Harvest The Fruit And Nuts Of Your Family Tree

After Alex Haley's book "Roots" was published, there was an increase interest in genealogy and researching family trees, it has become the world's most favorite pastime, outdoing stamps, coin collecting or gardening. Even before this it has been one of my favorite things to do, solving a mystery! If you think "Roots"or other biographical histories are fascinating, start digging into your own family history and you will find you have a great story! As it can be confusing as to, "how do I  start this task?" There are some easy steps to follow:

VISIT AN OLDER RELATIVE AND GATHER FAMILY TRADITIONS:
Sometimes the family traditions were found to be as they were told, others seemed to be embellished or found to be untrue.
  Great Aunt Rose was murdered in her bed; Great Grandpa Edwards was probably not a ships captain as his death certificate said he could not read or write; Great Grandpa Johnson did turn out to be convicted for stealing and transported for 7 years; The Golding sisters, Belle and  Annie (2nd & 3rd front) and Kate, (end front row)  were noted for their work as  members of the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales from about 1893, they lobbied for women's equality and formed the Women's Progressive Association in 1904, an internet search of the Golding sisters will bring up their biographies; Did Great Grandpa Murphy who was a ship's carpenter, help build a ship that sailed from New Brunswick, Canada to Australia? It supposedly wrecked in the islands, but was it the ship that was the only ship found in that time frame? George and Alice White with nine of their twelve children, immigrated to Australia, Alice did die on the voyage; Joseph Golding immigrated to Australia to be the secretary to Sir George Gray, the governor of New South Wales, who at the time of Joseph's arrival to New South Wales in Oct 1850, was the  governor of New Zealand and prior had been the governor of South Australia. Possibly Joseph intended to travel to New Zealand, we'll never know, he was a clerk, but got derailed when he met Ann Fraser on the same ship and married her in Sydney, and then went on to the gold mines of Hill End. Some stories may never be verified only inasmuch as there is a record to prove such.

GATHER FAMILY INFORMATION AND RECORD WHAT YOU FIND:
 Start with yourself and look for certificates, family bibles, trees or journals, military, government, pension, christening or any record that would contain information. Collect into one place so you can sort through as you make your own personal record. Then you can either, record on to a pedigree or family group chart or enter into a genealogical program such as Ancestral Quest, Roots Magic etc. or a subscription program such as ancestry.com This will take some time! Commit some time each week, and hour or two is all is needed.
 Once you don't know much about the next generation always go from the known to the unknown, make up a summary of an ancestor you intend to research. Divide a sheet of paper  in two, one side is KNOWN the other side is UNKNOWN, then go back chronologically from the person's death to their birth and list what you know, from that you will end up with what you don't know and a possible search to find more. Keep it simple! One family at a time!

DO A SURVEY OF GENEALOGICAL SITES:

  Familysearch.org is free and was the first internet sharing file, the Salt Lake City Family History Library is the largest repository of genealogical material in the world and well worth a visit at least one time. All of their original media is stored in an environmentally safe granite mountain site, which I had the privilege of touring before it was closed to the public. They also have satellite Family History Centers throughout the world, their localities are found in familysearch.org, they do not proselyte and for a small fee rental microfilm is available.

Make sure you also correspond or visit the Historical Society and Public Library of your locality, they oftentimes have local records unavailable elsewhere. County records have information you may not find elsewhere, sometimes they will give information over the telephone. Cemeteries and obituaries are a wonderful way to connect families. The  internet is another prime source as many now put their trees online, churches may do so as well, Shrule Parish in Mayo County, Ireland, entered all their records online.  Ireland has  Heritage Centers and for a fee they will check a family name which would be much cheaper than visiting, unless you want the flavour of your ancestors. There are many other sites and historical places of interest to you and you alone.
                           
MY FAMILY TREE IS ALREADY DONE! NO IT ISN'T!
 Some have trees put together by others, just make sure you spot check the sources so you're not on the wrong line! Ancestry trees usually do not have sources, so it is wise to check and make sure. The you may want to go to an end of line family and start coming forward with spouses and children. If your tree goes to the 1500s and beyond this may not be possible, just go to a family where you can get sources, possibly a 2nd or 3rd great grandparents. Everyone is different, so be sure to keep a research log and do what the professionals do, make a report and summary of your research, from that you will know where to search next.

 VISIT THE LOCALITY OF YOUR ANCESTOR:
  If possible do this! It will really root you to your roots!
 My whirlwind visit to Tisbury and Semley in Wiltshire, England was fun and informative! After a two hour train ride from London, ( I nearly missed Tisbury, the train was longer than the ramp!) I found a  very old fashioned village, after a query for a taxi at the local Newsagent store, an old fashioned black car pulled up, driven by an elderly lady, my taxi! I was driven very slowly to the birthplace of the Whites and Burdens. After a perusal of the cemeteries in the drizzling rain ( yes I did have my raincoat and hat and no I did not think to bring chalk or paper to stencil, I just wrote it all down), the taxi driver made sure I got to train in time, I got out of the cab and the train pulled in! Whew!
Another time I was home visiting my family of origin and my brother decided we would take an overnight trip to Hill End,

where the Ackermanns and Krohmanns lived for a number of years in the cottage above, mining the gold fields. The original cottage is still standing and later, one family restored it to its original condition and live there in the summer, charging a small fee to look, to recompense some of  their expense. A wonderful piece of history, as a number of my family lived there, including the Goldings who lived at Tambaroora, a neighbouring town which no longer exits.Sadly the cemetery was just a mess of weeds and any headstones were long gone. Even so what a wonderful unforgettable experience!

COMMIT SOME TIME - LET GO OF FEARS!
Let go of any stumbling blocks such as: "I afraid it will take up too much time", only if you let it, possibly some time could be found from the thick of thin things. "I don't know how" is another

common fear, now is the best time to learn! Why not spend some of it hunting ancestors?  For those who have relatives in the thick of family history, there are other ways to be involved, collaborate with them to find out how you can help. Family Search has an indexing project to digitize all of their microfilm online for free, anyone is welcome to volunteer, how to start is found at familysearch.org, the missionaries are also learning and the sisters have spent some time learning.

Keeping a journal is a great way to pass your history to your posterity. Many local Historical Societies have projects and need volunteers to help, such as extracting names from a local cemetery. They always need help at their site and it is a good idea to become a  member, most will publish a newsletter or booklet each month. An entertaining radio show, "Extreme Genes" hosted by Scott Fisher, is found on mormonchannel.org, it has many ideas and links and gives the latest genealogical news, his introduction is, "Shake your family tree and  watch all the nuts fall out!"

You will find many rewards pursuing this fascinating hobby! A well known saying is," When a person dies, a library burns", makes sure you find those libraries!