My Best Genealogy Tips: Quick Keys to Research Ancestry Book 2

By Robin R. Foster

Robin R. Foster, a member of the South Carolina Genealogical Society, Columbia Chapter, was an experienced researcher who has given numerous presentations and answers thousands of questions from researchers around the globe.
 
She has seen people make common mistakes like using family trees rather than historical records and not remembering to include important things in their research. So, she wrote My Best Genealogy Tips: Quick Keys to Research Ancestry, Book 2 with the intention of helping beginners and seasoned researchers alike to avoid these common pitfalls.
 
In her book, Robin outlines the steps for conducting an oral history interview, detailed the information available on FamilySearch, and suggested resources for researching ancestors in different regions. She also stressed the importance of telling your own family history and shares insider knowledge that even expert researchers often forget about.

Finally, she provides helpful tips on obtaining permission to use photos you find during your research.

 

From Robin:

 

I love to teach people how to do their family history. I wrote this book to try to give my patrons another way to find historical records after they talk to living relatives. They all want some of the things I included below:

Why Would You Want to Trace Family History?

Everyone has special reasons for the efforts they make to learn more about their family history. Do any of the following reasons resonate with you?

 

• I want to learn about our ancestors. For some, their family was never discussed while growing up. Others are trying to make connections because they never knew a parent or grandparent.
• I want to be able to share my history with my children. So many have committed to finding, preserving, and sharing family history with future generations because they feel a moral obligation to do so.
• I love discovery; it is a fun thing to do. You may have begun researching because you love the hunt, and you are curious about what you may uncover.
• I want to understand more about myself. Do you suspect that some of the qualities that make you who you are can be attributed to an ancestor? Do you wonder which decisions they made concerning education, where to live, or employment had the most effect on your life? Do family members say you remind them of an ancestor?
• I want to learn about the place where my ancestor lived. It is wonderful to pass on the traditions that your ancestor brought from their native land.
• I want to know about the challenges my ancestors faced. Did you grow up hearing family stories about the war or depression that made you want to know more about how your ancestor was impacted? Delving into the past helps you to understand more about how they handled struggles.
• I am looking for living relatives. Some researchers are looking to connect with living descendants to discover what they can share about ancestors. They invite the newly discovered to family reunions and share stories and photographs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Benjamin Book Publishing, LLC
• Release date: May 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223940593

Book preview

Introduction

I assist beginners and researchers who feel they need to start over. This is the second book, but there is no need to buy the first book. I have added the principles from the first book and added a ton more to My Best Genealogy Tips: Quick Keys to Research Ancestry, Book 2. I include some of the top questions asked by my Genealogy! Just Ask! Group.

I walk you through getting an oral history interview, using historical records rather than family trees, and making sure you remember to include the things expert researchers have admittedly forgotten.

You will avoid the common pitfalls many seasoned researchers have fallen into, such as what to do when you find a photo that you would like to use. We encourage you to tell us the most important family history – your own!

Become proficient with the Research Wiki where you look for resources that match where your ancestors lived. I  have answered thousands of questions from researchers around the globe. The things you learn in this book will enable you to help yourself.

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Ellis McClure researching in Jefferson County, Alabama Courthouse. Photo taken by Robin R. Foster in 2016.

CHAPTER 1

Why Would You  Want to Trace Family History?

Everyone has special reasons for the efforts they make to learn more about their family history. Do any of the following reasons resonate with you?

I want to learn about our ancestors. For some, their family was never discussed while growing up. Others are trying to make connections because they never knew a parent or grandparent.

I want to be able to share my history with my children. So many have committed to finding, preserving, and sharing family history with future generations because they feel a moral obligation to do so.

I love discovery; it is a fun thing to do. You may have begun researching because you love the hunt, and you are curious about what you may uncover.

I want to understand more about myself. Do you suspect that some of the qualities that make you who you are can be attributed to an ancestor? Do you wonder which decisions they made concerning education, where to live, or employment had the most effect on your life? Do family members say you remind them of an ancestor?

I want to learn about the place where my ancestor lived. It is wonderful to pass on the traditions that your ancestor brought from their native land.

I want to know about the challenges my ancestors faced. Did you grow up hearing family stories about the war or depression that made you want to know more about how your ancestor was impacted? Delving into the past helps you to understand more about how they handled struggles.

I am looking for living relatives. Some researchers are looking to connect with living descendants to discover what they can share about ancestors. They invite the newly discovered to family reunions and share stories and photographs.

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How to Successfully Conduct a Genealogy Interview 

Are you overwhelmed with the idea of preparing to interview your relative or ancestor? We will help you identify the things that will ensure a successful interview. You may already know bits and pieces of family folklore. You should Identify members of your family who can recall stories and details about your ancestors. Remember that information given to you should be verified by using historical documentation of if possible. Memories fade over time, and sometimes parts of the story are withheld or forgotten.

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Before the interview

Set the appointment ahead of time and be prompt. Decide to spend no longer than the time that is comfortable for your relative. Decide the method you would use to record the interview:

Zoom

Video camera

Skype

Phone

You will need to select the best method that is most comfortable for you and your relative. Then, test the technology ahead of time to make sure everything works properly. Do not neglect to leave your story for your future generations as well.

