Genealogy-101 (Introduction)

Over the years while we have been doing Genealogy, we often have people ask, "How can I get started in Genealogy?" Or they will ask "How can I find out who my great grandfather was?" Because of these questions these lessons have been put together with some material that will help people get started on their search for their ancestors.

Getting Started

Starting in Genealogy requires one to ask a lot of questions. The questions start very close to home. Start with what you know, then ask questions of your parents, grandparents, if they are still living, then any other relatives or friends that might have information on your family or ancestors. Start with yourself, and with a notebook ask the following questions:

• Person's Name.
• Birth Date.
• Person's Birth Place (City, County & Country).
• Occupation.
• Where the person was last known to be living.
• Any other information that might be known about this person.

There are a lot of other sources of Genealogy and Historical data. These will be discussed and explained in future lessons.

Compiling the Data

Once the preliminary data has been collected it is going to have to be formatted in a manor that makes it easy to review and to be added to as new information is collected. Genealogists use many different forms to show the compiled data. The most popular are the pedigree chart, the ancestors chart, the family relationship chart and the pedigree fan chart. All of these charts are available online. These can be printed, using a normal home printer and some of the PDF versions can be filled out online and then printed. For the students connivance there are Internet Links to available Genealogy Forms under the Information tab above. These forms may be found on the Internet for free.

Once some data has been collected, it will be more convenience to use a computer program to compile, store and review the data. This will be covered in the next lesson.