Family Genealogy is a Treasure Hunt

Family genealogy is one of the most interesting topics for any family to discuss because it’s unique to each family. Finding everything from royalty to heroes in the family tree is exciting. Having a personal record of the family tree is a great treasure. Recently, the Latter-day Saint church provided Larry King with a copy of his family history during his evening TV show. King commented that although he had received many gifts during his life, he would cherish the gift of his family history above all the rest.

How do you find the origin and story of a family name as unique as von Hinerenoken der Nuentean Dans or as common as Smith? There are three major sources for finding information about your family genealogy without the help of one of those expensive genealogy research groups?

* Family History Libraries

The easiest way to learn more about your family tree is to download all the information that has already been compiled. You can do this with the Ancestral File database that’s indexed at the world’s largest genealogy library, The Family History Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Downloading your family tree onto a GEDCOM file can help you do research on the ancestors you are most interested in. In order to find as much information on your genealogy as possible in the database, you’ll need to gather information about your parents, your grandparents, and your great-grandparents.

* The Internet

Since only a small percentage of genealogy enthusiasts will ever make it to the Salt Lake Valley; the information has been placed online at FamilySearch.org this is a non-profit website that helps make vital records available to researchers.

* Field Research

Field research isn’t always the most practical method for filling in the gaps of your family tree. It’s definitely the most time consuming, but it’s also often the most rewarding. After exhausting the data that’s already been compiled in indexes, the next step is to do your own research. You can hire an accredited genealogist to do this for you, or you can tackle it yourself. Field research is done by going into census records, birth/death records, marriage records, and anything else that’s available to find any information you can on a your family.

These are some basic sources of finding information. Certainly, volumes have been written on the subject of family genealogy, but only recently has a new method of research been revealed, DNA testing. Through DNA, people whose research has hit a roadblock and hasn’t moved for years can conduct a DNA test to either confirm records already obtained, link themselves to someone they believe to be a relative, or determine what ethnicitys make up their DNA is.

Remember that building a record of your family genealogy is very time-consuming, but it’s extremely rewarding. Through either the help of a professional or your own efforts, your family tree is a treasure worth discovering.