As you complete your family’s genealogy and personal history’s for other people, you may become interested in passing on your own personal history to those who come after you. I have really enjoyed reading my grandparents’ personal histories and learning from their lives. I was fortunate enough to grow up and have good relationships with each of them. I heard some of their life stories first hand and others I heard my parents or their personal histories. It can be intimidating to sit down and think about writing about your entire life. It is a lot to cover. Many people … Continue reading →

Writing a family history is a big project. If you are working on your own personal history a history that spans generations there are basic steps that you can take to make the project a success. It is important to begin working with a plan in mind. The first step in writing a family history is to begin with the research. You should look at old family journal and letters. This can help you begin to fill in the details of your family’s daily life generations ago. As you add these details you bring your family history to life. The … Continue reading →

A family reunion that is focused on genealogy is different from a cousin get together. This type of family reunion usually spans several different generations and brings together distant branches of the family. A committee is usually formed to oversee this reunion and the next one so that the family reunion can operate smoothly. The first step to a successful family reunion is to start by planning the basics. You should determine a particular branch of the family to focus on, as well as what you want to cover at the reunion. This can be done at a meeting, but … Continue reading →

If you are interested in doing your genealogy but you do not know where to start, or if you are ready to take your research to the next level there are many options available to help you with your research. Many people begin doing genealogy work for just their family, but find that they enjoy it so much that they want to continue to do it, even after they have exhausted their own research. There are career options available to you as well. On excellent place to learn more about genealogy is through online genealogy classes. Many websites offer free … Continue reading →

As you search your family’s records, journals and possessions for genealogy information you may find beautiful things created or written by your family members. It is especially important to preserve and share these things with your family. There may be different ways that you can share these things with your family. Writing is the easiest thing to share. You can compile a book of the letters or poetry that was written by your ancestors. My aunt gave my father a framed copy of a poem that his father wrote. This has always been a special thing to my father and … Continue reading →

MyHeritage.com offers a free download of Family Tree Builder 4.0. This website is run by a company out of Israel. It is actively growing and has many International members from all over the world. The software allows you to build your own family tree and set up a website just for your family members. There is an additional Premium program that you can purchase as well. In addition to really clean and easy to use program, MyHeritage.com has a lot of great features that can help you as you do your genealogy. There is an active blog where you can … Continue reading →

If you are thinking about becoming a certified genealogist or if you have thought about hiring one, you may be wondering what Genealogical Proof Standard is. This is a standard set up by professional genealogists that demonstrates the work has been thoroughly researched. It would be beneficial to conduct the same standard of research and logic in your own genealogy work. There are five basic parts of the proof standard. The first is that search has looked at several reliable resources for the information. This means looking at the census and other records in order to establish that you have … Continue reading →