Building Your Family Tree: A Step-by-Step Guide
A family tree is the foundation of all genealogy research. Whether you are just starting out or expanding an existing tree, a systematic approach saves time and produces more accurate results.
Start With What You Know
The golden rule of genealogy is to begin with yourself and work backward through time. Start by documenting everything you know: your full name, birthdate, birthplace, parents' names, siblings, and any grandparents you know of. Even partial information is valuable — a first name, a general location, or an estimated birth decade gives you something to search for in records.
Gather documents you already have access to: birth certificates, marriage licenses, passports, Social Security cards, military discharge papers (DD-214), diplomas, and family bibles. These documents often contain details — full names, exact birth dates, parents' names — that are difficult to find elsewhere.
Interview older relatives while you have the opportunity. Grandparents, great-aunts, and great-uncles carry irreplaceable knowledge about family history, family lore, and the identities of people in old photographs. Record these conversations with the person's permission. Even inaccurate family stories are valuable because they often contain a kernel of truth that points toward the correct historical record.
Choosing a Family Tree Software or Platform
Desktop Software
Programs like MacFamilyTree, RootsMagic, and Legacy Family Tree store data locally on your computer, giving you full control. They are ideal for serious researchers who want to manage large databases and attach scanned documents to each person.
Online Platforms
Platforms like FamilySearch, Ancestry, and MyHeritage Family Tree host your tree in the cloud, making it accessible from any device and sharable with relatives. Many integrate record hints that automatically suggest matching historical documents.
GEDCOM Standard
The GEDCOM file format is the universal standard for genealogy data exchange. Most software and platforms can import and export GEDCOM files, making it easy to migrate your data or share it with family members using different tools.
Organizing and Citing Your Sources
Proper source citation is one of the most important — and most frequently neglected — aspects of genealogy research. Every fact in your family tree should be supported by a source citation that tells you where the information came from and allows you or another researcher to locate the original document again.
Elizabeth Shown Mills' work Evidence Explained is the standard reference for genealogical source citation. At minimum, every source should include the record type, the repository where it is held, the date it was accessed, and any relevant identifiers (volume, page number, film number, URL). Digital sources should also include the date accessed because online records can disappear or change.
Distinguish between primary and secondary sources, and between original and derivative records. A birth certificate created at the time of birth by someone with direct knowledge is a primary, original record of high reliability. An obituary published fifty years later, based on information provided by grieving family members, is a secondary derivative record that may contain errors. Both types can be useful, but they should be weighted differently.
Keep separate research logs that record where you have already searched, even when you found nothing. Negative evidence — knowing that a particular record set does not mention your ancestor — is valuable information that prevents you from repeating the same search and wasting time. A simple spreadsheet with columns for date, repository, record set, search terms, and result is sufficient for most researchers.
Collaborate with other researchers. Many genealogists have researched the same ancestral lines and may already have solved problems that are stumping you. One-name studies, regional genealogical societies, and surname-specific Facebook groups are excellent places to connect with others working on the same families. Always verify information shared by other researchers against original records before adding it to your tree.
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