Ok First Post,
I want to start bulding a historical document regarding my family and thier roots. My goal is to have this completed for Christmas 2008. Is this realistic?
Also (this will sound funny) where do I start?
I know my parent landed in Nova Scotia, my mother by way of Italy. My father a little tricker they moved to France first, then onword to Canada via Nova Scotia. Where should I start looking, what information should gather first. I am pretty lucky in that I still have My nonni (three of them) still around. Thanks Inadvance
Where To Start?
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MysteryMike
- Veteran
- Posts: 102
- Joined: 26 Feb 2008, 20:54
Re: Where To Start?
Completed? There's no such thing in genealogy.... If you want to set a goal, a certain number of generations would be more realistic... All depending on the amount of information you're starting with
Start with the present and work backwards... sounds logical, but it is usually the biggest mistake people make when starting...
Interview all living relatives... Times, dates, and places are your friends... Ask about your direct line, but any information on siblings, cousins and such should be maintained... Families use to run in packs... Try to grade things you're told with a confidence level... was the person present or was it heresay or handed-down to them through the generations... Nothing is fact until you have a proof, otherwise it has a certain likelihood of fact.
Be organized and document everything.... death certificates, obituaries, marriage certificates, naturalizations, census records, immigration records, birth records, religious papers... etc.... too many to name them all...
When I was growing up, my dad would say, "Believe nothing that you hear and half what you see"... I think it applys well to genealogy..
Best of luck.... and once you have some info to share, we can try and steer you further...
Mike
Start with the present and work backwards... sounds logical, but it is usually the biggest mistake people make when starting...
Interview all living relatives... Times, dates, and places are your friends... Ask about your direct line, but any information on siblings, cousins and such should be maintained... Families use to run in packs... Try to grade things you're told with a confidence level... was the person present or was it heresay or handed-down to them through the generations... Nothing is fact until you have a proof, otherwise it has a certain likelihood of fact.
Be organized and document everything.... death certificates, obituaries, marriage certificates, naturalizations, census records, immigration records, birth records, religious papers... etc.... too many to name them all...
When I was growing up, my dad would say, "Believe nothing that you hear and half what you see"... I think it applys well to genealogy..
Best of luck.... and once you have some info to share, we can try and steer you further...
Mike
Re: Where To Start?
This is one of my favorite links for a guide on Italian genealogy: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ ... cestor.asp
Mike is right, work from the present backwards. So start with your parents, then go to your grandparents, then great grandparents, etc...
As for your project, I dedicated a year to a similiar project and made a little book for my parents. My goal was simple, to go back to my great great grandparents on each side of the family. I was able to do that in a year. As Mike said, the search always continues because there is always more to discover and more documents surface the harder you look.
Mike is right, work from the present backwards. So start with your parents, then go to your grandparents, then great grandparents, etc...
As for your project, I dedicated a year to a similiar project and made a little book for my parents. My goal was simple, to go back to my great great grandparents on each side of the family. I was able to do that in a year. As Mike said, the search always continues because there is always more to discover and more documents surface the harder you look.
