After my parents died I became very interested in preserving the family history for my two girls. My oldest daughter Leona only knew her grandfather for a year and a half and her grandmother for just shy of three years. My youngest daughter Angelina was still in my wife’s belly when her grandfather died and was less than a year old when her grandmother died. At the ages of four and six they have no memory of my parents.

The only way my children would ever know them was threw photos and stories. So I decided to start my very own family tree and go as far back as I can go and learn as much as possible about them so I can keep their memories alive. Creating a family tree and preserving your unique family history is called genealogy.

There are lots of reasons for starting your family tree. Maybe you want to prove that crazy family story about being related to some famous historic figure. You may even find out by accident that you have such relatives. I found out that my family is Mayflower decedents. But no matter what you’re reasoning you need to get some basics on how to get started.

To start with you will need to have a way of recording the information that you find. In your initial stages I suggest that you start with paper records and then latter computerize them. The reason for my suggestion of starting with paper records is that you will start by gathering your family history or genealogy by interacting with the living. In my opinion it is easier to start with a simple notebook that you can show family members as you are going threw the genealogy process.

There are many forms that can be used in the genealogy process but I suggest two simple forms to start. These two forms a pedigree or ancestral chart and family group sheet.You can download these forms for free in PDF format from these two sources. http://www.ancestry.com/charts/ancchart.aspx or from www.familytreemagazine.com

The pedigree or ancestral chart will be used to list usually 4 to 5 generations of your family. You of course would be generation one, your parents generation two, your grandparents generation three and so on. If your grandparents are still alive 5 generations should be easy to fill in because generation number five this their grandparents. On this chart you simply put in the persons name, date and place of birth and when and where they died. On the husband it will have a place for marriage information. This basic information of births, deaths, and marriages in genealogy is referred to as the vital records. This chart is useful to see the relationship between individuals but doesn't give much detail.

The second form to use is the family group sheet. This sheet takes the head of household the father and adds additional information because it looks at a group of people that make up a household. This is were information about other children the couple had and who those children may have married.

For example My grandfather Harold Lester Lunn was one of twelve children. On my great grandfather sheet Linneaus Wheaton Lunn and his wife Ada E. Dean would be listed with their vital records and the names of their parents. There is room for information on when and where they were christen, occupation, what their religion was, or even if they had other spouses. There is also space to list all the children born to Linneaus and Ada and the basic vital records as well as who each married.

These two basic forms along with a good note book will be the corner stone of your beginning stages of recording your family history and building that precious family tree. After you have verified and checked to make sure the information is accurate you can put this information into an electronic family tree.

There are many fine programs available for purchase. I personal use Family Tree Maker 16. The great thing though is that you don't have to spend money to get electronic. You can get free software Personal Ancestral File (PAF) is a free genealogy and family history program available from www.familysearch.org, another option is to sign up for free to www.ancestry.com they will let you build your family tree online for free it only cost money to search their records.

Step One: Start with yourself

The first place to start is with your self. Gather up all the important information about yourself. Scan your birth certificate, your marriage records, military records, diplomas and any other important papers that others a hundred years from now would find interesting.

Next find photos of yourself at key points in your life such as birth, graduation, first communion, baptism, or Bar mitzvahs, the prom or your Wedding day. Again just think of your great-grandchildren and what they might find of interest.

Then write a brief biography about yourself. Include information about when you were born and where, what schools you attended, famous people you met. Write about important events such as meeting your spouse, the birth of your first child. Write about such things as where you were and what you were doing when you first herd about 9/11.

Step Two: Immediate Family Members

Encourage your spouse and children to do the same. In the case of you children depending on their age you may be the one putting together the data. Then encourage any living relatives to do the same offer to help them out. You can write the profile for them by asking key questions. Try to make this fun for them and not a chore. If it’s fun they will co-operate if not they will surely resist.

Step Three: Family Interviews

Interview your relatives to find out key information. By asking intelligent well thought out questions you can find out a multitude of information. For example if you interviewed your grandparents you could find out vital records info such as when and where they were born. You could find out when and where they were married.

You could discover who their parents and even who their grandparents where. That would be your great, great-grandparents. They may even know who there great grandparents were. By interviewing your grandparents if they are still alive you could go back 5 or 6 generations in your family tree.

You could also learn about sibling’s aunt’s uncles and cousins. They may even have so rare photos to share. If nothing else they will be very happy to talk to you and share the special memories that no one else seems to care about anymore. Your esteem in their eyes will go up dramatically. Why because people love to talk about them self’s.

Interview any family member that is willing to spill their guts on what they know about the family. Ask them if they mind if your record the conversation. With their permission set up an audio or even better a video device in a none intimidating way so that it is hands free and you can take notes and also so it dos not distract from the conversation. This will not only help you latter but these recordings are a wonderful way for future generations to hear and or see these precious individuals telling their story in their own words.

Please what ever you do don’t let these precious elderly family members pass away with out ever speaking to them. Don’t let their precious memories pass away with them. Make sure the first people you interview will be the eldest members of your family or those whose health is in question. And please remember to look threw their photo albums and ask questions of who these people you do not recognize are. If you don't they make take that knowledge with them to the grave.

Well this was phase one of building your family tree. I will do more articles to continue the process and what to do next. For now your assignment is clear and will take you a while to complete. Good luck building your family tree and preserving your family history. Genealogy can be a fun and rewarding hobby just remember it's suppose to be something you do for fun. Don't turn it into a part time job.

My general family Blog: Married with Children

My family genealogy blogs: French Canadian Roots & The History of a New England Family