LDS Family History Help

You will need genealogy software to help you organize all the family history data you will soon be accumulating.

Once you've installed PAF go ahead and enter as much information as you can into your family tree.

When I first started I was only able to enter my own name, my parents' names, and my grandparent's names.

I didn't know my grandmother's maiden name nor anyone's birth/death dates and places.

Older relatives are a great resource for more family history information.

At the next family get-together pull your mother, aunt, or grandmother aside and ask her some questions about your ancestors. When you interview older relatives about family history try to get the following on each person:

• birth date/year and place
• death date/year and place
• maiden name (if applicable)

At some point down the line your older relatives will only be remembered by names like "Great Ol' Granny" or "Grandpa Jones." When that happens try to get the name of the state or city they lived in so you will have some kind of way to track them down in the future.

Older relatives may also be in possession of a family bible or baby books that have family history information inside of them. Ask them to photocopy or photograph these pages for you.

Death certificates help you discover the next generation of your family tree.

If you know the name of a person and the approximate place and date of their death you can order their death certificate. Death certificates can help you discover the person's birth date and place, their parent's name and their maiden name (if applicable).

To order a death certificate you will need to know the city, county and state the person died in, as well as the approximate date of death. If you don't know this information try looking it up in the Social Security Death Index. The SSDI contains the death date and the last known city the person lived in (which is probably in the same county they died in).

Once you have the death place and date, search google for "[state name] vital records" to find the website of the vital records office of the state the person died in. Most states require you to fill out a 1 page form and send a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) with a small fee (usually about $20) for an uncertified copy of the death certificate.

In a couple weeks your SASE will come in the mail. Open it up and and look for the names listed on the MOTHER and FATHER lines. You just discovered the next generation of your ancestors!

Census data can help you find the parents and siblings of your ancestors.

The US government has done several censuses since 1790 and if your ancestors are American there is a great chance that they can be found there. Depending on the census year, different facts can be found out about a person listed on the census.

When I searched the 1920 US census for my grandfather I found him as a 4 year old child in his father's home in Chicago, IL. Also listed on the census are his siblings and parents.

Although I already had my great grandparents' names from my grandfather's death certificate, the 1920 census also reveals their birth year, birth state/country, and the birth state/ country of my great great grandparents. These are all clues on where and how to find the next generation.

Amazing family history breakthroughs can happen when you share family history research online.

I honestly don't know how people did their family history work before the internet. Besides making it easier for researchers to find data, the internet allows us to find and collaborate with others who are researching the same names and places we are.

A great online service that helps you do this is OneGreatFamily. My friend Jill has used this service to find over 7,000 of her mother's ancestors!

A free alternative is to submit your family tree to WorldConnect. I've used that service to find and download dozens of my ancestors.

The volunteers at LDS Family History Centers can help you prepare your names for the temple.

Until LDS church programmers finish the new software that will allow you to submit names to the temple from your home, you will have to go to an LDS Family History Center for this final step. At the Family History Center they have software called "Temple Ready" that prepares a disc for the temple. At the temple they will use the data on the disc to print all the names on pink (for girls) and blue (for boys) cards.

Besides lending help with Temple Ready, the volunteers at LDS Family History Centers are extremely knowledgeable on many aspects of family history research. If you need help in any way they are a great resource and they love to help family history newbies.

Find the LDS Family History Center nearest you.

• Sources: Use your family history software to keep track of the sources of each tidbit of information (like birth place, death date, etc). These sources will come in handy in the future should you find discrepancies while comparing data with someone else. At first I tried to keep it all in my head but now that I have hundreds of names in my family tree it is impossible to do remember where I found my data unless I previously made a note of the source.
  
  
• For LDS Converts: If you are an LDS convert like me then it's important not to reveal why you want this family history info. Although you are excited about your new found faith, your family members will be less likely to give you information if you tell them you want to do ordinances in the temple for your deceased ancestors. Don't lie about it, but if they don't ask, then don't tell them why you want this information.