Genealogy

What is Genealogy?

Genealogy is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages.  Amateur genealogists typically pursue their own ancestry and that of their spouses, trying to understand not just where and when people lived but also their lifestyles, biographies, and motivations.  This often requires-or leads to-knowledge of antiquated laws, old political boundaries, migration trends, and historical socioeconomic or religious conditions.  The results of this research are often portrayed as a "family tree".

Why do Genealogy?

The pursuit of family history and origins tends to be shaped by several motives, including the desire to carve out a place for one's family in the larger historical picture, a sense of responsibility to preserve the past for future generations, and self-satisfaction in accurate storytelling.  Genealogy research is also performed for scholarly or forensic purposes.  Some hereditary rights such as property ownership, citizenship, the right to govern, reparations and status are supported by genealogical research.  To some, genealogical research is like solving a complex puzzle.
While often frustrating, it can be fun!

How do we do Genealogy?

We generally begin with oral history from family members.  This is sometimes supported by artifacts such as a family bible with generations recorded in the flyleaf.  Historical, social, and family context is essential to achieving correct identification of individuals and relationships.  Source citation is also important when conducting genealogical research.  To keep track of collected material, family group sheets and pedigree charts are used. Formerly handwritten, these can now be generated by genealogical software.  Computer sites now support data from many different individuals.  This information is often inaccurate, but significantly increases the amount of data available.  Census data is now broadly available.  Because a person's DNA contains information that has been passed down relatively unchanged from early ancestors, analysis of DNA is sometimes used for genealogical research.

Genealogy

What is Genealogy?

Genealogy is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages.  Amateur genealogists typically pursue their own ancestry and that of their spouses, trying to understand not just where and when people lived but also their lifestyles, biographies, and motivations.  This often requires-or leads to-knowledge of antiquated laws, old political boundaries, migration trends, and historical socioeconomic or religious conditions.  The results of this research are often portrayed as a "family tree".

Why do Genealogy?

The pursuit of family history and origins tends to be shaped by several motives, including the desire to carve out a place for one's family in the larger historical picture, a sense of responsibility to preserve the past for future generations, and self-satisfaction in accurate storytelling.  Genealogy research is also performed for scholarly or forensic purposes.  Some hereditary rights such as property ownership, citizenship, the right to govern, reparations and status are supported by genealogical research.  To some, genealogical research is like solving a complex puzzle.
While often frustrating, it can be fun!

How do we do Genealogy?

We generally begin with oral history from family members.  This is sometimes supported by artifacts such as a family bible with generations recorded in the flyleaf.  Historical, social, and family context is essential to achieving correct identification of individuals and relationships.  Source citation is also important when conducting genealogical research.  To keep track of collected material, family group sheets and pedigree charts are used. Formerly handwritten, these can now be generated by genealogical software.  Computer sites now support data from many different individuals.  This information is often inaccurate, but significantly increases the amount of data available.  Census data is now broadly available.  Because a person's DNA contains information that has been passed down relatively unchanged from early ancestors, analysis of DNA is sometimes used for genealogical research.

Genealogy

What is Genealogy?

Genealogy is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages.  Amateur genealogists typically pursue their own ancestry and that of their spouses, trying to understand not just where and when people lived but also their lifestyles, biographies, and motivations.  This often requires-or leads to-knowledge of antiquated laws, old political boundaries, migration trends, and historical socioeconomic or religious conditions.  The results of this research are often portrayed as a "family tree".

Why do Genealogy?

The pursuit of family history and origins tends to be shaped by several motives, including the desire to carve out a place for one's family in the larger historical picture, a sense of responsibility to preserve the past for future generations, and self-satisfaction in accurate storytelling.  Genealogy research is also performed for scholarly or forensic purposes.  Some hereditary rights such as property ownership, citizenship, the right to govern, reparations and status are supported by genealogical research.  To some, genealogical research is like solving a complex puzzle.
While often frustrating, it can be fun!

How do we do Genealogy?

We generally begin with oral history from family members.  This is sometimes supported by artifacts such as a family bible with generations recorded in the flyleaf.  Historical, social, and family context is essential to achieving correct identification of individuals and relationships.  Source citation is also important when conducting genealogical research.  To keep track of collected material, family group sheets and pedigree charts are used. Formerly handwritten, these can now be generated by genealogical software.  Computer sites now support data from many different individuals.  This information is often inaccurate, but significantly increases the amount of data available.  Census data is now broadly available.  Because a person's DNA contains information that has been passed down relatively unchanged from early ancestors, analysis of DNA is sometimes used for genealogical research.