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eLearning Series: Geneology
My Family Tree is Important to Me
( 50 articles in this series )
How
To Write a Genealogical Inquiry
Scan and Enlarge Hard to Read Documents
Before writing any genealogical inquiry that is going to be
turned into any official place, such as the Census bureau or
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it is best to make sure you have
all your chickens in a row so to speak. You need to make sure
beyond a doubt that the information you give them is completely
true to the best of your knowledge. This is to make sure you
get the correct information back. Many marriage certificates,
death certificates, wills, birth certificates, and many other
official documents may have been hand written or typed depending
on how old they are. Either way the ink may have run, may be
hard to read, or be very small. Enlarging them using a copy
machine with an enlarge function will help clear up a lot.
Making it easier to see will reduce your mistakes.
"Name
Drop"
Another good way to get some information is to learn to drop
names. There are many genealogical societies and publications.
If you can strike a conversation with a member of these groups,
you may be able to milk them for a ton of useful information.
You can drop names and usually you can get a host of information.
Sometimes they may know a thing or two about the name you dropped,
but most of the time they can tell you about a place to look
for information. They can in most cases lead you in directions
you never even considered. Genealogical societies are known
for their ability to locate information about ancestry that
the average person can not locate themselves. They can tell
you about forums to join, websites, computer programs, clubs,
groups, publications, people, and places that will be useful
in your search.
Ask Someone Who Knows the Area
If your search brings you to a certain location, ask around
and see if anyone knows the area. If your research dates back
a couple generations, look for a church or a school or something
that looks like it has been around that long or longer. You
can usually find a church member or priest or teacher or someone
that has been there a long time. They may remember something
or know something that can guide you in some direction. If
you have pictures or something to help jog their memory, that
is even better. The more information you can show them, the
better chance you have of them remembering something.
Look for Events Close to Home
Usually if you live near a large city or town, there will
be genealogical lectures, seminars, and conventions. Genealogy
societies all over the country attend these and they are a
pool of knowledge all in one location. Many societies and companies
have booths set up to help you. There are companies that locate
information for you. There are societies and investigators
and so many other options for you to explore. You can also
learn all about how to do your investigations to locate your
long lost history. This option is one of the best options for
a novice ancestral researcher, but it is one of the most overlooked.
Do some research online and see when the next convention, seminar,
or lecture is coming to your town.
These are just four tips to help you on your journey to discovering
what your family has in its history. Do some research on the
internet and do some reading on genealogical publications.
You will find that there are a ton of options to consider.
There are so many options and ideas and techniques. You just
have to find one that works best for you and stick with it.
Remember that this is a very time consuming task and it will
take lots of work and lots of patience. Don’t let dead ends
get to you. Just keep in mind that this all takes a lot of
time. Once you get done, you will look back at your family
tree and feel proud at all the work you did and all the knowledge
you have gained through the sweat tears and aggravation. You
will have something you can pass down from generation to generation
that will be valued for generations to come. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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