geneaology research

1. Skeletons in the Closer:
Genealogy for Beginners
Present by Janey Deal and Jamane Yeager
October 4, 2011

2. Today’s Presentation
• What is genealogy
• What are good sources of information
• What are primary sources
• What are secondary sources
• How do I find the information
• How do I get started
• Challenges

3. What is genealogy
• Genealogy is is the study of families and the
tracing of their lineages and history.
Genealogists use oral traditions, historical
records, genetic analysis, and other records to
obtain information about a family and to
demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its
members. The results are often displayed in
charts or written as narratives.

4. Why do Genealogy Research?
• The pursuit of family history tends to be
shaped by several motivations, including the
desire to carve out a place for one's family in
the larger historical picture, a sense of
responsibility to preserve the past for future
generations, and a sense of self-satisfaction in
accurate storytelling.[1]
• To secure a means to join organizations i.e.,
DAR, UDC, etc.

5. What are good sources of Information
• Family Bibles –birth, baptism, marriage and
death dates
• Marriage certificates/marriage bonds
• Birth and Death certificates
• Cemetery records, headstones
• Census records
• Military service records
• Legal documents—wills, property deeds

6. What are good sources of Information
• Letters and diaries
• Photographs and heirlooms
• Newspapers

7. Primary & Secondary Sources
• Primary source documents are original
materials. They are from the time period
involved and have not been filtered through
interpretation or evaluation.
• Primary sources are original materials on
which other research is based
• They are usually the first formal appearance of
results in physical, print or electronic format.

8. Primary Source Examples
• Artifacts (e.g. coins, furniture, tools, clothing
all from the time under study
• Audio recordings
• Diaries
• Government, church, and business records
• Interviews
• Oral histories

9. Primary Source Examples Cont
• Letters
• Newspaper articles written at the time
• Original Documents (i.e. birth certificates,
wills, marriage license, trial transcript
• Photographs
• Motion pictures and videos
• Maps and land records, blueprints

10. Secondary Source Definition
• Secondary sources are less easily defined they
primary sources. Generally, they are accounts
written after the fact with the benefits of
hindsight.
• They are interpretations and evaluations of
primary sources.

11. Examples of Secondary Sources
• Bibliographies
• Biographical works
• Death records
• Encyclopedias
• History books
• Obituaries
• Newspaper article on family matters

12. Where do I look for records?
• Public libraries, archives and museums, state
library
• County records
1. Court Records
2. Birth/Death records
3. Marriage records
4. Bonds
5. Land Records
6. Estate Records

13. Where Do I look for Records?
1. Tax records
2. Wills
3. Miscellaneous Records
4. Places of Worship
5. LDS Temples – research rooms
6. Private collections

14. Where do I began my research
• Begin research with resources close at hand—
your family—and proceed from the known to
the unknown
• Start with yourself and work backwards
• Regard oral history as a starting point, not the
last word on a subject

15. Beginnings!
Family bible Family tree in bible

16. Where do we look for records online
• Ancestry Library
• American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography
• Heritage Quest
• Biography & Genealogy Master Index
• Digital Sanborn Maps (NC Live)
• North American Women Letters and Diaries (NC
Live)
• Archive Grid (NC Live)
• Digital NC (NC Live

17. Other Useful Websites
• Family Search.org (LDS church)
• Archives.gov (NARA)
• Cyndi’s List.com
• Ancestry chart
• Family group sheet
• Genealogical Resources on the Internet
(handout)

18. Jamane’s Family Tree Example
• Winsor Holloway & Jane Holloway
• Nancy Sue Cannon daughter