Genealogy is a great way to introduce your children to family history. It is also an excellent opportunity to teach them about the mistakes and tragedies that make us who we are today.
Start with one research subject – yourself, a parent, or an ancestor – and work backwards. This will give you a good idea of how much information you have.
Start with What You Know
When you begin making a family tree, it’s best to start with what you know. You’ll need to know your family members’ names, occupations, known locations, and birth dates (if possible). Learning how to make a family tree involves gathering information about relatives, organizing it systematically, and using various tools or software to represent your familial connections across generations visually.
As you fill in those details, drawing out a basic diagram of your family is helpful. A family tree chart can be as simple or complicated as possible. A simple tree that includes your direct descendants and spouses may be enough if you’re just getting started. Or, if you can go back several generations, your family tree may consist of siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Once you have the basics down, it’s time to start adding your ancestors and spouses. It’s also helpful to use a genealogical numbering system to keep track of your information as you go. For example, if you’re tracing your grandfather’s paternal line to his great-great-grandfather, number him as 1, his father as 2, his mother as three, and so on.
To help you stay organized as you work, it’s a good idea to set a goal for yourself. For many genealogists, this is completing a full ancestral pedigree chart. That might seem like a big task, but you can reach your goal in a year or two when you break it down into smaller chunks. Having this timeline will keep you motivated and help you plan for any unexpected challenges that might come your way.
Gather Documents
It’s essential to gather all the information you can about your family. This means talking to older relatives and searching through old photos, letters, and other documents. You can even use DNA tests to learn more about your ancestry. Once you have all this information, you can assemble your family tree.
The first thing to do is decide what your reference point will be. This will be the person that marks the starting point for your tree’s structure. It’s easiest to start with yourself, but you can choose a parent or sibling. Once you’ve decided who to start with, gather documents for them.
This includes birth and death certificates, marriage records, and wills. It’s also a good idea to keep a research log where you record all the information you find. This way, you can remember where each piece of new information came from – and it’s easier to break through those pesky brick walls when you have all of your sources logged.
Another great tool to have is a family tree template. There are many templates, but the best ones feature a flexible workspace to centralize your information as you build your tree. This makes it easy to see your family structure’s appearance as you create it.
Make an Outline
Family trees can be as simple or detailed as you want. Suppose your goal is to uncover more details about each ancestor. In that case, you’ll need to collect information on the family members you already know, such as their name, occupation, known locations, and death date (if applicable).
Next, decide how far back you’d like to go when building your tree. A standard family tree chart would include your immediate family, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
To make your family tree easier to understand, you’ll also need to draw boxes or “leaves” for each person on the tree. Connecting the leaves correctly is the key to making a flourishing family tree. For example, you wouldn’t put a widow’s maiden name relating to her late husband’s parents. Instead, you’d add her to the family tree as a child of her late husband.
As you gather and evaluate new information, keep track of it in a research log. It’s possible that your ancestors fibbed, forgot, or even fudged some information on official documents, so you’ll need to double-check any new findings. Then, use the workspace to centralize this information and visualize your work. You can then easily add the data to your family tree. Then, you’ll be ready to search for more ancestors and continue your genealogy journey!
Share Your Family Tree
During your research, reach out to other family members and ask them to share any documents they have with you. Please encourage them to join you in your library or cemetery visits. They will likely be more receptive to your requests if they contribute to the effort. They will also be more likely to be cooperative if they know how important their help is to your success.
Once you’ve collected all the necessary information, it’s time to start tracing relationships with your family tree. Begin with your parents and add children for each parent, following best practices (e.g., listing women by their maiden names). Once you’ve finished with your family, move on to your grandparents and their parents. Continue tracing each relative as far back as possible, adding siblings and other relatives where you can.
Conclusion
Once ready, share your ancestry tree with friends and family by sending them a unique link. They will be able to view the tree and provide feedback. If you decide to make your tree private at any point, you can do so by going to your tree’s settings. You’ll then be able to re-share it after seven days. You can also build your stand-alone family website if you prefer complete control over your information and research presentation.