Family Tree Basics

There are many pleasant ways to spend a quiet evening at home, but one of the most fascinating ways to use that time is creating a family tree. Many of us have at one time or another started working on a family history, only to abandon the effort when other things got in the way. Why not take the time to compile a fascinating family history and a great looking family tree now, while it is fresh in your mind?

Many people these days are using the creation of family trees and compiling of a family histories as a way to reconnect with family members they may not have known, as well as a way to reconnect with a simpler time.

Only a few generations ago it seems many people remained near their place of birth, with only a few venturing far from home. In those simpler days families were often more connected with one another, and as the world has grown some of those connections have been lost.

While there are of course many positive aspects to the changes that have taken place, many people miss the tight knit communities and family lives that for many of us have gone the way of the horse and buggy. Family trees give us a way to reconnect with our past and our history, and that is perhaps why there is so much interest in genealogical research these days.

Beginning a family tree is often quite a simple matter, consisting of simply filling in your name, the name of your brothers and sisters, the names of your parents, the names of your grandparents and perhaps the names of great grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and any other relatives you are aware of.

It is at this point, however, that most of us run into trouble. After a few generations, it can be difficult to trace the family tree, and that is why it is so important to take advantage of all available resources to compile this important information.

Among the most valuable of these resources are your living relatives themselves. Simply talking to your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives can reveal a great deal about the history of your family. You may want to start out by asking your grandfather what he remembers about his own parents and grandparents. Any information you can gather, things like names, birth dates, dates of marriages, maiden names and the like, can be invaluable in doing your research.

These family interviews can be a great way to fill in the missing branches on your family tree, as well as being a great deal of fun for everyone. After all, just about everyone likes to tell stories and talk about their family members. And these days of course, email, cell phones and other modern methods of communication can make these interviews much easier and more convenient.

In addition to the vital memories provided by your living resources, there is a great deal more information available for the asking on the internet. There are many genealogy related websites, and these sites are a great place to start looking for the public records, church records and newspaper articles that can help you trace your family history back further still.

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