Back to the Basics: Genealogy 101 | Ancestry

Brand new to genealogy? We're so glad you're here! Pull up a chair and spend a few minutes with our very own Barefoot Genealogist as she guides you through the basics of getting started. She'll have you climbing your own family tree in no time.
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Back to the Basics: Genealogy 101 | Ancestry
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[@VerticalStacker]

Thank you for your insights on basic genealogy. While it has certainly changed in the last year thanks to modern databases and almost exponential growth of available data I appreciate that you nevertheless teach fundamentals that are important for all of us.

[@anitacoleman7488]

Crista, I have been watching the Barefoot Genealogist for many years now. Here we are in 2023 and I am re-watching this video, and when you mentioned about using "aft" (after) in a wife's unknown death field when we are looking at her husband's death info and he predeceased her, I had never thought of that at all. THANK YOU so much:)

[@CristaCowan]

You are so very welcome! 😉

[@joejones5837]

Thank you for this video! I am brand new to genealogy and have a lot to learn. Your video was very helpful and I have subscribed.

[@AncestryUS]

Yes, Thomas. Go to the Ancestry Facebook page and look for the "Events" tab. Once there, you can find a list of upcoming Ancestry Livestream events.

[@darlenesye1609]

I am not a beginner but refreshers are always good

[@AncestryUS]

We're delighted you enjoyed this little refresher video, Darlene! We can all do with one every now and again. 😃

[@DigitalDezinesCEO]

I've been doing genealogy since 2006, thanks to Henry Louis Gates Jr's African American Lives series. But these videos are helping me navigate and use my new Family Tree Maker software. Now I have a centralized place to put all my notes. It would be nice if this software had a research log, though.

[@mycupoftea12]

The clarity you offer is very clear. Thank you for the video.

[@thomasschoot5993]

I just watched this copy and I know it’s old but I enjoyed it totally. I just wanted to say thank you because I have been banging my head against the wall and you have helped me tremendously with just this short class.

[@AncestryUS]

Great to hear!

[@goldengalsclazy]

I enjoy her videos. She's ALWAYS helpful & gives me new ideas I didn't try when researching my trees. :)

[@stingray7611]

I would love to have more videos on Jewish Genealogy. I have my US history filled in, but having a hard time finding records from the "old country". Videos on getting records like that would be helpfull.

[@Ratchet4647]

You mention ship passenger lists, is there an equivalent for trains? It occurs to me that I was told of an ancestor that traveled cross country, by my vague recollection somewhere between the 1890s and 1910s, when the easiest way of doing that might have been a train. It would be cool to find a record of that once I begin researching records.

[@tammywong-bigelow7244]

I am having a lot job trouble trying to trace beyond my parents and grandparents. Do you have tips for Chinese Geneology?

[@Mystichummingbird83]

Thank you for your information videos. I had not done this for years, so it's like starting over. I watch them all the time.

[@thomasschoot5993]

I have noticed there are many videos from this young lady. Is there a listing on where they start and what is next?

[@musclecarfan74]

My great aunt who is 97 is what I would call a genealogy expert, she traced her dads family back to the 1670's. She couldn't go back any farther due to the Dutch language barrier. Nobody in Holland knows how to read old Dutch anymore.

[@danielonn2002]

I found some famous relatives. One of them was my Ancestor Rabbi Meir Mealmed converted to Senor Ferdinand Nunes Coronel who was the financier to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand and financed Columbus's voyage and his son went on the second Trans Atlantic boat. My other famous relative is Sir Moses Montefiore.

[@kimberlymason4974]

I love your videos, you need to put them on a dvd and sell them.

[@AncestryUS]

Thanks for the suggestion, Kim. In the meantime, you can find many of them as podcasts on iTunes that you can download to a mobile device. (Crista)

[@kimberlymason4974]

I am planning a DNA family union, reunion with my cousin. We are inviting everyone from our DNA connections. We are planning for November 2017, we would love it if you could come and do a class. Is this a possibility? Kim Mason

[@AncestryUS]

Send an email to [e-mail] with details about your event. If it meets our criteria and there is room in our schedule, we will consider it.

[@meralingibson380]

I think you videos they are so helpful because I’m constantly getting more information about my grandfather but I still cannot find him in records. Thank you. I’ll be in touch with you.

[@AncestryUS]

Thanks so much for watching, Meralin! We're glad to hear that Crista's uploads have been helpful to you. We wish you the very best of luck in your research moving forward!

