BEGINNERS TIP: Birth, Marriage, and Death Certificates

Birth, marriage, and death certificates are key documents for tracing family backward from one generation to the previous one. These are referred to as vital records in the U.S. or civil registration documents in many other countries. Churches in Europe were responsible for maintaining records of christenings, marriages, and burials in their ecclesiastical registers. Governments later took responsibility for issuing official documents in the form of birth certificates, marriage licenses and certificates, and death certificates.

Marriage documents were typically generated and recorded earliest by governmental entities, with birth and death certificates following later. The issuance of government-mandated birth certificates began at different times in different places based on legislation passed at different times. In the U.S., each state or territory passed legislation to implement the issuance of birth and death certificates. As a result, the implementation date and format of these documents varies.

Read more in the FamilySearch Research Wiki about these documents, particularly for the country, state, province, county, parish, or other geopolitical topic.

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page

A free, online genealogy and family history guide that lists websites, provides research strategies, and suggests records and resources to help you find ancestors from all over the world.

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BEGINNERS TIP: Pedigree Chart and Family Group Sheets

An excellent way to get started - and to attack brick walls - is to complete what's called a Pedigree Chart or Ancestral Form. Use one of these to start with yourself on the left and moving generation by generation left to right. Enter the parents', grandparents', great-grandparents' names, date and place of birth, marriage, and death. See how much You can fill in, and then talk to other family members to see if they can help fill in the blanks.

Pedigree Chart (Source: FamilySearch.com)

This provides a preliminary framework for your research. You may not know - or be able to fill in - all the information. However, it provides a great starting point.

For each couple, you can then download and complete a Family Group Sheet for each person and spouse. (Separate sheets are to be used for multiple spouses.) You use this form to family records an individual, the spouse, and all the children of that relationship. Some family group sheets include other information, such as occupation. If you have more children than will in the couple's relationship than there is room for on one family group sheet, use one or more additional sheets for them and keep them together for that family unit.

Family Group Sheet (Source: FamilySearch.org)

Pedigree Charts and Family Group Sheets are used in tandem to complete what you know AND what you have located in the way of other reliable evidence of the name, locations, dates, and other facts. They will create a familial picture from which to so other research. Again, you may not have all or be able to initially find all this information. However, these forms are an excellent starting point for individual and family research.

You will find at a huge list of links to these and other genealogical forms at Cyndi's List (https://www.cyndislist.com/charts/). Some are simple downloadable and printable PDF files. A few are downloadable forms for Windows and Mac. In any event, make use of the invaluable forms to graphically represent individuals and families. You'll learn what you do know And target what you need to investigate.

Once you've completed these forms, then is the time to begin searching for original documents that can verify (or refute) what you have entered. And remember to talk to all your relatives and obtain as much information from those people as possible in the process.