Foundations of Genealogy Research

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1  (Jan. 1-10)
Prompt: Foundations
#52ancestors

What are the foundations of my genealogy research? 

Everyone says to start with yourself and work backwards, but I didn’t hear that for many years.  So, I skipped my parents and my grandparents.  I became interested in my family history while I was in high school while all of my grandparents were alive for me to ask questions and talk to about their lives. I didn’t ask enough questions. I didn’t write down all that they told me, but they are the foundation of my research. 

I said I skipped my grandparents because I didn’t verify any of their information. I started doing actual research on their parents.  Many years later, I did go back and find the documentation for all of the facts that I already knew. I also found some pieces of information that I did not know.  My maternal grandmother told me she had lived in one county in Oklahoma from the time she was one year old until she married.  But I couldn’t find her in the census records when she was 5 years old.  I did eventually find her in a different county with her stepfather’s last name. She did not know that when she was 5 that her mother had moved with her stepfather to another county and then moved back.

When my mother decided to apply for Social Security, she needed her birth certificate to apply.  She asked me how to get her birth certificate. I had to sheepishly admit that I had a copy of it that she could use.  It saved her some time, and it was interesting watching her exam her birth certificate for the first time.

I found new information on my other grandparents, nothing really surprising. However, I filled out the details of their lives.  Start where you are the most interested, but some day go back and fill out the details, make the early connections, too.

My Grandparents