[@nicciwith2cees]

I have just begun my tree on a serious level. I have found something frustrating: My great-great grandfather is Irish. He was born here in the U.S. But his name is recorded differently on different documents. Is it common for people of European descent to have 4 names instead of our common 3 here in the US? I don't know which documents are accurate for him or if I am looking at the wrong info.

[@AncestryUS]

Deanna - I'm not quite sure what you are asking. All adult men in the U.S. in 1917/1918 were required to register for the World War One Draft. You can then use the 1920 census (column on the far right) to determine if they actually served in WWI or not. I hope that helps. If you need more information just ask. (Crista)

[@sandybr325]

Do you still use family tree maker? My research tells me it was discontinued. What would you suggest using now. I liked what I see on the video

[@delgada747]

Family Tree Maker is still on the market. A new update was released last year.

[@irenelofstrom1270]

The family history wiki doesn't seem to be on the new Ancestry web page. Has it been removed or is it hiding elsewhere? Also, Crista's You Tube videos are a treasure. I have learned so much. She is a gifted teacher.

[@AncestryUS]

Irene, You can find the Ancestry Family History Wiki here: www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page - Enjoy!

[@irenelofstrom1270]

Thanks!

[@emilydoss9617]

Thank you! This video was really helpful!

[@kathyrlcshope5172]

I am having a hard time entering my mother's side. She is one of several illgitament children by different fathers and then was adopted by her biological grandmother on her father's side. How do I do this?

[@cindyhenshaw7128]

What version of Family Tree Maker are you using and how can I get it?

[@AncestryUS]

I am currently using FTM 2017. You can purchase it here: www.mackiev.com/ftm/index.html

[@TippinOnMyDickSirr]

Could you recommend a video for the very basics of how to get around in a family tree? I have look but so far have not found one. Personally I have been on Ancestry for several years and love it, having several family trees and administer a few DNA tests from myself and family. I enjoy sharing what I have found and send a link to the tree to family after they say they would like a link. I find that a couple of them are really into it but most are intimidated and don't know where to start or what to do next to see my tree after I have shared it with them. I could sit down with them and show them what they should do but several are across the country or are very busy. If there was a You Tube video that I could forward a link it would be very helpful. This happens so much to me that I am sure many others have the same experience. Thanks, Burnice Lewis

[@AncestryUS]

I haven't done a video addressing "How To Navigate Ancestry Trees" specifically for non-genealogists. But, it's a great idea. I'll add it to my list for future episodes of TBG. (Crista)

[@TippinOnMyDickSirr]

Thank you that would be great! I will watch for it and send it to family who need it. Burnice

[@ljpeach5093]

OK,this one is 7 years old, what happened to the wiki? no longer have a tab for learning center? how do you find family history Wiki? did a search and could not find it anywhere.

[@ngairegreger4406]

When I started my family tree pre computer days I was told to pencil in detail I had not proved and only once I had proven the details then ink it in. How do I do something like this in ancestry.

[@terryriggs36]

I piddled with genealogy off and on with my mom for many years. She did all of her research BEFORE the computer age. (Well, she was alive during it, but refused to learn to use one! 🙄) Now she is gone and I have all her records. I recently retired so now I finally have time to dig into this. My tree on Ancestry is growing and I'm really enjoying it, but I haven't kept any kind of written documentation on where I've found the info. I have attached lots of docs that I've found in Hints to the profile of the person it pertains to, but I didn't know I needed to be writing it all down. My mother apparently didn't keep her notes either as there's very little to show for it. I saw that you used FTM to keep notes and I like that idea, but aside from that, what is the purpose of using two different programs? I can't justify buying a program just for notes, but if it's really helpful in other ways, maybe I can find a way to make it happen. Thank you for all your wonderful advice. As I'm just getting back into this, I have a lot to learn!

[@ritabosley7406]

How can I upload my Family Search files (extensive) to Ancestry?

[@AncestryUS]

Rita, From Ancestry, click on TREES and then click Import Tree from Family Search. It will bring over four generations of your ancestors. Then go to the last person in each line and from their profile page, click on the FamilySearch icon and you can import four generations of their ancestors. We limit you to importing four generations at a time. This is because the information in FamilySearch is a wiki tree that anyone can change and we want you to review it before accepting it as accurate.

