How to Find Information on Dead Ancestors

If you've ever been curious about your family and its history, genealogy can be a fascinating and enlightening hobby. There's information that can easily be uncovered, while other facts will take a bit more digging to discover. But the process of unearthing this information can be incredibly rewarding and can help you learn more about your loved ones and yourself. By following a few simple steps and making use of the resources available to you, you'll be amazed by what you can discover.

• 1

  Utilize any materials you already have. This can include anything from photo albums and yearbooks to old diaries and letters. Try to gather as many clues as possible from these materials, including important names, dates and places. Keep this information handy while you search.

• 2

  Talk to your relatives. Start an email chain with your family members, and let them know that you're interested in discovering more about your ancestors. Include a genealogy questionnaire, which can easily be found by searching online. This can provide you with information about your family members, such as memories they have from their childhood.

• 3

  Visit a library. In today's digital age, many might opt to use the Internet over going a library, but when searching for ancestry information, no option should be discounted. Libraries have many valuable resources, including newspaper archives, tax records, phone books or city directories and baptismal records. The Library of Congress has one of the world's largest collections of genealogical historical publications, and there are many more libraries across the country that can help you in your search.

• 4

  Utilize historical societies and other organizations. The Daughters of the American Revolution, for instance, required genealogical and historical information for society membership. The organization has kept those records on file for public viewing. Local historical societies also can help --- members of these societies are experts on researching and analyzing historical facts.

• 5

  Use an online resource to find information on ancestors. There are dozens of websites that can provide helpful tips and searchable collections so that you can build an online family tree. Ancestry.com is one of the most comprehensive sites that's available. For a monthly fee, you can use the site to search census records and voting lists; birth, marriage and death records; immigration and emigration records; and court, land, will and financial records.

• 6

  Take a class. If you want to further your knowledge on the subject, look into community college or online genealogy classes. Brigham Young University, for instance, offers free online courses in family history/genealogy.