Growing your family tree - Filtering information

     Another post about my experiences building the family trees that are here. A bit about some of the things that tripped me up at first that may help others in their searches.

     You have harassed, annoyed asked your relatives for information. How to use that start to build your tree further?

     I was lucky, I have living relatives who could take my tree back to my great great grandparents, my grandparents grandparents. I got some names, children, siblings etc, a few dates and some places.

     I assumed names would be the most important. Not so. It is surprising how many records list people with nick names rather than proper names. Surnames go through some wild spelling variations. The further back, the less formally information was collected, especially in rural areas. My great great grandparents tombstone lists their nick names not their proper names. Hard to find if you don't know both. This lack of formality varies from place to place, type of record to type of record. It goes back to  a time when communities were smaller and most people knew each other.

     Dates then, those have to be important. Again not so much. The further back the less important. Travelling clergy would baptise an entire family of children at a time when they were through an area. It would depend on how often they visited. People weren't very concerned about age. It didn't have a lot of bearing on how they lived their lives. The advent of labour laws and operating licenses changed that to our modern obsession with accurate dating of everything.

     The one thing I thought wouldn't be important, places, turned out to be very important. If you don't know where your ancestors lived, you don't know where to start looking for records. That makes a huge difference. I have spent many hours looking for people in the wrong places.

     Places also has a challenge. Boundaries changed, a lot. I'm speaking of Canada because that is where 80 percent of my research has been. You have to do a little digging to find what the place was at the time your ancestors were there. Canada West became Ontario, district boundaries changed then became provincial, new townships formed, then reformed, counties changed names, boundaries then amalgamated. There are layers and layers of records to look through.

     Places and surnames, the two places to start further digging. Throw in some given names and a few dates and you are on your way. Next up, I'll go through some of the records that were of the most help to me.

     Ever dug into your family's past? Any tips to share?

Growing Your Family Tree, Getting started

     Building a family tree can be a lot of fun and a very rewarding experience. If you like solving puzzles, this is the ultimate. It is also a lot of work. I'm going to take you through some of the things I've encountered building the trees that are here in the "Kitchen". I'm still a newbie, not even a year of research under my belt. I've made a ton of mistakes. Hopefully, I can help you avoid making some of the same.

     The first thing to decide, how serious are you? What do you intend to do with your tree? I knew I wanted to post it online. I didn't originally take it very seriously. In my defense, I had no idea anyone would ever see it beyond my immediate family. I didn't realise what I was getting into when I started my research.

     My original intent was not really motivated by tracing an extensive tree for any of my families. I wanted to identify people in photos. I didn't want them to be nameless faces, staring out from forgotten family albums. I called the project, putting leaves on the family tree. The rest grew from that. An un tapped photo album still makes my heart beat faster.

     The family histories are by far the most viewed posts I have done, thousands of page views, hundreds of emails, a couple of comments, responses from all over the globe. People take this very seriously. So do I, now.

    If you are going to publish what you find, be as accurate as possible. Outline your sources, identify if something is just anecdotal. Whether you intend it or not, publishing things you can't back up can waste  a lot of research time and money. In doing my outlines, I have run across two very extensive trees that are ultimately wishful thinking. One is complete fiction, cobbled together bits of several different trees. The other is the result of a lot of research, unfortunately there are unsupported connections as well. Both have been widely shared and incorporated into other people's work. I don't think either represent any malicious intent, just an abundance of enthusiasm.

     Be accurate, keep records, be able to support your findings. People will ask. Where to start?

     The best place to start is with your living relatives. I have badgered harrassed annoyed talked with many of mine. They can provide a surprising amount of help. My job was made much easier by two things. Several relatives already had started research. I had a huge head start. I had pictures. Getting relatives to identify people or places in photos is a great memory aid. The fact that I have quite literally hundreds of living relatives to pump for information didn't hurt either, 90 years of living history to draw from.

     A word of caution, memory is a tricky thing. We get things wrong. As an example, I have always thought one of my uncles was a surviving twin. I have repeated this story numerous times, it's fiction. I only found out this year. For forty some odd years, I believed it to be true. Obviously I heard or was told something as a kid and got the details wrong. It happens.

     Go ask your questions. You'll end up with lots of information if your family is anything like mine. Next post will be about filtering information, what to look for and how to use it.

     Have you ever tried to find out more about your family?