How do I do the research for a family tree? Which vital records do I need?

Question:I want to research my family history, but I don't how. Can I use my grandparents's names to get ancestors' names? I really don't know much about doing this.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I want to research my family history, but I don't how. Can I use my grandparents's names to get ancestors' names? I really don't know much about doing this.

Start by getting as much information from living family as possible, particularly senior members. Tape them if they will let you. What might seem to be insignificant story telling might turn out to be very significant.
See if anyone has any old family bibles.

Go to your public library and find out what all they have. They might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com which has lots of records. They have all the U. S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet. They have U. K. censuses also.

Now, don't take as absolute fact everything you see in family trees on any website, free or paid. The info is user submitted and mostly not documented or poorly documented. Even if you see the same information repeatedly by many different submitters, that is no guarantee it is correct. A lot of people copy without verifying. Also if a person has Family Tree Maker and a subscription to Genealogy.Com, they can merge other people's trees into theirs and then upload the merged tree into various family tree websites. People who do this are just interested in accumulating names and not quality research. Unfortunately, Genealogy.Com encourages that. Use the information in family trees as CLUES as to where to get the documentation.

A Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church has records on people all over the world,not just Mormons.
In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their Family History Centers can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.

I have never had them to try and convert me or send their missionaries by to ring my doorbell just because I used their resources.
I haven't heard of them doing that to anyone else either.

Vital records, births, marriages and deaths.
Births, deaths and the 2 applications for a
social security number I have seen have both parents' names including mother's maiden name and the death & ss# application have places of birth of both parents.

If you are in the U. S, each state has its own laws about who, when and where a person can obtain birth and death certificates. Also, governing bodies(state, county and cities) in many states did not start recording vital records until the first quarter of the 20th century. At first, many people who were born at home or died at home did not get recorded.

Church records can be important, Baptisms, First Communion, Confirmation,
Marriage and Death for many faiths will have parent information.

Then there are other courthouse records such as wills, deeds etc.

This is an All English Speaking Board, so anytime you have questions please identify the country and if the U. S., the state would be helpful. People on this board are from the U. S., U.K. Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Good Luck!

Shirley T just about covered it. I remember a friend that I had some time ago was researching her family tree. One place that she went was to the Mormon Church. Apparently, due to their religious beliefs they keep really accurate records of human genealogy. Good luck...

If your grandparents are living ask who their parents and grandparents were. You can ask the same of your parents. If they are deceased, their death certificates and obits may have info on their parents. Also ask if they think anyone does genealogy. If your grandparents are gone - perhaps their siblings survive.

The best bet is to start with a good book from the library on genealogy, or taking a look online at some of the links here:
http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm

Vital records are neat to have - and good confirmation, but not necessary - and actually there are often not any birth certificates for births prior to 1910 - and many people had delayed birth certificates entered to register for passports and social security later in life. Keep in mind, that most proof is in the courthouses, libraries, and historical societies where your ancestors lived - and in the houses of relations.

get a book called unpuzzling your past by Emily Croom. It takes you step by step

yes-no-maybe
Or, there are tons of ways to answer. The fact is that NONE OF US knew what to do when we started, so that's fine. If I break one of my brick walls tomorrow, it will be a fresh person and new places to look. There actually is a reason for this...each one of the ancestors are unique and the same answer won't work. Every grandparent is different- yours could have been born in 1932 in Missouri, and has a birth certificate. Mine was born in Poland in the 1830s and they didn't have birth certificates then.
First, let me use the term 'documentation' in place of vital records. Documentation includes ANY type of item that is (hopefully) original. That would include tombstones, for example, which most don't think of as a document. Normally, original records are those MADE AT THE TIME OF THE EVENT. NO one's database (tree, file, etc) that is online, is actually an original record. They are secondary, reports by someone else, who may be fanatic about facts, or "I don't bother checking anything, hey, its all for fun". Well, yeah.. it is for fun, but not checking means they don't have a clue if it is right or wrong. And yes, being wrong CAN cost someone else money. At the least, you don't want to buy a birth certificate (yes they cost) for gr grandma, so you can find her parents... only to find out that gr grandma that you thought was your line, was grandpa's 4th wife, and not the mother to your line at all.
Some of Wendy's (and standard) basics-
start with the present and work backwards. RESIST the urge to find the oldest Jones in the country, and try to prove how you are descended. He came in 1650. His distant cousin (or someone not related) came in 1800, and you could be from the later one.
Please, please, please.. don't get hung up on surnames and where they 'supposedly' originated. The name might come from ie France. It DOES NOT mean you are thus French, or prove that your ancestors came from there.
You are not looking for "are there any Smiths out there?", hoping they are magically related. What you really want is to find the father of YOUR Joe Smith, who was born in Dallas, Tx in 1875. Someone who wrote a book about the Smith family in Boston, Mass. in 1750 is not going to help you. BE SPECIFIC in what you are looking for. It tells you where to look.
When someone asks you "what is your proof of that?", don't be offended. His 'conclusion' of the death date came from some book. Your conclusion was recorded in the will filed at the courthouse. By comparing the source ("proof"), you both can evaluate which record is more reliable. After you both decide the legal record is better, NOW you know he died in this county, instead of the other, and can look for more records from that.
Keep an open mind. Grandma, in her 90s, tells you that HER grandma was from Alabama. When you check the actual historical records.. turns out that grandma was born in Florida, and moved to Alabama when she was 10. Makes a HUGE difference ..if you know that the mom died when gr grandma was 7, and you can't figure if you want to hunt a cemetery in Alabama or Florida.
It will NOT all be online. Aunt Mary has the family Bible, and she hates computers. You need to find Aunt Mary. You might have to actually pick up the phone and call her.
There are tons of sources online. The best one will be the ones that have your family, and that won't be just one best place. Your mothers birth certificate is a document to start with, it won't be online. It might prove that mom is 5 yrs older than dad, which she was always embarrassed about.. but you need that accurate date to build on.
Have fun.. but doing it right, means you'll break down the brick walls.