Not everyone knows their ancestors. Drawing up a family tree will help to restore the lost connection between generations. It is an interesting and fun process during which you can learn the history of your family and preserve it for your children and grandchildren.
How do I start drawing up a pedigree?
Where is the best place to start when building a family tree? With preparation and planning. Get a notebook, a folder for documents, buy more envelopes. A portable voice recorder will also do the trick. Some of the materials you will probably want to translate into electronic form and arrange in the form of a computer program. Finding digitized information will be easier if you structure it correctly right away.
With all your will, you will not be able to keep all the facts in your memory in the course of a historical excursion into the past of your family. Over time, you will have accumulated a certain number of records and documents that need to be stored and sorted.
Even if you prefer to use a computer in your work, a paper archive will not allow you to lose data that was inadvertently deleted from your hard drive.
Start researching your family's archive. Look for documents in it that contain at least some information about the ancestors. Pay attention to birth certificates and birth certificates, marriage and divorce documents. A lot of valuable information will be given by the work books of relatives, award certificates, educational documents.
Create a separate large envelope for each relative. Include there originals or copies of documents, photographs, as well as your extracts and notes regarding the biographical data established by you in the course of drawing up the pedigree. The number of materials will gradually increase, so it is advisable to attach a list of documents to each envelope.
Build your family tree
Expand your search area. Enlist the support of relatives to access their family archives. Spend time talking to your grandparents. Elderly people are very fond of remembering their past, talking about their childhood. This is another very interesting and exciting way to get valuable information and learn about those ancestors who lived long before you were born.
If you decide to use the recorder, get the consent of the person you are talking to. Remember that not all facts from your family's life can be made public.
The extended collection of information also includes working with state and departmental archives available to you. It is important to know where and what to look for. Often, information about your ancestors can be found by leafing through the files of old newspapers and magazines. Particular attention should be paid to the local press and those publications that were published at the enterprises where your ancestors worked.
After a while, you will see how much your knowledge of your family and its roots has expanded. Try to organize the findings, tabulate them, or draw a genealogical tree of your family. A well-done work will not be in vain: not only your children, but also local history museums can be seriously interested in its results.
