Research Tools & Sites

What we find changes who we become. - Peter Morville

Get Started Researching

Here are a few tips to help you get started researching.

Start with Yourself Write down all that you know about yourself and your family. Write down your parents, grandparents, and family members.  Collect as much info as you can from family bibles, albums, obituaries, etc.

Interview Your Family– Starting with your oldest living elders- ask your family about people, places and dates. Elders will often know names, nicknames, family friends and events that you have never even heard of.

Study– read articles and find out about best practices for research and how to organize and cite your sources.  This will be invaluable when you begin researching records.  Join a local genealogical society to learn and get assistance in your research.

Collect documents and images– Ask your family for copies of pictures, obituaries, marriage invitations, etc.  You want to talk with and collect documentation from your elders before they pass away.  Our elders are a treasure and when they pass on, all of their knowledge goes with them.

Search– Begin searching for public record documents online and by visiting libraries and courthouses.  You can join a paid site such as Ancestry or utilize free sites like FamilySearch.  You can also visit your local public library and/or genealogical library and get access to paid sites for free.

Build Your Tree– Build your family tree and cite your sources.

Interview Your Family Again– As you research you will find names, documents and other items that will jog their memories and they will begin to provide even more detail to you.

 

 

 

Genealogical Proof Standard

You may notice that between editions of the Alexander Family History Book facts may change.  For instance this website and the upcoming edition of the family history book concludes that George and Georgianna have 15 children when it has previously been 14 or the question of whether George & Georgianna are related to Daniel & Felicia.  Our research is as accurate as possible and conducted using best practices.

Some conclusions are temporary assumptions based upon data that is currently available.  Those assumptions may change as more records become available. Simply finding a person with the same name in a certain location is not enough to assume we have located the specific person we are researching. Some conclusions may never be definitely proven. Further research and supporting documentation and proof are required before we can make solid conclusions.  Our tree is a constant work in progress and we hope to one day make all conclusions based upon the Genealogical Proof Standard.

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Proof is a fundamental concept in genealogy. In order to merit confidence, each conclusion about an ancestor must have sufficient credibility to be accepted as “proved.” Acceptable conclusions, therefore, meet the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS). The GPS consists of five elements:

  1. reasonably exhaustive research;
  2. complete, accurate citations to the source or sources of each information item;
  3. tests—through processes of analysis and correlation—of all sources, information items, and evidence;
  4. resolution of conflicts among evidence items; and
  5. a soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion.

Each element contributes to a conclusion’s credibility.

(http://www.bcgcertification.org/resources/standard.html)
Site NameURLFree/PaidDescription
Ancestryhttp://www.ancestry.comPaidVarious records
FamilySearchhttp://www.familysearch.orgFreeVarious records
Cyndi's Listhttp://www.cyndislist.comFreeDirectory of genealogy lists, organizations, sites, articles, etc.
Chronicling Americahttp://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/FreeSearch newspapers from 1789-1922
Find A Gravehttp://www.findagrave.comFreeBurial Records
Billion Graveshttp://www.billiongraves.comFreeBurial Records
Fold3http://www.fold3.comPaidMilitary Records
Newspapers.comhttp://www.newspapers.comPaid4,300+ newspapers from the 1700s–2000s
Genealogy Bankhtttp://www.genealogybank.comPaid6,000-plus historical newspaper titles
Googlehttp://www.google.comFreeGoogle Search Engine
Site NameURLFree/PaidDescription
Ancestry DNAhttp://www.ancestry.comPaidDNA testing for ancestry
GedMatchhttp://www.gedmatch.comFree/PaidDNA file upload and matching tools
DropBoxhttp://www.dropbox.comFree/PaidCloud file storage
Family Tree Makerhttps://www.mackiev.com/ftm/PaidFamily Tree Creation Software
Family Search Appshttps://familysearch.org/apps/Free/PaidA directory of apps that work with your Family Tree to run reports, make charts and maps, and more.
Ancestry Mobile Apphttp://www.ancestry.com/cs/ancestry-appFree App for paid subscriptionMobile version of Ancestry
Family Search Mobilehttps://familysearch.org/mobile/treeFreeMobile Tree version of FamilySearch