Family History: First Step, Write it Down

The first thing you should do when starting to research your family history is to write down everything you know. Try writing a family tree and see how much you already have. There are lots of great software packages that will help you do this, or you can just use a pen and paper. If you have lots of information for each person, you might consider creating folders for everyone, then using the family tree to see at a glance who you have, before digging deeper into their file.

If you know what you've got it's easy to know where to look next.

Sketches of Your Ancestral Hometown

While not strictly an artifact of your family history, it can be nice to add some context to your story by including an image or photo of the town / village / region where your family once resided. Especially in cases in which you now live far away, or the place has been modernized extensively. Seeing the town as your ancestor may have seen it can give you some insight into their world.

Unfortunately, photography wasn't invented until the 19th century, so you won't find any photos of the cities your more distant relatives lived in. You can, however, almost certainly find a lithograph, or pen drawing of the town, particularly if it was larger than a few buildings. These lithographs are works of art in themselves, often highlighting important buildings in town, monuments, geographical features, or coastlines. A look at one can give you an idea of what it might have been like to live there hundreds of years ago.

But, where to look? You might be able to find one on the internet by doing a Google Image search, but often images found online are low quality. Your best bet is likely at the closest university library. Any university that has a history department will do, and in many cases you won't even need to be a student or alumni to use the library.

What you're looking for is a history book about the region in question. For instance, if your ancestors were from Harwich in the east of England, look for a "History of Harwich" or perhaps a "History of Essex", the county in which Harwich is located. Historians love to include lithographs in their academic books and the versions you find in the book will almost certainly be higher quality than the ones you find online. Most university libraries will allow you to photocopy pages from the book.

Then you can take your new treasure home and gaze upon your ancestral home, just as your ancestors knew it.

Track your Family History with Google Alerts

Every day new material shows up on the internet. Searching for your family name can land you some exciting finds about your ancestors. But, rather than perform the same Google Searches each morning and combing through pages and pages of links for new material, you can sign up for a Google Alert and be automatically notified of new pages. Whenever a match is found, Google will send you an email with a description and link to the page.

This can be particularly effective if you have a less-common surname. (Smith's and Jones', you might find your email box gets too full!).

To set up a Google Alert for your surname follow these steps:

1) Go to http://www.google.com/alerts
2) Type in your family name in the "Search Terms" Box
3) Select "Comprehensive" from the drop down menu
4) Type your email address in the box and click the "Create Alert" button

Now you'll be notified of pages that may help you on your search.

Tips for Buying Family History Artifacts on Ebay

For a family history buff, coming across a listing on Ebay that looks like an item from your family's past can be exciting. Who wouldn't want their Great-Great-Great Uncle William's civil war medal? In a situation like this it's easy to let emotions take over reason as you rush to place an inflated bid, just to ensure no one will win it away from you.

But, before you do, make sure you know what you're buying. Unfortunately, sometimes you don't get what you pay for. In his excitement, my father-in-law paid a ridiculous price for a book he thought was about his family history in 18th century Virginia. Turns out the seller had hastily thrown together an inaccurate description of the book, which was actually about a county in Virginia with a name that closely resembled my father-in-law's family name. Needless to say he was disappointed, and a few hundred dollars poorer.

How can you avoid similar disappointment? Here are a few steps you can take:

1) Contact the Seller.
Ebay allows you to "Ask the Seller A Question" and you should not hesitate to use the service. When you ask your question, be very direct and tell them that you are only interested in the item if the description is accurate and there is a good probability that it relates to your family history.

2) Ask For a Second Opinion.
This doesn't mean hire an appraiser or professional. It means ask a friend or relative to take a look at the item's description. Sometimes in our excitement our minds meld the words into what we want to see, rather than what is actually there. A second opinion can help instill added confidence in your purchase decision.

3) Is it logical?
Sometimes stories are just too good to be true. Ask yourself if it makes sense that the information connected to the item could reasonably be true. For instance, if someone claims to have the bullet that killed your relative in the Civil War, you'd better ask some tough questions about how they know that before you remortgage the house to buy it.

A good seller will be happy to answer your questions and they might even have a few more items lying around the attic that you'd be interested in.