Youth and Genealogy

Ready to start researching your family tree? Follow these simple steps to begin a life-long journey to discover your ancestors:

Gather information. Talk to your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family members as you work to fill out your family tree. Gather information on birth, marriage, and death dates as well as the places where each even occurred (remember to get the city and state!). 

Begin research. Use AmericanAncestors.org and other websites to begin searching for information relating to your family. Keep track of where you have served and what information you find.

Identify missing information and questions.  Pick an individual or family who you would like to know more about. Some possible questions are:
a.      What did they do for a living?
b.      Where did they go to school?
c.      Did they serve in the military?
d.      When did my family immigrate to the United States?
e.      Was my ancestor on the Mayflower?
f.       Did my ancestor serve in the Revolutionary War?

Locate and research potential sources of information. Visit a library, such as the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, MA to look for answers to your questions. You can also e-mail Ask A Genealogist with questions you might have. 

Don’t give up. Often research leads us to more questions about our ancestors – keep researching, asking more questions, and conducting additional research.

Helpful Documents:

Family Tree
A Bibliography of Resources for Kids and Families