Patience
- and hopefully a lot of it! This is probably one of the most time
consuming efforts you will ever undertake. It is a learning process
unto itself and no amount of preparation or counseling can prepare
you for the amount of detail you desire. Only you can determine how
much or how little effort to spend! |
Organization
- and discipline are needed to document ground that has been
covered. At the same time, new documents are unearthed every day and
added by dedicated individuals such as yourself. You need to
periodically back track and verify whether any new information has
been added by a source. |
Focus
- is needed to minimize backtracking and redundant efforts! It is
easy (and often enjoyable) to spend several months getting really
involved in (I know these things sound crazy) pioneer diaries,
recipes, clothing, photographs, military records, battle
re-enactments! However, if you can't remember where you left off,
you can easily spend time researching something or someone that you
have already attempted only because you have misplaced or forgotten
the results. |
Personal Information
- gathered from family and friends will be the real beginning. A
computer software program or at a minimum, handwritten paper
arranged in a family tree are a must. (This is where you will begin
to decide if you will include all aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. or
will you focus on an individual surname, an ancestor or all your
ancestors.) |
Research
- at the Public Library, private historical collections, local and
remote genealogy societies and the Latter Day Saints (LDS) Family
History Center (FHC) will become your new world. These places will provide
you with education, knowledge of additional sources, microfilm,
Internet access, collections, manuscripts, newsletters and most of
all, contact with fellow genealogists! |
Census -
documents are the best place to start if you have any history in the
US. Assuming you have any family information, you should have a
fairly good idea of families and relationships back to the early
1920's or 1930's. Census documents going back in time are available
from 1920 to 1790. I would suggest that you get them ALL going
backward in time. I would start with the SOUNDEX census microfilm
(you are going to have to find a library or Family History Center
(Mormon Church) to view microfilm) and record by state, all those
families that are of interest. You may want to focus on a particular
state and go back to successive censuses, but in any case for each
census you may want to compile all hits in an individual state. |
ll
Home
ll History ll
Societies ll
Maps ll Census ll
ll Research ll
Articles ll Family
Histories ll Photo Album
ll Copyright
2003 Judy Visner |