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VERY IMPORTANT
Do not ever put the names of living
people online in your family tree unless the tree is
strictly password protected and available only to selected
viewers.
It is
considered extremely bad etiquette to reveal the names of
living people to the general public. |
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by Sandy Teller
Decide on Your Basic Approach
There are two different ways to approach ancestry research:
- Follow your direct line of descent only
- Branch out to include your entire family tree
Each approach has pluses and minuses.
When you follow only your direct line of descent, your research is
easier and you can probably reach an end to the project at some
point. This is particularly true when you follow only the male line
of descent. With the other approach - including your entire
tree - the project is almost without end as you will continue to
find new branches. For example, with the whole tree approach, the
discovery of a marriage that was previously unknown, can open new
horizons.
If you include your entire tree, it's also more likely you can
discover other people who are researching somewhere in your family
because your tree will include many, many more people.
Network with Other Researchers
When I started my research, I knew only two surnames and
one place name in Scotland. Not knowing where to start, I found the
message board at
http://boards.rootsweb.com/?o_iid=33216&o_lid=33216. When I
searched for the surnames and East Kilbride, I found two other
people posting questions and answers about my family. Of course, I
struck out a few times too!
Another way to connect is to search for your family is
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi. If you can get
a 'hit' on someone else's tree and tap into their research, it can
open new avenues for you.
Finally, if you join
http://www.ancestry.com (paid subscription) you can search for
family trees that contain persons common to your tree. Of course,
ancesty.com has a great deal of other information too.
Connecting with people who are researching the same family can save
you a lot of effort. However, you should carefully check their
results and not depend on them entirely. There are many
inexperienced researchers who have people in their trees that don't
belong there.
I was VERY excited when I found in a tree at ancestry.com a
marriage between Margaret Leggat (b. 1796 in East Kilbride,
Lanarkshire - definitely MY Margaret!) and Thomas Purdie. I had
never before found a marriage for Margaret. Even more fun:
Thomas Prudie was listed as Gamekeeper to Sir Walter Scott with
an online portrait painted in 1824 by Charles Walter Leslie. WOW
- what a discovery.
However, upon closer inspection, the tree owner shows the
marriage between my Margaret Leggat and Thomas Purdie occurred
in 1802. Margaret would have been 6 years old! Clearly, the tree
owner had the wrong Margaret Leggat. Faulty research leads to
faulty conclusions.
Even worse, at least one other tree owner copied the
Margaret/Thomas information without even looking at the dates
and the impossibility of a marriage connection between the two
people.
Many of the trees online have a method whereby you can contact
the owner of the tree by email. If you think there is a real
connection, do contact the owner. I have connected with many very,
very helpful people who are experienced researchers. Most of those
have turned out to be distant relatives in time and in place. One is
so distant in time - a sixth cousin twice removed - that it's hard
to picture the relationship which goes back to a marriage in 1714
between Alexander Aikenhead (b. abt 1685) and Margaret Paterson (b.
1696). Our Scottish ancestors immigrated to so many different
places, I am in touch with people in the US, Canada, Scotland, the
UK, New Zealand and Australia through my research.
Connecting with other people can save you a lot of time as long as
their research is accurate. It's also a valuable resource to be able
to share ideas and 'new discoveries' with someone interested in the
same family. And it's so much fun when they email you about a new
discovery they've made.
Don't Ignore Google
One of the earliest common connections I made was through a simple
Google search. I am very interested in not only who my ancestors
were but where and how they lived. To that end, at Google I searched
on the name of a family farm in Scotland and found more info about
an earlier family that lived there. It turns out in the end that we
are all related although not in the way I originally thought.
Through a Google search I was also able to correct a very
experienced researcher about the 'right' Mary Pettigrew. Mary
was not in his direct line. Therefore, he hadn't researched
thoroughly. Mary Pettigrew is my ggg grandmother, so I was able to
clarify the facts because of a monument inscription of which the
other researcher was not aware.
You might find online books about your ancestors via a
Google search. The archives of Canada as well as the archive.org Web
site have tens of thousands of books online. They are indexed so
that you can find names, and many deal with the early settlement of
Canada and the US.
Be Realistic in Your Expectations
Some people conduct ancestry research in the hopes of finding
they are descended from aristocrats or even royalty. It is better to
start out thinking you are descended from commoners. That way you
won't be disappointed.
Records for commoners were scanty in the British Isles prior to
about 1700. They got a lot better in Scotland after 1854. The point
is, even for early royals birth and death dates aren't always precisely
known. Commoners were not accounted for until much later. It is
not realistic to expect to find a connection to Mary Queen of Scots
or Robert the Bruce except through DNA testing.
I would like to find a connection to Christopher Strang, a
Covenenter hanged in Edinburgh in 1666. Although there are several
Strangs in my tree - all from Lanarkshire as was Christopher - my
earliest Strang is Issobel b. 1673. I
have no way to prove or disprove a connection between Christopher
and Issobel or Christopher and any other Strang in my tree. The
records just don't exist.
Organize Your Findings
Set up separate folders on your computer, and by all means use tools
like Excel spreadsheets to keep your materials organized. I put
everything in Excel so that I can sort by timeline. I find that only
by adding the timeline can I make sense of the different
generations.
It's much better to organize from the beginning than to go back and
do it later. In the beginning I had so much material coming in so
quickly due to all the assistance from other researchers, I lost
track of what I had and what I didn't have. To this day, some of my
documents are organized haphazardly.
You should also use a family tree tool. There are many. Wikipedia
compares several products.
Genealogy Software.
This link is also displayed in the nav at left.
I chose to put my tree online at tribalpages.com which requires no special software by users.
Ancestry.com also allows you to put your tree online. I prefer the
format at tribalpages.com to the format at ancestry.com, but
that's an entirely individual preference.
Don't Get Discouraged
It is perfectly normal to reach what you think is a dead-end in your
research. When that happens, drop it for awhile and clear your head. New records come
online frequently. Those new records could contain the
breakthrough information you are looking for. Or, someone might find
your tree online and email you with new data.
The point is, be patient and don't give up even when you think
you've hit a wall!
