Discovering Your Own Heritage

Discovering Your Own Heritage

We have received countless e-mails inquiring how we got started in genealogy and arrived at where we are today. We thought it best to produce a web page outlining what we have utilized to achieve the success we’ve had with establishing our own family tree with the hope that it will prove helpful to the many families interested in doing the same.

Discovering and documenting your heritage is really a relatively easy process, it will take some work but you will find it extremely rewarding and something the entire family can partake in—not to mention the fact that you will be establishing a formal record of your family’s history to pass on through the ages.

Probably the most critical aspect of building your family tree with as much ease as possible is utilizing a good software program. Once you’ve chosen the software and installed it on your computer it’s as simple as filling in the blanks.

To fill in those blanks much of the data can be gathered right from your own family members. In most cases, however, that will only take you so far, which will bring you to the next step of the process. This step will likely require you to subscribe, at least temporarily, to a database service that has access to state and federal Census Records, death and marriage certificates, etc.

We will make some recommendations here based on what we have found to work best for us. There are numerous choices out there but be careful, some software programs and data service providers aren’t worth the time of day.

Software

Let’s start with the software—this is your record base and will be critical to your success. By far, the best choice is Family Tree Maker. It’s the number one selling genealogy software and is a simple to operate program that will take you through the building of your family tree step by step—all you have to do is fill in the blanks, the software will do all the rest.

Family Tree maker has a number of advantages over the competitors that are out there. Here’s a basic recap of what it will do for you:

Here’s a link to purchase the Family Tree Maker software:

Ancestral Database

The next step in the process may require researching relatives you don’t have complete data on or, in many cases, you have absolutely nothing on. In this step you will utilize the services of a data service provider to find and discover your family’s history records.

In our opinion, and we’ve used many, the best service provider in the industry is Ancestry.com.

They offer

· U.S. Census Record

· Birth, Marriage and Death records

· US Immigration Collection

· OneWorld Tree

· Obituary Collection

· U.K. Census Collection

Ancestry.com offers a free trial period - try if for free for the first 14 days and if you don’t find it of value then simply cancel it at no charge.

Building your family tree and discovering your heritage is not a complicated process and all that is required is a basic computer with internet access and a good software program. In no time you will be amazed at how far you’ve been able to trace your roots.

A couple points we’d like to make in closing:

You share common ancestors with many people you don’t know and this relationship increases exponentially with every generation. It is only a matter of time before the ancestors you are looking for have already been well documented and are available for downloading right into your own tree. This is where your Family Tree Maker software and Ancetry.com’s “OneWorld Tree” will pay off. When this time comes, and it will with a little effort, you can literally add a number of generations with just a click of the mouse. It is all carried out automatically with the Family Tree Maker software program.

Last but not least, have you ever wondered if there’s royalty in your blood? We’ll bet you, 2 to 1, with a little effort you’ll find it - it’s just a matter of time, no pun intended. And, at that point, your progress will explode due to the fact that royalty lines have been extremely well documented for 1000s of years and most date back to biblical times. This may seem like a long shot but it’s really not, it only requires some time and effort on your part to find that link.

So, good luck in your search and please drop us a line on your success, we’d love to hear from you!

Build your family tree
Getting started is easy. Simply enter what you already know starting with yourself, and then watch your tree take form. If you need more help, a Getting Started Tutorial will walk you through this process step-by-step.

Use Family Tree Maker to record and organize all of the information you collect on your family – create tree charts, reports, calendars, scrapbooks, heirloom-quality books and more!

Search for ancestors
Family Tree Maker will automatically search the largest online collection of family history information - Ancestry.com - for your ancestors based on the information in your tree. The Web Search report will allow you to compare the search results side-by-side with the information in your tree, so you can quickly determine whether the information is relevant to you. The new Web Merge feature lets you import the information directly into your Family Tree Maker file – instantly.

Design and personalize
Bring your family story to life by customizing a wide variety of charts and reports with images, photos, colors, fonts, borders and box styles. Add your own personal touch and style!

Share with family and friends
Give your relatives a beautiful family book filled with stories, charts, photographs, maps, timelines and much more – it’s easy to create in Family Tree Maker. Or you can share your work digitally – on CD-ROM or through a free Internet homepage.

Submitting your family tree to MyFamily.com’s collection of user-submitted trees lets you share your discoveries with the entire genealogy community. It’s a great way to connect with other researchers who may be part of the same family line.

Success is easier than you think