Unk Hiram's
Beginning Genealogy Lessons
Lesson #1

Lesson One: Getting Started
The first thing you need to do is write down everything you know about yourself, your descendants (kids) and your ancestors (parents, grandparents, etc). The type of information you want to include falls into three categories:



1.)   Vital Data:


Full Name


Birth Date


Marriage Date


Divorce Date


Death Date



After entering this data you will want to obtain the legal documents that can serve as primary sources for these facts. One of the keys to good genealogy is always citing your sources, so start right from the beginning to list your sources. The documents you need are birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce papers, death certificates and wills.



2.)   Personal Facts:


Military Service


High School Graduation


College


Awards or Honors



This type of information will help to flesh out the people in your family tree. Like with the information in the Vital Data section you will want to obtain copies of the source documents. They are military discharges, high school diplomas, college diplomas, copies of the awards or honors.



3.)   Interesting Facts:


Nicknames


Religion


Personal Stories



Unlike the other two categories there are no documents out there to verify this section. So when you add it to your research you need to "document" how you found the information, i.e., personal memories, interviews with relatives, etc.

Q & A Section:

1. What is the first thing you should do when researching your Family Tree?
   
   1. Buy a genealogy program
      
   2. Subscribe to an online genealogy service.
      
   3. Write down everything you know about your family.
      
   4. Hire a professional genealogist
      
   
   
2. Which of the following is not Vital Data?
   
   1. Birth Date
      
   2. Full Name
      
   3. Nickname
      
   4. Marriage Date
      
   
   
3. When do you need to cite your sources?
   
   1. Always
      
   2. Never
      
   3. June
      
   4. When doing research in Maine
      

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