases or defects.
 To qualify for a lineage or heritage society.
 To assemble and publish a family history book.

7.  Record What You Already Know.
◦ Start with yourself and work backwards including all
vital information available.
 Get Organized – Record information on pedigree charts.
 Begin Your Research at Home.
 Research one Ancestral Line at a time.
 Look for Primary Source (Original) Records:
◦ Census Records
◦ Vital Records
◦ Social Security Death Index

8.  Don't put off talking to relatives
 Don't neglect to write down your sources
(make photocopies of everything)
 Don't assume that everything you find on
the internet is reliable
 Don't trust everything you see in print
 Don't accept family legends without
question

9.  Don't limit yourself to the current spelling
of your surname
 Don’t assume your family is related to
someone famous
 Don't be satisfied with names and dates
 Beware the generic family history
 Don't misspell the word genealogy

10.  These may be in your home or the home of a
relative:
◦ Birth, marriage and death certificates
◦ Deeds, wills, & titles
◦ Bibles
◦ Diaries, journals, & birthday calendars
◦ Family trees
◦ Funeral cards
◦ Certificates (from schools or jobs)
◦ Cookbooks and other books (check for inscriptions)
◦ Photographs

11. ◦ Closet doors (look for writing on the inside walls)
◦ Furniture (sometimes you'll find names and dates on
the bottoms or backs of furniture)
◦ Autograph books and scrapbooks
◦ Military service records
◦ Newspaper clippings (many times found in Bibles
◦ Pictures (don't forget to look at the backs)
◦ Résumés

12.  School papers (report cards can have parents'
signatures)
 Sewing samplers, quilts, and handmade items
 Tax records
 Trunks and chests
 Yearbooks
 Make copies whenever possible and include the
source

13.  Cite every source.
– Keep a written record of all the sources you have
searched.
– Try to photocopy the information and the title
page of books.
– Interviews with relatives count as sources.
Indicate person, date & time.
– Keep information organized in files or notebooks

14.  Use pedigree charts, family group sheets,
research logs, etc.
http://www.byub.org/ancestors/charts/
 Genealogical forms are available for you to
copy in the LCLS Genealogy Room or at:
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/home/welcome/sta
rt.asp

15.  A family group includes parents,
 children, and the spouse of each
child
 Prepare a family group sheet for
each couple
 Include all children alive or
deceased
 Include adopted children,
but indicate adopted
 Indicate the source of the
information.

16. Record—A family group record lets you
list an entire family and their information.

17.  Using Pedigree Charts:
 Begin with yourself and work
back one generation at a time.
 You are number 1.
 Your father is number 2.
Father’s name on the upper line.
 Your mother is number 3.
Use the woman’s maiden name.
 Men always have even numbers,
 Wives have odd numbers which are
 one more than their husband’s numbe

18. Chart—A pedigree chart lets you list
your pedigree
(your parents, grandparents, great
grandparents, and so on)

19.  Write surnames in capital letters:
◦ William James THOMAS
 Write dates military style:
◦ 10 Aug 2006
 Write names of places from smallest to
largest:
◦ Cusseta, Lee, Alabama, USA

20.  Paternal / Maternal
 Ancestors / Descendants
 Pedigree / Family tree
 Family history / Local history
 Lineal / Collateral / Half / Step

21. May be
hand written

22. The National Archives offers extensive information on how to care for
family archives.
http://www.archives.gov/preservation/family-archives/

23. . http://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/index.h

24.  Work backwards from the present to the past,
one generation at a time to avoid mistakes.
 Dates and places of events are just as
important as names.
 For every generation back the number of
ancestors doubles.
 Know the history of where your ancestors
lived..

25.  Who
◦ A full name, use a woman’s maiden name if known.
 What
◦ The event: birth, death, marriage, etc.
 Where
◦ A very important thing you need to know is the place
where a person was born, married, lived or died, etc.
 When
◦ An (at least) approximate date for a event (birth,
death, marriage, etc.)

26.  By using a genealogy software program you
can:
◦ Enter individual information
◦ Link individuals together
◦ Allow for as many notes as necessary
◦ Share information with others
◦ Download (copy) files from other people
◦ Add photographs, video clips or pictures of family
memorabilia
◦ Produce artistically pleasing and personally-designed
forms
◦ Search databases automatically

27.  Personal Ancestral File
There are others but PAF
is good and is completely free.
To install PAF software
Go to www.familysearch.org
Click on ―Download PAF‖

28. FREE
Will batch load information from the
FamilySearch website and load it into your
individual PAF file.

30. Provides place for notes

31. Provides storage of photo, video and audio files

32. Creates printable pedigree and family charts

33.  Evaluate Written and Oral Evidence
Just because it's in print (or online) doesn't make
it true.
 Look to see if the book is documented;
that is, did the author cite a source for
each fact?
Spot check some of the author's sources.
Are you able to find a document based on the
footnotes or endnotes?

