Family History Research: An Adventure through the Past

When creating your family's history, the first thing that probably comes to mind is “where do I start and how?” The answer may seem simple, but is in fact no easy feat—research.

Researching family history requires diligence, hard work and perseverance. It also requires a lot of imagination and some basic data processing, note-taking and documenting skills. Although these may seem like a lot, researching is a lot like investigating. Digging up bits and pieces of the past and reconstructing stories from hearsay and facts is a fun experience and an adventure of sorts.

Before rushing to the local registry, talk to your parents and grandparents about your family's background. List names, dates and other factual information. In case there is something that you think is fabricated, investigate it further by checking newspaper clippings, court reports and the like.

You can also ask your immediate family members if they know other relatives that can help you out in your research. Often, they will refer you to an aunt, cousin or some great-uncle whom you've never encountered before.

Before seeking these new-found relatives out, write to them or give them a call to set up an appointment. Interviewing them by surprise might make them trust you less. As a consequence, you might not be able to get the information you need.

If they agree to an interview, ready your questions beforehand. Also, don't ask too personal questions that may hurt their sensibilities or discourage them from sharing details to you.

When researching, you have to be sure about what you put down as factual. Although you should avoid romanticizing your ancestors' lives, you can add colorful factual information about them in the family history. These could be anecdotes or funny things they've said or misconstructions about them that you wish to correct.

After exhausting all the possible people you can interview, you might also want to search national registries and local libraries to verify the information you've jotted down, such as dates and places.

You can also check an online family history database, which is easier to search. You can also download software that enables family history sharing. One of these is the Genealogical Data Communication software or GEDCOM which was created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Researching your family history is an enriching endeavor that you will surely never forget.