Many of us want to know where we came from, our ancestral origins. Family history or genealogical research in the past consisted of searching dusty archives or staring at microfilms in dark rooms for hours. These days this journey begins with a DNA test to find our ethnicity breakdown. Family history for the absolute beginner only takes a few steps to get started and it does not involve spending time in dark, dusty archives or spending a lot of money.

Start with you

All family history research starts with you. You are the starting point in your ancestral story. And it does not necessarily start with an ethnicity report from a DNA testing company. DNA ethnicity reports are always interesting and sometimes surprising, but they only tell a part of your story. Even if you started with a DNA test, you have to return back to your own, personal story.

The best way to start a family history is to write down your own story. You could begin your story with your own life sketch. Begin with the dates and places of your birth, parent names, etc. Follow that with other major life events. Include details of those events that are fun or interesting.

You are the best person to write and tell your own story.

Ask Questions

The next step is to start asking questions of family members, such as parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Ask about birth dates, places, and other life events. There are a lot of ways to organize the information and pictures you will start to collect. The important thing is to record it. Write the stories that you are told. Record the names and places of other people that are mentioned.

You can begin to record the basic data on a pedigree chart or family group sheet.

Asking questions of family members can sometimes be difficult depending on family circumstances. For those that have been adopted, your adopted family is also your family. Adopted individuals can have two family trees, one for the adopted family and one for the biological family, if known. Regardless, some sensitivity may be needed to explore family relationships.

Online Research

If you are ready to begin research and look for documents and evidence for the family data you have collected, it’s time to transition to using online databases. There are a lot of resources available online and many of the tree building programs can help you build a tree very quickly. FamilySearch, Ancestry, and My Heritage all provide ways to build a tree and they will automatically provide record hints of your ancestors. Each of these sites have different features, but are similar in how they work.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch is a wiki-style tree. This means the tree in FamilySearch is shared by all the users. There is one person page for every person who has lived, at least ideally. You can register to use the site for free and search most of the record collections unrestricted. Some record collections can only be viewed at FamilySearch centers located in many locations.

One thing to keep in mind is that the FamilySearch Family Tree is not your tree, it is a shared tree. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. It does saves time by not duplicating research over and over. Record hints are attached as sources, providing evidence for the data. But there are errors in the tree, so person pages need to be evaluated carefully.

Ancestry

Ancestry is a subscription genealogy site. You can create your own tree that is not shared with anyone else. Ancestry will help you build your tree very quickly by providing “leaf” tree hints as soon as you enter a person into the tree. You can build and create as many trees as you want. Ancestry has a tremendous database of record collections that can be searched. Most record collections are available in the base subscription, but a few are an additional expense.

Ancestry includes DNA testing and DNA matching with other users. The cost of DNA testing has come down in recent years and frequently goes on sale around major holidays. DNA testing can help with finding biological family and help with breaking through genealogical brick walls. It can also bring out family secrets and unexpected family, so be prepared to learn something new. Adding DNA to your family history research is an advanced research technique and Ancestry does provide some helps through videos and a learning resource center.

My Heritage

My Heritage is also a subscription genealogy site and is similar to Ancestry in many ways. There are tree building tools, record collections, and DNA testing and matching. My Heritage has some record collections that are different from Ancestry or FamilySearch so it may be worth subscribing periodically to search their databases.

My Heritage has a smaller DNA database than Ancestry, but also has a different DNA database focused on European countries. This means it may be a better place to test if your ancestry is from Europe. My Heritage will allow you to upload your Ancestry DNA test and then pay a small fee to access the DNA tools.

Other Resources

There are many other resources than the major genealogical websites. This includes archives, historical societies, genealogical societies, and libraries. Some of these have online databases, some have privately held collections that are only accessible in person. Libraries may have unique collections and/or provide look-up services.

Many local governments have archives and repositories that can be searched online or in person. In some cases you will have to request documents from a local government, so be prepared to pay fees for copies.

Next Steps

Family History research is a fun and addicting endeavor. It is easy to spend hours searching and looking for your family as you build your family tree. You will begin to feel a connection to your family as you discover your family origins that is hard to describe. You will be motivated to collect the stories and share them.

Beginning family history research is easy and does not require much to get started. As time goes on you will want to expand your skills and knowledge. You can attend genealogy workshops, join study groups, and get one-on-one coaching. Another alternative is to hire a professional researcher to work on areas of the tree that are more difficult.

Regardless, the best thing to do is to start writing the story of you and then writing and telling the stories of your ancestors.