Family Group Sheet

You're ready to start your family tree. You know the names of your grandparents, and maybe even a great-grandparent or two. You know the country where your ancestors lived before they came to America. What's next?

Well, as the title says, always work from the known to the unknown. Start by asking yourself what you know. You know your name and date of birth, and where you were born. You know your parents' names, and possibly their dates and places of birth, and the date and place of their marriage. Now it's time to put all that information down on paper. I suggest you get yourself a binder and a pack of paper or download forms off the internet. Start the first page with your own name. Add your date of birth, your place of birth, your spouse's name, and the date and place of your marriage, the names and birth dates of your children, and of course, the names of your parents. (Not John and Mary Smith, but John Smith and Mary Jones.) You will find later that it is much easier to find and connect people, if the women are listed with their maiden names.

Okay, now you have finished one family group sheet. Take another sheet of paper, and write your father's name and his date and place of birth. Add your mother's name, her date of birth and the date of their marriage. List all of their children, including you. Now you have a second family group sheet.