1. Intro to Genealogy: How to Start Your Family Tree

Whenever I talk with hobbyists or other professionals about starting genealogical research, the same question always gets brought up—where do you begin? Do you jump on Ancestry and start clicking? Do you start calling relatives? Or do you dig through that old box in the closet full of black-and-white photos?

The truth is, there’s no wrong place to start. Getting started is the hardest part. But there are steps to take that can prove to be more useful than others. In this post, I will walk you through what I have found to be reliable first steps to take when starting your family tree, whether your goal is a personal keepsake or a full-blown research project.

Step 1: Start at Home

Before you head to the internet or the archives, start with what’s already in your possession. Many beginner researchers are surprised to find how much information they already have in their homes. I personally have solved not one, but two, large family mysteries just because my mom decided to go through her old box of photos in the closet.

Look for:

• Birth, marriage, and death certificates

• Old family Bibles or baptismal records

• Photos with names or dates written on the back (see if anyone knows who wrote the information, too!)

• Obituaries, funeral programs, or memorial cards

• Yearbooks, military records, or newspaper clippings

• Diaries, letters, or scrapbooks
  

Even if these items don’t seem significant, they can contain vital clues: like full names, nicknames, maiden names, birthplaces, or dates that help you start building a framework or timeline. In a later post, we'll talk about different techniques and tools genealogists use to preserve their research. But, for now, write everything down in a way that works for you as the researcher. Best practices: make note of what you found (photo, certificate, Bible, letter, etc.) and what you got out of it. We'll worry about citations later. If you're already ready to start adding citations to your work, check out a couple of quick examples from Family Search Wiki to help get you started.

Starting at home also means starting with what you know. Odds are, you already know your grandma's birthday, or how many siblings your parents have, or that your aunt had four divorces. Start with yourself and work backward in time, and write it down as you go.

Step 2: Talk to Your Relatives

If you don't know grandma's birthday, someone in your family likely does. Your living relatives are your most valuable (and time-sensitive) sources. Try to set up a time to chat with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or even family friends (check out the F.A.N. Club Method at the attached link. We'll talk more about this useful tool later!). You don’t need to make it formal—many great discoveries happen over coffee or a casual phone call.

Ask questions like:

• What do you remember about your grandparents or great-grandparents?

• Where did the family live when you were growing up?

• Were there any family stories or traditions passed down?

• Are there any photos or documents I can see?
  

If you know what research question you are trying to answer, be sure to focus in on questions that might help you with that particular family branch (i.e. "Are there any surname changes or nicknames? Did anyone make any significant moves?")

Don’t forget to record or take notes—details that seem obvious now may be forgotten later. Just remember to approach these conversations with sensitivity, especially if discussing topics like adoption, divorce, or estranged family members. And don’t forget to call your relatives back! Whether it’s to ask follow up questions or let them know with what their information helped you uncover, you’d be surprised how invested family gets in these mysteries!

Even better, let family join you on the research from time to time. Some of my favorite research sessions have been alongside clients or family and friends. A few friends of mine and I once accidentally spent hours on the couch building my friend's family tree, working to decipher and translate Czech records, filtering through years of city directories and censuses. As new information would unfold, my friend was able to provide more anecdotes from her family to move the research along, confirming and building on what we learned. Pro Tips: When talking with anyone about their family, professionals try to talk about the ancestors from the perspective of the person they're talking with ("Where was your mom from?"). It keeps the conversation lively and less formal, as well as keeping the client at the forefront of their story. This may sound different if you're talking to your cousin, of course.

Step 3: Choose a Tree-Building Method (Paper or Digital?)

Next, you’ll want to decide how to organize the information you’re gathering. You can go the old-school paper route or jump into one of several great digital tools available online.

Whenever I meet with a new client, the first thing I have them do is fill out multiple electronic family group sheets through Google Docs with information they already know (going back to Steps 1 and 2). These family group sheets focus in on the vital data of a specific ancestral couple and their children, and often have detailed information that you won't see in a condensed tree. These sheets are a great way to organize your research and help you keep track of what information is left to be uncovered. I adapted my own family group sheets based on ones available online (see links below):

Printable Family Group Sheets

• National Genealogical Society's Family Group Sheet

• Ancestry's Family Group Record

• National Archives and Records Administration (USA) Family Group Sheet

• See Cyndi's List for additional options available online

When you're ready to start building your family tree, you have a number of tools available to you, both paper and electronic. Most people choose a hybrid of both: researching and documenting online while saving hard copies or printing special reports. In such a digital age, most of my research ends up documented on my computer or family tree software, though later posts will discuss ways to preserve your research on paper, as well.

Paper trees

Use paper trees if you love working offline or want a visual chart to hang. Printable pedigree charts, fan charts, 5 generation trees, etc., are widely available online. If you want to keep it professional, check out the options available through reputable sources:

• National Genealogical Society - Free Charts and Templates (available with a free subscription)

• Ancestry.com - Ancestral Chart

• See Cyndi's List for a large assortment of family tree charts online.

Digital trees

Not only are digital trees great for ease of use, collaboration, and linking online records, but many can also be converted into printable professional reports. Unfortunately, most come at a cost.

Great for ease of use, collaboration, and linking to online records. Some popular platforms include:

• Ancestry.com

• MyHeritage

• FamilySearch (free!) **beware: FamilySearch is a collaborative tree. Your research builds on what other genealogists have already compiled.

Step 4: Source As You Go

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is forgetting to record where they found their information. Even if you’re just pulling notes from a phone conversation or a Facebook post from your cousin, write it down.

Use citations or basic notes like:

• “Interview with Grandma June, May 2024”

• “U.S. Census, 1940, Texas, Dallas County”

• “Obituary from Dallas Morning News, April 1982”

This habit will save you headaches later and make your tree more credible, especially if you ever want to share your research with others—or pass it down. Look back at the FamilySearch Wiki post on citations, or maybe take the next step in your education and view citation classes like those available through the National Genealogical Society (NGS).

Bonus Tip: Work Backward, Not Forward

Always start with yourself and work backward through your parents, grandparents, and so on. Don’t jump ahead to great-great-grandma just because you found a cool record online. Confirm each generation as you go—you’re building a foundation, and shaky branches lead to a crooked tree. The largest headaches I've had in my research have come from pre-assuming a relationship that I eventually had to scrap. So much time wasted!

Ready to Start Digging?

Starting your family tree is equal parts exciting and overwhelming, but if you take it step-by-step, you’ll build something meaningful and lasting. Whether you’re doing this for yourself, your children, or future generations, you’re creating a legacy.

Have questions as you start your journey? Leave a comment below or contact me for help building a strong, evidence-based family tree. And don’t forget to check out the next post in our Intro to Genealogy series!