Before your visit, ask your relatives to gather their families’ photos and make a list of family heirlooms. Also, ask for permission to take photos of these items with a mobile device or a digital camera. Find out how many heirlooms were acquired.

Before you begin the interview, you will need to draft a set of questions to help you find answers that lead to resources. Take another look at the blank spaces on your family tree and on your family group record for clues to what you should ask.

What questions will best bring out these details? Ask for more information about your ancestors that will help you learn:

birth order of siblings and children

spouse’s names

places where your ancestor may have lived

Find out who your relative remembers seeing as a child and people that they would go to visit. Also, ask about family members, the old homestead, churches, and schools your family attended.

During the interview

At the start of the interview, record your name, the date, the interviewee’s name and residence. Sometimes when you interview someone, it takes a little while to warm up and remember the past. Try not to startle them with your enthusiasm and meet them in a place where they feel comfortable opening up to you. Ask for permission to share the recording with other family members.

Your composure is essential too. Sit attentively and allow your interviewees to finish telling his or her story without being rushed to get to the next question. If the interviewee mentions people or situations you did not know before, do not interrupt. Instead, jot down the questions that you have, and ask for clarification after they finish talking.

After the interview

Allow the opportunity for your relative to share information that he or she did not have a chance to share. Ask for questions of other family members to interview and the questions that would be best to ask them.

Take the time to transcribe the interview. Put a hard copy with your research notes so that you can refer to it easily. Hopefully, you now have enough information to have more research success. Use the knowledge you gained to locate your family on the census. Find birth, marriage, and death records from the details you were given. Visit the family cemetery to locate graves for family members. This applies not only to ancestors but to your extended family as well. You will not be able to predict who will lead you to discover more about your family.

You might wonder why this has been included in the book on getting assistance. Anything that you get while doing oral history interviews can be used to prove or disprove whether you have got the right historical record. You also must be advised that your oral history must be proven if it is accurate because inaccurate details can lead you down a rabbit hole.

Have These Three Things and  Get Assistance

To get assistance at Genealogy Just Ask Groups, we ask that you know three things:

the name of your ancestor

location

time period   

First, it is important that you have a name even if you do not know

who the father or mother was. You should always search for the child of the father or mother, so you should always have a name.

The problem comes when the name has been altered by the indexer, census taker, or just changed over time with different variations. Make sure that you record the different names for whoever takes over. This will save them from having to do the work over again. When you must ask for assistance, this name can be beneficial.

Second, we tell the members of Genealogy Just Ask, LLC that the quest for documentation is determined by location. To find your person it is much easier to have an exact location.

Beginning the search to identify and document your ancestors can be frustrating if you do not know where to look for records. Many family historians want to experience the joy of the hunt themselves. As a result, some begin searching online databases for the records they can easily find. Here we will help lead you to discover more resources in the locality where your ancestor lived.

What do you want to learn?

Knowing precisely what you want to learn about your ancestor will help guide you to the types of records that will answer your question. You will want to avoid the endless searching where you turn up everything except the details that you set out to find in the first place.

There is a certain thrill when you find your ancestor on an online tree and connect to a living descendant, and you may find important clues. Therefore, it is essential to compare notes with others who are researching the same person. It is especially rewarding if they can share or point you to the actual historical documentation that they used to draw their conclusions.

When you first start researching, you will be looking to document basic details about birth, marriage, and death of ancestors closest to you such as a person, a parent or grandparent. It will save you a great deal of time and energy if you know exactly where these events took place. In some cases, you will be able to access these records online, so you determine how to find access to vital records.

This is how you access the Research Wiki:

To search the Research Wiki, go to familysearch.org.

Look for Search at top after Family Tree.

Click Search. The Research Wiki is at the bottom of the list.

Select Research Wiki.

Then, you are at the  Research Wiki:

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Research Wiki

If you were looking for North Carolina Births, Marriage, or Deaths, search for North Carolina Vital Records.

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North Carolina Vital Records at Research Wiki.

Records vary according to:

period of time you are researching

type of vital record (birth, marriage, death, etc.)

place to access the record

How do you learn about records in a locality?

You will also need to research the records available in the area. The Research Wiki is a helpful resource to use here too. Search the county or parish and state to discover records in the area. Search Cyndi’s List to find more.

If you want to discover more. Study the holdings of the local archives to see if they list the record collection online or offer a publication that you can purchase. Also, the local library may have a collection on site or online for researchers. Finally, review the library's website for links to the history or genealogy.

For example, Buncombe County, North Carolina Libraries website lists genealogy resources under the link, NC Collection (Pack Library). One thousand images are available online with more coming (oral histories,  newspapers, genealogies and more).

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Make a list

While you are keeping in mind that you want to learn, make a list. Keep a record of the places where you find the documentation because you may discover more later in those same places.

Be sure to ask for suggestions of other places that you may try. Local librarians and archives are experts about the