Family History
By John Michalek
I have been doing family history research on and off for well over 20 years now, and have found it satisfying to learn many new things about my ancestors. When we meet with and talk with people, we use the time to learn more about them and get to know them better. After someone passes away, we are no longer able to get to know them better, at least directly. I’ve found that learning about them through family history research has helped me to appreciate and get to better know relatives that I’ve known for a long time, and those relatives I’ve never met. I’ve also found that sharing the results of the research with currently living relatives is a nice way to stay in contact and build relationships. Some of the more recent discoveries that I’ve made are significant include the experience my grandparents and their families went through during and after WW2. Some of these details are heart wrenching to read about; but encouraging because of the resolve that many had to help others in the midst of difficulty. One of the nice things about doing family history research is that there is usually no time pressure. You can always do as much or as little as you have time for. For anyone that has any inclination toward doing this research, I suggest the following:
Start early, while many relatives are still living.
Collect history from family members. Family information/records are usually the best, and they come in all forms. Talking with relatives, getting the history that they know about, and getting their advice on where there could be more.
Focus on data collection initially and leave summarizing for later.
Use online resources. There are many online sources that have a lot of good information. I’ve found that I am able to access Ancestry.Com free of charge through our local public library. This allows me to extend my research period without continually paying subscription fees.
Be a detective. Records will often conflict or will lack needed information. Confirm details with multiple sources.
Correlate information to glean the most out of what is available. I’ve found three other family trees online that in some way connect to mine.
Share with others.
