I was sitting in a restaurant the other day while my daughter took her state exam for cosmetology. I was sitting at a table next to a lady who was with her elderly mom and over heard her excitedly tell her mom that she had connected with a distant relative. The mom asked how she was able to find such a distant relative and the daughter responded "Ancestry.com". It is ironic because I had already started my notes on the subject of genealogy for my blog.
As a kid and even young adult I had no interest in history or genealogy. I thought is was so boring. Why did it take getting older and losing family members to motivate me to begin my own family tree? Earlier this week I found a book titled "To Our Children's Children; Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come" at a second hand store. I purchased the book and looking through it wished I had the chance to ask my mom most of the questions in this book.
"We all carry inside us people who came before us." Liam Callanan
It seemed overwhelming when I started looking into where to begin with my family genealogy. There are so many websites. I started with the site familytreemagazine.com. This site is chock full of how to's, tutorials, free forms and resources and steps to get started. For me, this was a great starting point. I also have a college ruled notebook that I am keeping all my notes on.
If you are able, connect with other family members to get information and pictures. Once those resources are exhausted, check out sites like Ancestry.com, Deadfred.com, genealogy.com and Familysearch.com. Keep in mind this is a short list of available resources.
"We don't own our family history. We simply preserve it for the next generation." Rosemary Alva
Now that you have a good start on your family history where do you keep the information?
I really love Forever's Historian. Your information is stored on your computer and you can organize your digital photos, video and audio files. Make sure to back up your files often and keep copies off site as well as in the cloud. This is where I keep my information and I am an ambassador for Forever. So if you like it and sign up through my link I will earn a small commission. Forever currently is offering 25% off. Forever.com/ambassador/lisa-tanis
I also really liked the site, myheritage.com. Just like Forevers' Historian, you can try it for free. Myheritage.com also offers matching to other family trees, matches to historical records and customer support.
Ancestry.com is also very poplar. There are lots of options so do a search and find what best meets your needs.
Good luck!
"Preserve your memories, keep them well, what you forget you can never retell." Louisa May Alcott