Welcome to my Genealogy Research Series: Family Documents and Papers!
Have you ever wondered about your family history? Where did we come from? What is OUR story? How do we begin our family history research?
Follow along in this series and I will show you how to take the necessary steps needed to trace your family tree.
In this post, I will cover Family Documents and Papers.
I will tell you what documents may be in your family’s possession, and where to look for them.
You can follow the video tutorial here or on YouTube.
Or, If you would rather, you can read the tutorial in the post below.
Let’s get started!
Let your family know you are interested
Let your family know you are interested in tracing your family tree. Ask them what documents or papers may be in the possession of the family.
Often, older relatives will not think that the papers they have kept over the years will be valuable to the family history, so questions need to be specific. Let’s look at some of the items to ask for and what we may learn from them.
Family Bibles
Ask if they know of any family bibles that may exist and who has them.
Family Bibles were given as wedding gifts and were popular items to own because of the “ Records” sections. Sometimes, this section is referred to as the “Register”.
These sections are fill-in-the-blank templates that are ready and waiting for family events to be recorded. The Records sections were usually found in the front of the Bible or on pages between the Old and New Testaments.
Many old Bibles have pages that are for recording several generations of a family tree as well.
Family Bible birth record
Because birth records are often kept in family bibles, dates and places of births may be found. The picture above is a copy of a birth record found in one of my family’s Bibles.
When marriages are recorded, the information could not only give you information about the weddings, but also may contain previously unknown maiden names. I found my great-grandmother’s maiden name on the marriage page in my grandmother’s family bible.
Family Bible Marriage Record
Another type of record that could be found in a family bible is baptismal or christening records, which may possibly lead you to churches that your family attended, which in turn may lead to more records that have information about your family.
Other items found in family bibles can be equally important.
Many times family bibles will have obituary clippings, cards, funeral programs and other papers stuck in the pages, that may contain important information about your family.
In my great-grandmother’s bible, I found a list of family members with their dates of birth written by my great-great-grandmother.
Finding family bibles can be a great source of information.
List of birthdays found between the pages of my grandmother’s Bible
Family Papers
Ask your relatives if grandma had a box of papers, and if so, who has it now?
These old boxes can contain items like newspapers, marriage license, old letters or cards that could have personal information about our relatives that we may not be able to find anywhere else.
In my other grandmother’s box of papers, I found several items that I would not have dreamed of finding.
In her box was a WWII rations booklet.
It didn’t have much information about my family written in it, but it was a priceless find for me! I can not imagine needing a ration coupon to purchase things like flour or sugar.
It added a new perspective to the lives my ancestors lived.
Another item in her box was a pink envelope that contained 10 pages of personal information about my great grandmother’s family.
It discussed everything from the food that they ate on a normal day, to the plants they harvested to make dye for the fabric they made clothes with!
It was handwritten by my great grandmother and it gave me a great start for filling out my pedigree chart for her family!
10 page Family history found in grandma’s box of photos
Boxes of Photos
Most families have a box of photos. These boxes contain not only photos, but other items like marriage licenses, and newspaper clippings.
The photos themselves are valuable because the may trigger memories in our older relatives.
Let your relatives know you are interested in looking at the old photos and hearing the stories about them.
I remember asking my grandmother about her mother’s family. She said she couldn’t remember much about them.
But one day, we got her old box of photos out and she began to recall her great aunts and uncles names. She told me stories about her grandparents that I had never heard before.
Often times, old photos have names written on the back of them, giving us names to go with the faces of ancestors we never knew.
If the photo below had not had a name written on the back of it, I would have never known I had a picture of my great-great-grandfather!
In my grandmother’s photo box, I also found pictures of her parent’s old homestead which lead to more stories I had never heard before. The picture of the old house sparked a memory about a family member’s baby that was stolen off the porch by a man from a nearby village. My grandmother had never thought to tell me that story until seeing that photo and recalling the story.
Where to look for family documents and papers.
Obviously, the first step is to ask our families for information about family documents and papers. What do they have and who has them?
If you are clearing out the home of a relative that has passed, be sure to check these locations for important documents: attics, basements, dressers, closets, and under mattresses. Look In trunks and shoe boxes.
Do not discard old papers before you can review them carefully. Scan all newspapers and clippings for important information.
Inventory What You Find
Take inventory of the papers and documents that you find. Ask for copies of everything you find. Today, most people have smartphones that make it easy to take pictures of the papers and documents. Exchanging images with relatives is much easier than it used to be with the use of our smartphone cameras.
Make a list of information you received from these papers, you will want to cite your sources of information.
Locating documents and photos in the possession of your family is one of the most important steps in filling out your family tree.
The documents themselves contain valuable information. They also spark the memories of our relatives, which opens doors to our ancestor’s lives, and gives us a personal glimpse of who they were.
I hope you will use these tips when talking to your relatives. And I wish you the best of luck in finding those hidden treasures that will lead you to even more information about your ancestors.
Stay Tuned
Stay tuned to the Genealogy Research Series for tips on how to trace your family tree.
Remember, I will teach you what records will help you learn about your ancestors and where to find them.
So, if you are interested in tracing your family tree and don’t know where to begin, or if you have been just dabbling with genealogy a little bit and are ready to get serious about it, then stick around for lots of information to guide you on your journey.
You can go to this page for a list of other posts and videos in this series that are guaranteed to guide you in your search for ancestors!
Until Next time!
Happy Hunting!
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