How to Start Creating That Family Tree Today!
Building a family tree is a rewarding journey into your heritage, a way to connect with your past, and a legacy for future generations. Here’s a handy check list to get you started on crafting a meaningful and well-researched family tree.
Family Research
Begin by talking to your relatives, especially the elders. They hold invaluable knowledge about family history, stories, and traditions that may not be recorded anywhere else. Ask about names, dates, locations, and any significant family events.
Record Interviews
As you gather information, take the extra step of recording interviews with your relatives. Video or audio recordings of their stories will become cherished keepsakes for future generations. AI can now transcribe those interviews and you can use the information in your family tree. Start with your grandparents or great grandparents if they are still alive. If the elders have passed, talk to their friends – you would be surprised what they know!
Find the Family Genealogist
Chances are, someone in your family has already started piecing together the family history. If so, collaborate with them and build upon their work. If not, congratulations—you are now the official family historian! Get organized by starting a digital folder where you can start to store your documents. Label everything you put in, or you will never remember what is what. This is especially important for photos and documents.
Dive Into the Closets and Old Boxes
Search attics, basements, storage units, or your parents’ garage for hidden treasures. Look for old letters, family bibles, photo albums, scrapbooks, and legal documents such as marriage and birth certificates. These artifacts provide crucial details to support your research. Start by scanning them and adding to that digital folder you created. This way you can share with your family and future generations.
Build Tree
Before going digital, sketch out your family tree on paper or in a word document. Start with yourself, then work backward to your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Write it all down – as far back as you can from family stories. This foundational tree will help you visualize relationships and gaps in your knowledge. Focus on building a straight lineage initially, you can expand to include siblings, aunts/uncles, and cousins later. Once you have a few generations outlined, it’s time to make it official.
Choose an Online Platform
Once you have a framework, transition to an online genealogy platform. Some great options include, but are not limited to:
- Ancestry – Subscription-based, extensive records and DNA matching
- FamilySearch – Free, operated by the LDS Church, extensive archives
- MyHeritage – Subscription-based, strong international records
- Geni – Collaborative, worldwide family tree-building
- WikiTree – Free website that allows users to research and contribute to a single, worldwide family tree. It’s a collaborative project that’s open to anyone
You can aim to eventually transfer your tree to all the sites – so your well-researched tree can be found by future family genealogists. Tree building goes hand-in-hand with research, so this might also inform your decision.
Pro tip: As tempting as it is to use and borrow information from other people’s trees, you want to make sure you have done your own research, have backup documentation, and have the right Mary Smith!
Backup Your Tree
While online tools are excellent, always keep a backup on your computer or an external hard drive. You don’t want to lose all that valuable information due to any changes in a 3rd party provider. Consider using genealogy software like RootsMagic or Family Tree Maker to maintain a local copy of your data.
Use Subscription and Free Resources
While some genealogy websites require subscriptions, many free resources can help your research. Public records, national archives, and sites like FindAGrave.com and USGenWeb offer valuable information without cost. You can try free trial subscriptions or just commit to a month at a time when you are ready to start. The best records to look for are census data, birth certificates/index, marriage records, and death certificates. Ancestry has a Black Friday sale for all memberships, and it is the gift that keeps on giving!
Pro tip: FindAGrave is user generated, so make sure you see a photo of that grave to confirm the addition to your tree!
Incorporate DNA Testing
A DNA test can validate your research, uncover new relatives, and add unexpected branches to your tree. It has revolutionized genealogy research and helped genetic genealogists break down those brick walls.
Not only can you discover your ethnic origins, but you also might find that relative you lost touch with or never knew existed.
Popular DNA testing services include:
- AncestryDNA (Best for genealogy research)
- 23andMe (Focuses on both ancestry and health)
- MyHeritage (Strong for European ancestry)
- FamilyTreeDNA (Pioneering company and offers Y-DNA testing)
Once you get your results, you can apply genetic genealogy principles to your research. LinksDNA offers this service to those that aren’t as well versed in incorporating the science of DNA testing into their genealogy adventure, so you can reach out if you need help.
Pro tip: You can take your results from Ancestry and/or 23andMe and upload to MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and GEDMatch for free.
Create a Legacy
Building your family tree isn’t just about documenting names and dates—it’s about preserving your family’s story for generations to come. Whether you print a family history book, create a private website, or curate a digital archive, your work will become a treasured legacy for your descendants. In the end, all this work will help you create new stories to tell and share with your family. Your family tree will always grow!
Contact LinksDNA today for more information and let us help you with your tree building journey.