How To Begin

So!  You've decided to to a bit of genealogy. Good for you! Now the question is,were does one start? Bear in mind I am not an expert,and everything I share is based on my own experience of over a decade.

Thankfully,every year there seems to be more and more options for obtaining family tree information,with the advent of personal computers and genealogy sites. However,the first line of attack will never change: your family.

1) Talk to your parents and grandparents. They can be a very valuable resource. Even if they don't have information dating back hundreds of years (which is unlikely,anyway) they can give you a starting point.  My parents knew some about their families,but not tons. My mother,for instance,has no idea where her grandfather Thompson is buried or when he died.My father only knew that his grandfather had been born in Canada was buried in the local cemetery.They both could tell family lore stories,but they knew very little facts. However, if you can get basic information-names and places of birth, it's a start.

2)Go to town/city halls and local libraries.Both my parents were born and bred in Somersworth,NH,so I knew that city hall would have records. I was dismayed to find out that I just couldn't pour through books,like you can in some towns. I had to have a name,and what type of document I wanted,which cost me $10. I did get my great grandfather's death certificate. However,if you don't have a lot of money,documents can get pretty expensive when you are investigate over 100 people. I also went to the city library and looked up old City reports. In these books they list marriages,deaths,births,etc,and I was lucky enough to see that the city reports went back over a hundred years.I also found an old St Martins Parish record book. Both sides of my family were Catholic,so I knew I could find some great info in there. In fact,I discovered the answer to one of the big mysteries-the name of my Dad's grandmother. I found it in the notation about my great uncle's wedding. Where it listed Mother of the Groom,there was her name-Delima Bonsaint Lessard. It was very exciting! 

3) Go on line. When I did step #2, I didn't have a computer. When I did finally get a PC, I started off using Rootsweb.com because it was free. I then decided to bite the bullet and pay for a subscription to Ancestry.com. Ancestry has come a looong way since I started using it 10 years ago. I also purchased Family Tree Maker to keep to track of my discoveries. Until then,I was writing everything down and making my own handwritten family sheets. It was very time consuming,but I admit I liked having a hard copy of the info. It's amazing the amount of information I have found using Ancestry. 99.9% of my facts have come from their site,as they have marriage records,death records,military records,census,etc.

That's where you can start. Next...what is up with the different names for the same person?