ancestry research

Learn what it is like to start ancestry research. Read the story of one researcher.

As I have talked with hundreds of ancestry researchers, it is surprising how many of our stories are similar. If you wondering what it is like to do ancestry research, allow me to share a small part of my story in the early days. Twenty years later, I am happy it started as it did.

What It’s Like to Start Ancestry Research
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I am a storyteller and historian.  I have a deep passion for learning about telling the story of my family. In order to tell that story, it became important that I learn the skills of genealogy and sleuthing for answers. In this article, I am going to tell you what it was like for me to learn about ancestry research and some of the very important first lessons that I believe are essential for me to get a great start as a historian and genealogist.

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Getting Started in Ancestry Research

After Mom’s passing, I received some of her personal effects. I remember finding photos, articles, brochures from a trip, past checks and receipts, and so forth in the bottoms of drawers, tops of closets, and every place imaginable. I put those items in a sack, brought them home, and forgot about them. Because of the experiences I had with my mother in my dreams following her death, I had this longing to know more, but I just wasn’t ready. Most of my hesitation had to do with not knowing how to begin.  I wrote this article about my very first experience in ancestry research: The Meaning of the Dream Changed My Life as A Storyteller.

This longing to begin kept growing until I had to start. Mind you; I didn’t wake up one morning and decide I wanted to be a genealogist, search court records fly 1,500 miles to search out a graveyard in the middle of Kansas, and have a file collection of color-coordinated folders filled with photos, photocopies, life histories, and artifacts.

I did it because of the love I had for my mother, and I wanted to know who she was. Upon her death, I felt a longing to know more about her. I did know about Mom—not much—that she didn’t like to talk about who she was. In a quick outline, I knew the following information about her: She was a divorced, single mom, worked graveyard at the Horseshoe Club in Las Vegas for 30-plus years, and supported three children without assistance from anyone. Mom liked movies (John Wayne was the best); enjoyed going home each summer to Spanish Fork, Utah; liked nice clothes; took us to McDonald’s and to go bowling at the Showboat Hotel on Monday nights; attended church when she could; and came to my football games, always sitting in the upper-left part of the bleachers.

When I was ready to start my research, I rediscovered the sack I had put away and spread the contents out on the kitchen table. I made two spreadsheets to help me sort through the material. The spreadsheets helped me organize the early phases of my research. I was able to begin building a mental picture of Mother’s activities and experiences by periods, Identify people who might have insights and artifacts relating to my mother’s life, come up with topics and questions I wanted to discuss with different individuals, find gaps for which I did not have information, and locate areas where I could conduct background research to help tell the story.

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Once I completed the sack, I reviewed other artifacts gathered, such as our family photo album, items in shoeboxes, etc.

In one spreadsheet, I captured the following information:

What do you have? Describe what you have. What clues or questions do you have? (Inscriptions, people in picture, etc.) Are any further actions needed?

In the second spreadsheet, I created a list of the people I wanted to make contact with.

Who is the person? What is their relationship? Address, telephone, and email address Notes for follow-up

With the information in hand, I built a list of questions and topics I wanted to learn more about. I started with a tape recorder and a list of ten people that knew my mom. One by one, I visited each person and interviewed them about their experiences with her. I uncovered, through their eyes, which my Mom was to them. Some knew her as a teenager, some as a sister, some as an adult, some as a child; all knew her as a dear and beloved individual. I uncovered pictures, news articles, correspondences, genealogy, yearbooks, souvenirs, and stories of who my mother was. I grew to have such a great love for her, her family, and my heritage. That love began my quest to become a genealogist. For the next six years, all I did was conduct oral histories on both my mom’s and my dad’s side and re-gather the record strewn across the various family members.

As I found artifacts and records, I placed them in one central location: a plastic box for me. Everything I found about my parents went in one folder, and everything I found about my grandparents went in another. As time when on, I organized the information about each person chronologically into six categories: Childhood (0-11), Adolescence (11-18), Early Adult (18-25), Prime Adult (25-45), Middle Adult (45-65), Senior Adult (65+).

In the following chapters, I will expand further on the lessons I learned about conducting oral histories and preserving the artifacts.

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It’s Time to Start Your Ancestry Research

It was June 2004. Following church service, Ila, a good friend of our family, came up to me and asked if I could talk for a moment.

“Author, I’m not sure how to begin,” she started, “During the church services, I felt that I should tell you that it is time to start doing your genealogy. And that I was the one who was to be your mentor.”

At first, I didn’t know how to respond. My life was already full of my job, family, and church and community service, and Genealogy research was not on my priority list. Since my mother’s death, I had been conducting oral histories and gathering family artifacts, heirlooms, and memorabilia, but that was it. Not “real” genealogical research.

I wanted to say, “Thank you, but I don’t have time.” Instead, I responded, “Ila, what did you have in mind?”

She replied, “How about Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at the local family history center? I’ll meet you there, and we’ll start. I’ll show you the steps to become a genealogist.”

“Ok. What do I bring with me? I think my genealogy has been done pretty well by others in my family, such as my aunts,” I replied. I still wasn’t convinced that it was even worth the time to confirm the date.

She immediately responded, “Don’t you have step-fathers?”

“Yes, John Garvin and Mel Wagner.” Instantly, I seemed to know that researching the family of John Garvin would be an excellent place to start.

Ila thought and said, “Let’s start with John Garvin. Write down what you know. If you have a birth or death certificate, bring that, and we’ll get started.”

“Ok, sounds good to me. I’ll see you at 6:00 p.m.,” I concluded. I went home that afternoon, searched my records, and found John’s death certificate. Tuesday evening, I showed up at the appointed time and began the process of becoming a genealogy researcher. Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. becomes a fixed appointment on my calendar. I’m not sure I can explain the excitement that I felt. It was the right thing to do. Each week I would learn a little more and be given an easy assignment that I could do from home. Ila was there every step of the way, encouraging me, answering my questions, challenging me to piece the puzzle together, putting myself in the shoes of my ancestors, and seeing the world from their perspective.

As a new historian / genealogist, it was easy to feel like a bee jumping from one flower to the next, searching for the precious nectar. Thanks to my mentor, I was introduced to a simple but essential five-step process to discover my ancestors and many more skills.

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Additional Articles on BeginMyStory.com

The following are other articles you may enjoy to help you trace your ancestry.

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