Have you ever wondered just how your family came to be? Maybe you know a few generations back, but not the full story. Just in time for your holiday celebrations, Roots Day is December 23rd.
If you're like me, you're a total mutt (and I mean this in the best way). Personally, my European roots are chaotic. Wars, persecution and other life events have made tracing my history beyond my great grandparents really challenging and overwhelming. So, I tapped into a local genealogist and Union County mom, Sara Ray Brooks, for her expertise on how to trace your family roots and create a detailed family tree.
First and foremost, there are a few online resources you can use to start your search:
Sara told me her top recommendation is to invest in AncestryDNA - it significantly outnumbers their closest competitors and when it comes down to it "most people are more likely to get the largest number of matches. You also get a lot of "bang for your buck" because once you get your results, you can upload it into My Hertage and Family Tree DNA for FREE - which gets you into three databases for the price of one. Sara also suggested I invest in a 23 and Me Kit, which make for pretty cool holiday gifts as well. This full kit is on sale on Amazon and we are considering it for our own research. But aside from those resources, she suggested these tips for anyone who is using 2022 as the year they begin their journey!
Start with what you know, which is typically yourself, then work backward through your ancestral tree.
Parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, so on and so forth. Start with the older generations first, if possible - they share the most DNA with the ancestors you are researching. You are looking for data points such as full names, dates and locations of births and deaths, marriage dates and locations, etc. But don't forget that our ancestral background goes beyond data points, you are recreating or documenting a story. This is why it is good to seek out information from as many primary sources as possible. It is a wonderful thing to say to be able to identify your great-grandmother by name but it is even more fulfilling to share about the life she lived.
It's not just about the written information.
When speaking to relatives and gathering information, take written notes but also record their voices. Take video too. Ask for copies of photographs and any other documentation that you can later digitize. This also allows you to share more easily with other family members who share the same interest.
 |
Tracing your roots takes time.
Be patient, compassionate and respectful of boundaries too when asking questions. The past isn't something that everyone wishes to discuss. Sometimes memories can be painful or embarrassing.
Remember there may be more than 2 sides to the story.
Take family stories with a grain of salt. Be prepared for surprises. You may have grown up hearing about an ancestor being of a specific ethnic background, or of a particular profession or even that you are related to someone with celebrity status. Stories tend to morph over time and as they are passed down generations, they bear little resemblance to reality. Be open-minded to the fact that once you attempt to formally document these connections, that it just isn't factual. However, embrace the reality and the tools that aid you in the discovery. Genealogical research will uncover the good, the bad, the ugly, the downright beautiful and utterly heartbreaking. But it all contributes to who you are today, and that is empowering.
 |
Keep meticulous notes and establish an organizational system that works for you early on to save yourself a lot of distress in the future.
Cite your sources. Involve your children. Get off of the computer when possible and travel to your ancestral lands. The Internet has absolutely changed the face of genealogy by making it more accessible to the masses. It is no longer a hobby for the retired. However, despite the abundance of information available online, the vast majority of the records you want are still in the basement of a county courthouse in, say, Alabama. You have to go there yourself, and you may even have to get on your hands and knees and spend hours going through boxes of fragile files that have been sitting there since 1900. Offline sources include local historical societies, libraries, local genealogy societies, property records, tax and voter lists, etc.
Challenges and Advantages based on ethnicity and color do exist.
Particularly those with deep colonial roots in the United States will have an easier path than descendants of formerly enslaved Africans or someone with Ashkenazi roots. When researching these backgrounds, it can be very helpful to remember that genealogy is not something one can work on once and be done. It is frequently a long-term commitment that often spans a dedicated genealogist's lifetime. Some resources that Black, Brown and Jewish families may want to use include:
- The United States Census is a popular source for identifying people and households in genealogy. Yet, while the first census was taken in 1790, Black people are not enumerated by name until 1870 because prior to then they were considered property. The lack of government records that document Black lives prior is commonly referred to as "The Brick wall of 1870." Furthermore, familial ties were forcibly broken and surnames were inconsistent even among immediate relatives.
- DNA, which has been a remarkable gamechanger
- The U.S. Freedmen's Bureau Records, wills and probate records and personal papers belonging to former enslavers.
- For those with Ashkenazi ancestry, historically familial surnames among closely related people were not adopted until the early 1800s, and prior to that surnames changed with each generation. Then, the Holocaust decimated families and disconnected those with even close familial relationships. While DNA has helped advance research in these instances also, it can become quickly complicated by endogamy which results in great difficulty determining specific relationships.
 |
Make this a Family Affair
While the hard work is probably best-suited for teens and adults, get your kids of all ages in on the fun of discovering who they are. We've created two family tree templates that are perfect both to get you started and for kids to use at the holiday dinner table or while you are visiting family this holiday season. Let it be a starting point for wherever this journey takes you and - remember - we love to hear from you, so share some of your findings and tag us in your posts.
 |  |
 |
And for anyone who doesn't know Sara, she's a beacon of light in Union County and I'm so grateful to call her my friend. Genealogy and genetic genealogy are her passions for the last 22+ years. While she's currently. not taking more work, she does offer paid services and have also spent the last 10 years as a "Search Angel" working thousands of hours identifying and locating birth parents or other very close relatives for adoptees and foundlings. She's also moderated multiple genetic genealogy Facebook groups and is personally part of the adoption triad. Sara is the go-to in this area and we are so lucky to call her one of ours!
