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Genealogy 101: Cover the Basics


There are a few basic questions that you should always include. Using the ancestral chart as a guide, the following questions are the basics:
    Ask the basic questions even if you think you know the answers.
  • What is your full name?
  • When is your birthday?
  • Where were you born?
  • When/where were you married?
  • What is your wife/husband's full name?
  • What are your children's full names?
  • When and where were they born?
  • What were your parents' full names?
  • When and where did your parents get married?
  • When and where were your parents born?
  • If deceased, when/where did your parents die?
  • What do you know about your grandparents?
Why are these questions so important? Names, places and dates are the backbone of genealogy.

In order to locate vital records such as birth, marriage and death certificates you will need to know names, places and dates. You will also be able to locate census records with this basic information.

Vital and census records often lead to additional clues, including maiden names of women or birth places of parents.

Next: Discover Your Family History

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