{"id":365,"date":"2010-04-27T21:21:17","date_gmt":"2010-04-27T21:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geneosity.com\/?p=365"},"modified":"2015-11-19T07:45:46","modified_gmt":"2015-11-19T13:45:46","slug":"guide-to-building-a-family-tree-without-spending-a-fortune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geneosity.com\/guide-to-building-a-family-tree-without-spending-a-fortune\/","title":{"rendered":"Build Your Family Tree Without Spending a Fortune"},"content":{"rendered":"

A frequent complaint in genealogy research is “I would love to learn about my family tree but I can’t afford professional help or the fees all these websites charge”.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The amount of money you can spend is inversely proportional to the combined volume of time you’re able to spend doing it AND how resourceful you are.\u00a0\u00a0 Money and time must be spent and that is just a fact.\u00a0\u00a0 Play it smart, however, and there are some great things that can be accomplished with relatively little money.<\/p>\n

Genealogy research can be done very efficiently and without spending a lot of money as long as you follow a plan.\u00a0 A methodical plan that includes requesting critical records from the counties or states can take considerable time. As this is a disappointment for some, the advantage is that this research is spread out over time, and over a period doesn’t amount to a very significant cost that is paid at any one time. Spacing out segments of genealogical research over time can prevent the occurrence of large, up-front costs and actually provides the academic benefit of having done the work properly, providing enough time to research side items and identifying other proofs for the individuals while you wait on the documentation to be sent to you. <\/p>\n

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\"Family<\/a>First Step – Interviews<\/span><\/strong>:<\/span> Start first with yourself and your siblings.\u00a0 Begin your family tree if you haven’t already with your own generation.\u00a0 Next move on to your parents.\u00a0 List all of the information available about your parents such as critical dates, locations where they have lived, where they were born, etc..\u00a0 This research is free and may turn out to be the most valuable.\u00a0 Make yourself familiar with the interview questions that must be asked.\u00a0 Interview your parents or their siblings to gather as much information about their immediate families as possible.\u00a0 Learn early and practice religiously that rule of etiquette that you:\u00a0 (1.\u00a0 Very briefly share what you know so far, (2. Ask the individual about themselves before moving on to parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.\u00a0 The less you know the person you’re interviewing the more strictly you will need to follow steps 1 and 2.\u00a0\u00a0 Complete the family tree with your parents, their siblings and their parents to the best of available knowledge.\u00a0 Some specific dates will need to be researched but you will have a great background of information to build from.<\/p>\n

Interviewing grandparents and great aunts, great uncles or other relatives from that generation will be very rewarding.\u00a0 These are the individuals that will be the most likely to have met or known the previous generation of ancestors personally.\u00a0 Meeting in person is the best way to gather information however the most difficult to arrange.\u00a0\u00a0 Please do yourself the favor of meeting in person with anyone from this generation you can.\u00a0 Ask them if they will be able to show you old pictures or marriage licenses, birth certificates, etc..\u00a0 The information you’ll be able to gather will be priceless.\u00a0 Bring a notebook, a camera and a voice recorder if possible.\u00a0 Ask to photograph or borrow and copy old photographs, documents or anything else that contains information of interest.\u00a0\u00a0 Hand-held document and image scanners are wonderful for this purpose if you have one or can get access to one.\u00a0\u00a0 Most will prefer that you do not take any photos or documents with you so these methods of copying information are very important to have.\u00a0\u00a0 Take a photo of the individual you’re interviewing if permissible.<\/p>\n

Process the information you have so far:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n