34. Useful sources of primary information:
A primary record or source is one created
by an eyewitness of an event.
Birth, death and marriage certificates
Family Bibles (recorded when the event occurred)
Obituaries
Birth, marriage and death announcements
Passports
Letters, diaries
Photographs

35. Census Records
Local Historical and Genealogical Societies
Libraries and Archives
Comprehensive Sites
Government Sites
Military Records
Vital Statistics
Ethnic Sites
Documentation

36. Where do I go next?
Check with area public and academic
libraries, historical and genealogical
societies as well as those resources in
geographical locations where your research
is concentrated.
•Auburn University Library
•Grady Bradshaw Library
•Lewis Cooper Library

37. Local Historical and Genealogical
Societies

38. Library of Congress: Local History and Genealogy
Reading Room
http://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/images/lhg-home-
title.gif
American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
Directory of Genealogy Libraries in the US
http://www.gwest.org/gen_libs.htm
Alabama Department of Archives and History
http://www.archives.state.al.us/
Georgia Archives
http://www.sos.ga.gov/archives/

39. A valuable primary genealogical resource

40.  In the U.S., a census has been taken every
10 years from 1790 through 2010.
 1790 to 1930 censuses are available to
genealogists to search.
 There is a 72 year privacy rule.
 The 1940 census will be public in April,
2012

41.  Census records lead to other civil and
religious records.
 They narrow down the timeframe and places
to search for civil and religious records.

42.  Many of the censuses give not only
names, ages and birthplaces, but also
state the relationship of people within a
household.
 Give clues to the ancestors country of
origin as well as where they lived.

43.  Each census became more detailed as each
decade passed.
 The 1890 census was almost completely
destroyed by fire.

44.  Look at the census for the state where your
ancestor lived when the census was taken
 Start with most recent census (1930) and work
backwards.
 Note similar names living nearby—in the same
county and in neighboring counties.
 Watch for spelling errors and variations, and
oversight. Be open to ―Soundex‖ surnames
 Scan or photocopy record the information you
find, especially the year of the census.

46. From LDS FamilySearch.org

47. The 1940 census will be in the scanned form.
It will be a while before it is transcribed.
April, 2012

48. 1790-1930 Census Information is available from:
 Ancestry.com $
 Heritage Quest – Library database
 Familysearch,org

49. Birth, marriage, and death certificates

50.  Vital records are civil records of births,
marriage,deaths, etc.
 Keeping vital records only began after the mid
19th or early in the 20th century.
 Start with yourself and work backwards.
◦ Obtain a birth and marriage certificate for
yourself, parents, grandparents, etc.

51. You can find some vital record information on
databases such as:
 Ancestry.com Library
 LDS Family History Library
 State archives and health departments
 But often you will have to write to the
county or state where the records are held
and pay to get copies.

52. Alabama State Vital Records Office I
P.O. Box 5625
Montgomery, AL 36103-5625
(334) 206-5418
Fax: (334) 262-9563
The following records may be ordered for a $15 fee:
•Birth (since Jan 1908)
•Death (since Jan 1908)
•Marriage (since Aug 1935)
•Divorce (since Jan 1950)

54. Alabama State Vital Records Office I
P.O. Box 5625
Montgomery, AL 36103-5625
(334) 206-5418
Fax: (334) 262-9563
The following records may be ordered for a $15 fee:
•Birth (since Jan 1908)
•Death (since Jan 1908)
•Marriage (since Aug 1935)
•Divorce (since Jan 1950)
Each Alabama county has vital records links

55. Social Security Death Index
ssdi.archives.com
Vital Records ($$)
http://www.vitalrec.com/index.html
Local Health Departments ($$)
Order birth and death certificates

56. Baby’s name, birth date and
parents
Birthplaces of both parents,
their age, their occupations,
and their address
The number of other children

57. Beginning in the 1600s, town clerks in New
England and county clerks elsewhere (1700s)
primarily maintained marriage records.
After 1850s at State Board of Health/Bureau of
Vital Statistics
Other sources of marriage records:
Justice of the Peace registers
Found in county clerks office

58. Place and cause of death.
Name of deceased’s parents,
Residence at time of death,
Exact date of death, and date of burial
Name of informant and relationship to deceased
Funeral home that handled the arrangements,
name of cemetery

59. Available at :
 www.familysearch.org
 www.rootsweb.com
 www.ancestry.com
The Social Security Administration has over 88
million records

60. From LCS FAmilySearch.org

61.  Gives the name of the person's
father, maiden name of mother, date of birth,
address at time of application, occupation,
and name and address of employer. This is
primary evidence because it was written by the
person himself.
To obtain a copy, write to:
Social Security Administration
OEO FOIA Workgroup
300 N. Green Street
P.O. Box 33022
Baltimore, Maryland 21290-3022