Monday, July 4, 2011

Tips For Surname Research

When researching surnames in your family ancestry, here is some good advice.


(1) Get documentation beginning with your parents and work your way backwards. Be absolutely sure of the first three generations, which are easily documented, before going back farther.

(2) Treat all siblings equally, along with their spouses. Don't just gather information about your direct ancestors.

(3) Get accurate locations for every event in their lives, including township, county, state or province, etc. and always give that information when posting queries.

(4) Find every possible family member in every possible census and make a timeline showing where they lived and when.

(5) Post a query to any forum or board giving full names, dates and locations for each generation, including all siblings and their spouses. This will help out in the long run, so researchers or volunteers know what to search for.

(6) Use any information found online or posted in response to your query as a *clue* and always go back to primary sources. Don't believe everything you see online. Never add unsourced information (online family trees are NOT sources) to your database until you have sourced the info.



Surname Database ~ Search For Yours Today!
 
Image Source: Photographer: VisionsOfAmerica/Joe Sohm


Hoping everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!

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