| A number of resources exist which can help you | | | | Francis Isaac Barrott, that he had lived and died in |
| research your family heritage. If you're lucky, one | | | | Worcester, Massachusetts, and that he had |
| of the best resources is close at hand: your own | | | | actually worked as a maintenance man at City |
| family. Stories passed down from generation to | | | | Hall. I contacted the records department of the |
| generation contain nuggets of information that can | | | | city of Worcester looking for any records of |
| help you begin your search. Names of your | | | | Francis Isaac Barrott, and found nothing. Later, I |
| parents and grandparents, and their parents, can | | | | obtained my mother's father's death certificate |
| take you back three or four generations. Don't | | | | (he had died at the relatively young age of 37) |
| ignore spouses of family relatives; not only do | | | | and discovered that his father had signed his own |
| their personal stories add to the flavor of family | | | | son's death certificate - as "Frank R. Barrott". |
| history, sometimes the spouse of a family | | | | Once you've gleaned as much as you can from |
| member - particularly the wife of a male relative - | | | | living relatives, it's time to access public records. |
| knows more about your family's history than the | | | | Birth and death records, deeds, and military |
| relative does. | | | | records are among those available for research, |
| Interview your family members to see what they | | | | as are U.S. Census records, from the years 1790 |
| know about family history. The older members in | | | | up to 1930 (by law, census records cannot be |
| particular may have knowledge of your family | | | | released to the public for 75 years). When |
| tree for generations, as well as what these | | | | searching census records, start with the latest |
| ancestors did for a living, where they lived, when | | | | census and move backward; this way you may |
| and how they died, and personal stories they're | | | | be able to track the changes in family |
| more than willing to hand down to another | | | | circumstances back through the years. |
| generation. If you have birth or death certificates | | | | Searching public records has become a lot easier |
| among family records, you're in luck; birth | | | | since the introduction of the Internet. A popular |
| certificates will contain a birth date, name of | | | | software program available online, Ancestry.com, |
| parents, and location of birth. The place of birth in | | | | allows you to build your family tree and search |
| particular will give you a clue as to where to look | | | | U.S. Census databases and other public records. |
| for further information. | | | | A lot of books are available to help you on your |
| Be aware that family recollections can be wrong. | | | | family search. One of the best is Genealogy 101: |
| A couple personal experiences: My middle name is | | | | How to Trace Your Family's History and Heritage, |
| May, which was given to me in honor of my | | | | by Barbara Renick in association with the National |
| father's aunt who raised him. My parents ended | | | | Genealogical Society (Rutledge Hill Press, 2003). |
| up being upset when they found out later that | | | | Renick offers an organized approach to |
| my aunt's name wasn't May, it was really Mary. | | | | genealogical research that will save you a lot of |
| But it doesn't stop there: while I was researching | | | | false starts. |
| my aunt's death I came across her obituary in | | | | If you've been thinking for a while about beginning |
| the local newspaper, and it turns out her name | | | | a serious search into your family's background, |
| wasn't May or Mary - it was Ruth! | | | | don't put it off. Your best resource, your older |
| Meanwhile, on my mother's side of the family, it | | | | family members, is a finite resource. Once they |
| was well known that her grandfather's name was | | | | pass on, their knowledge is gone forever. |