image source
While genealogical research can become more intricate, starting your own family tree research isn't all that difficult - assuming you aren't adopted or your circumstance of birth isn't more complicated, of course.
The first thing to recognise is - you probably know more than you realise!
One good starting point is to print off a blank Ahnentafel chart - there are numerous free downloads available via the net, but I would recommend choosing one which has only 4 generations, and includes the vital records so you remember what you need to fill in (unlike the decorative tree pictured above).
image source
Now you have a chart to fill in, I'd highly advise using pencil unless you know for absolute certainty a fact is correct. You may be surprised that things you think you know turn out to be untrue.
(Always keep an open, nonjudgmental mind when researching or you might find family members clam up and refuse to help you.)
Start with yourself at position One. If you want to do charts for your children, I'd use a second chart like this for their 'other' side of the family - unless there are matching ancestral lines on both sides, such as when cousins have married.
Basic data to fill in for each person going into your chart are the births, marriages, and deaths (and places of each). If you are lucky, each family member may have certificates to back up their information.
Ask nicely if you can take a scan, photocopy, or photo of their documents to be able to keep a copy with your research. Proof is very important in genealogical work.
If you are lucky enough, you will be able to collect enough information to fill in the whole chart, but if not ... well, research is half the fun! When you find there are gaps in the tree which you just cannot fill in yourself, then it is time to approach willing relatives. Always be polite, and respect their wishes if they are not open to sharing what they know (or they simply may not know some things). At this stage you may consider incorporating some oral history collection, but I will leave this for another lesson. If they had experiences during the war then this is another part of their lives they may be unwilling to talk about, as frustrating as that is to your research.
image source
You may wish to go back further than just the four generations, which is great. It is easy enough to find a 6- or even 8-gen blank chart to print off, but if the genealogy bug is really taking hold you might want to consider choosing one of the many available software programmes which will give you a digital tree to work with.
You are likely to have heard of at least one of the major companies in the ancestral research game - such as Ancestry, Find My Past, My Heritage - and they all offer on-site digital tree creation & storage. There is nothing wrong with having a copy of your tree in these places (you can even set them to private rather than giving public access to all your information), but I will always strongly recommend you keep your master copy on your own computer.
Keeping your original research on your own computer is, in my opinion, the best way to safeguard your tree - although you should always have backup copies stored elsewhere.
Same with paper records - at the very least, scan and store copies of all your papers and photos away from the house in case disaster strikes. Do backups regularly.
Another good reason to have the master copy on your own computer (or paper files) is for greater control over your own work. If, for any reason, you stop having a subscription to one of the online facilities - or it disappears from the net entirely - you still have full access to your own work.
Also, you can choose who can see your work (there are data miners out there who don't care if people belong in their tree or not, they just want to scoop up everyone and grow one giant tree full of inaccurate research!); you can send copies to relatives without them having to also have paid subscriptions to any of those sites. In the end, choose the best option that works for you.
There is a saying that goes something like "when a person dies, a whole library dies with them". Starting your family tree now, rather than at some nameless point in the future, helps ensure that library is preserved, even just a little.
If you would like any help with your research, read my post here for a guide on what I do.
Hmmm ... You pushed me to the idea that it might be worth making a genealogical chart for the next generation of my relatives? Usually such cases are postponed indefinitely and then never realized. But more recently, I realized that this knowledge is necessary for everyone.
Oh, absolutely! It may be that right now no one else seems interested, but you really cannot tell who might get that spark in the future.
Plus, you may pick up some really juicy gossip about an ancestor or two, and that may be something worth presenting to the extended family at a gathering. With charts, pics, clippings, anything visual lol. :)
My grandfather did our family tree a while back and we traced everything up to the point our ancestor left Germany for South Africa (+/- 220 years ago). Before that everything went cold though.
I hope your grandfather got some enjoyment out of researching. :)
I haven't done a lot of Germanic research, except for much older stuff that is well documented (nobility has left more documents than the everyday citizen). I would assume that church records are the best bet, though (but they may no longer exist, so its a bit hit-or-miss).
Did your grandfather try 'going sideways' once he was stuck? Often we hit a wall tracing the direct line back so have to go to siblings & cousins to see if we can get further clues that way.
Yes, that was the problem. As that specific ancestor was the only one of the name to come here, everything started with him and also ended with him as he left no records of his family in Germany. All of us here in SA with that surname are related to him.
Is it a common surname? Or did he perhaps change it when he left the homeland?
Mysterious and intriguing! lol
It is a rare surname in any of the countries that have it. Our suspicion is that he was landed nobility, but not a bigshot and that he gave it all up and "fled" Germany because the Elector Prince of the state he lived in was systematically bankrupting the state and threw nobles in jail and confiscated their land to make up for his financial losses. His arrival here coincides with the above mentioned.
Oooh, fascinating! :D
I do know there was a constant changing of principality borders due to unrest or political maneuvering. Add to that mix the surname changes, and many surname hyphenations.
If he belonged to one of the noble houses, though, there are certainly lists & wiki pages which list many of the members of those houses.
You never know your luck.. :)
Already scoured much of the internet for that, no luck. Everything about his life in Germany is a mystery. It is possible that he changed his last name however.
Great introductory lesson! Genealogy research can become overwhelming very quickly; your lesson shows how to start off organized and with a plan.
Thank you. :)
I think it is good to set out the basics, because once we've done it a while ourselves it is easy to forget that sometimes these steps which become like second-nature to us can still be daunting to others.
Ive been wanting to do it. This is a great olace for me to start. Idk if i will get the time lol but yea.
You could always fill out the form and then tuck it away for picking up at a later date. Or pin to your wall to make yourself feel guilty every time you notice it, that you "really must get onto that" lolol.
I didn't even mention about colour-coding it .... (a bit of fun, artsy stuff). ;)
These are good first steps! I'm sure I'll be able to manage 4-generations deep in my own tree. What I'm excited about is to know how I would be able to get started monetizing this skill haha!
haha indeed because we would all love to live that dream! lol ;)
Good tips. It's amazing the secrets you can gleem just looking at family trees.
My daughter's grandparents were lucky as both had copies of extensive family trees which other relatives had researched. One goes back to 15th Century France and from the other I could see a great great great who was married to one lady but having kids with her relative who he married after the first wife died.
So fantastic to have those tree resources, and to have such interesting people in them. :)