Four Tips for Writing
Genealogical Inquiries by Paul
Duxbury
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.
"Scan and Enlarge Hard to Read
Documents"
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.
About the Authors Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook
own http://www.amateur-genealogist.com and
http://www.our-family-trees.co.uk two of the
leading Genealogy Websites. In addition Paul
owns a wide range of exciting websites which
can be viewed at
http://www.our-family-trees.co.uk