Writing “Roots”
In 1976, a couple years after I got started in Genealogy, Alex Haley wrote a book called “Roots.” Soon this book was turned into the first Mini-Series on television. For a week in 1977, millions of viewers glued themselves to their televisions and a bowl of popcorn and watched this slave saga unfold from the jungles of Africa to the plantations of Virginia.
It was a smash hit! It spawned a sequel, it made Alex Haley famous overnight!
And it was all based on a flawed Genealogy, poor research techniques and plagiarism.
It was fiction.
Genealogy Software
If you are working on your genealogy, you need a piece of software to record everything you find. I have some strong feelings when it comes to software because that was my profession for over a decade. I have designed, tested, sold and installed software and taught people how to use it. So when I talk about things in that arena, it comes from some very specific ideas and experience.
Here is some historical perspective and a bit of information different than the reviews you will find on most Software sites. I have dealt with many of the developers first hand over the years and know there many motivations. I have also seen many companies destroyed by tactics that reek.
The Big Promise
One of the things you will be sure to encounter once you have been researching long enough is what I refer to as “The Big Promise.” You will find someone, somewhere who will have documents, pictures, newspaper clippings, journals, military records or something else that it would be really great for you to have for your research. While many people might hand you these things you will always encounter the person who looks you squarely in the eye and says, “You can have these things when I die.”
Don’t hold your breath!
Catchem BEFORE They Croak
Old people are a great resource for the Genealogist. Simply by having lived long, they have accumulated a set of life experiences, that can greatly aid you in your research. They can give you context to go with the documents you may have discovered. They can also help you timeline things and also help you pinpoint geographically, when and where the family events may have happened.
In a nutshell, they give you a human perspective to the research that can add a lot of color to what you have learned. But, in order to obtain this information, you have to Catchem BEFORE They Croak. Here’s a series of methods that I have used to facilitate gathering this information.
Census Records
Census Records can be a wonderful source of information for the Genealogist. For decades now, researchers have used these records in one format or another to learn the specifics of their ancestors.
From Microfilm to Online Access, these records provide a view into the past, that while interesting should never be considered 100% accurate. In the balance of this article, I hope to show you both the benefits of the census and the incompleteness they often provide.
Military Records
Military Records can be a fantastic source of information concerning an individual. There are many wonderful web sites that list all the addresses for obtaining records but for the sake of simplicity, I will provide you a link to the National Archives web site and their information concerning Military Records.
While you would think this should be a simple and easy process, I would like to tell you a recent experience, so that you can avoid some of the hassle that I had in obtaining some records. What should have been simple, turned into a 6 month chore.
Cemeteries
If you are an avid Genealogist, you have spent time in a cemetery. For those of you who haven’t you have missed one of the more reliable sources of information for your older ancestors. Also, for no other reason, you should record the graves and locations, because cemetery stones do wear out and do fade over time and most methods of tracing an older stone do more damage to the stone. Tracking the dates and times in each cemetery can also help you design a timeline of your ancestors and also a geographic timeline of where they lived.
In the Beginning..
Welcome to Genealogy.
If you are new to the quest for your ancestors,you are sitting there with a desire to search out and find out information about those who have come before you. You are entering a world of dust and devils as you seek out knowledge and information, some of it decades gone by.
It is my fervent hope that you learn to do the research correctly and dive into the hobby with all of your energy and conviction. It is possible to become a genuine family historian with only some basic knowledge. Hopefully I can help you down this path and teach you some of the core principles of the hobby.
