Tracing your genealogy is something every family has the right to do and thanks to vital records kept by various governments, the task is easier today than ever before. Reconnecting with one's roots is both a challenging and exciting task combining one part detective and one part family historian.
By requesting birth, death and marriage certificates, you can trace your families' heritage back several generations. All of these records often hold important clues as to who married whom, where they were born and died at, and what children—if any—they had.
As far as actually taking on genealogical research, most American vital records go back almost 200 years, and in Europe, there are records on file that go back to the 16th century. Such a long time horizon makes for very interesting genealogical research that can also prove to be quite time consuming.
If you want to find out more about your family and your heritage, you may find the process a bit difficult. Families are no longer staying close to where they grew up, and many children grow up seeing their extended family only on rare occasions like the winter holidays. This, combined with a lack of records from years past, can make tracing your family tree a bit more difficult than it would seem.
One way to facilitate the process is to contact your state's historical or genealogical society. These networks can help assist you with building your family tree. Often, the societies will have a database of information, such as birth and death records. Prior to these records being recorded at a state or county level, genealogical societies have been able to trace families through obituaries, birth notices, and information donated by their members. These notices often include information such as surviving relatives, birthplace, occupation, and other information that can make your search easier.
While these records are often public domain, a genealogical or historical society can assist you with finding exactly what you are looking for, even if the official record is incomplete.
If you are interested in finding out more about your extended family, particularly relatives that have since passed on, genealogical libraries will be one of your best resources. One of the largest is the U.S. National Archives office.
The National Archives keeps records that are commonly used by genealogists. This includes Census Records, Immigration Records, Land Records, Military Records, and Naturalization records. While you do not find the actual record, you will find aids that will help you with your research.
Genealogical records that are online include casualty lists from the Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as other war and battle fatalities, Chinese exclusion lists, Fugitive Slave Case Papers, lists of prisoners of war, and other military records.
By searching through this genealogical information, you can gain valuable insight as to who your relatives were and what they did. It may even help you to find long lost relatives or previously unknown members of your family tree.
Public Records
Court Records
Criminal Records
Birth Records
Death Records
Marriage Records
Divorce Records
Genealogy Records