[@SereniaSaissa]

Speaking of Brick Walls, your example at 25 minutes matches my biggest brick wall exactly. My 3x great grandfather. I know when, where and whom he married, I have all his kids, and (most of) their descendants, and I have extrapolated (estimated) his year of birth based on his age at death. On his marriage certificate he was listed as a sojourner - so no home town listed. Under the British Poor Laws system, he and his family were forcibly removed back to what I assume was his home county. But it could easily have been his last place of residence before he moved to the county where he got married. But I still cannot find his place of birth or his parents. He died in 1839 - before the first British census which took place in 1841. I found the widow and the children in that census fairly easily. This has been a huge brick wall for pretty much the last 25 years of my life - and not even the internet is helping. I am not complaining. Just letting you know that maybe SOME brick walls (or road blocks as you call them) may NEVER be solved. Great video. Oh and one more thing - I do have a possible family that my 3x great grandfather may come from based on family naming patterns. So I wrote up my conclusions. If you want to read it - scannersuniverse.neocities.org/john_burrow.html

[@hippo1701]

I had 2 strokes in 2010 and my parents died in 2010 and 2011, their parents died before 2010 and all their siblings are either dead or I don't know where they are. My sister and brother don't know anything about our family on either side because my parents told me when I was young. Now I have been working on my family genealogy thanks to ancestry.com. How can I find out my family if all I have is one photo album with information missing?

[@dawnsmith5462]

My mom has been doing family history research for over 20 years. For having an orphan father and an adopted mother, she is amazing in the amount of information she has been able to find. We visited New Jersey this last summer to stand on the ground my ancestors lived on in the 1600's. AMAZING! Anyway - I made her a cute T-shirt about her passion for genealogy. It's available for sale on Amazon: amazon.com/dp/B018TA0L8S

[@Azoreanislandgirl]

Hi Krista, , I am at a loss with my older brother's death he was a infant and died at a hospital in Ponta delgada, Coimbra, Sao Miguel, Azores 1958 - 1960 not sure of the date. I do have the name of the hospital that is now a Nursing home. How do I look that up?

[@kayeemerson6892]

Christa, I have been working on my family tree for 4 yr. paying Ancestry.com I have most of facts correct but have multiples of same person often, do I need to trash it and start over you just said skip generations well I did plenty of that also. Thanks Kaye

[@AncestryUS]

You have two options - and you can decide which one works best for you. You can use your current tree and go back to yourself and work back one generation at a time making sure you have solid documentation, correcting as you go. Or, you can make your current tree private and start a brand new tree, using your old tree for reference as needed. We were all new at one time and have all made mistakes. You are learning! (Crista)

[@WinesGoneNatural]

I did an Ancestry DNA test to find the identification of my paternal grandfather. A 3rd cousin was found with 175cms. We spoke a couple of times we detected that the great grandparents, but I still can’t figure out which of their son’s is my grandfather.

[@Ratchet4647]

Have you had any luck? I would investigate records of each son to see if he's ever recorded with my father or paternal grandmother, if they all lived in one location, try to see who lived where using the census. Be aware of the vague possibility that one of the sons is your grandfather but they're not recorded with your grandma because of infidelity. Not saying that's the case, just that it happens sometimes.

[@WinesGoneNatural]

@@Ratchet4647 Oh I’m sure that was the case. He was probably some sort of delivery man.

[@LanceHall]

I stopped using FTM when my online tree exceeded my local tree. There is no point in using it anymore since it's just names. Important digital documents I keep offline in multiple places.

[@sheilarichardson5283]

What software do you use?

[@AncestryUS]

I use Family Tree Maker 2017 in conjunction with my Ancestry online tree. (~Crista)

[@loretta6601]

hi when we start with ourselves then onto parents do we include their siblings

[@AncestryUS]

Absolutely!

[@chelseanicholls6630]

Why does your screen look so busy compared to mine?? Mine is simple, and your is much more intense. Has the software changed since 2012, is that why your is more complex?

[@abouchnik]

I am trying to help my friend who is Afro-Brazilian with Jewish roots. He is having trouble using Brazilian sources. Do you have any tips?

[@newbeginnings2013]

Thank you...after one year as the family "Sherlock" ........there is a monster in my head, which is safer place than with the pile of papers....

[@kalacartmill5895]

crista im 10 years old on my moms acount what do you think i should do to get so many people i only have 2000

[@deannacarroll1796]

How do I know what records to look for? I understand the Census records, but how do we decide on military records for WWI or WWII?

[@carlosadiaz]

I am an immigrant from Honduras. One of the challenges that I have about Honduran documents is the many mistakes clerks have made in writing birth certificates or birth registrations, etc. For example, my own birth certificate is riddled with mistakes. They've gotten my paternal grandmother's first name wrong. They spelled it with an "S" instead of a "Z." My dad's obituary on the local newspaper as 58 instead of 56. There's a lot of wrong information being passed along...very frustrating.

[@RDHayes]

My mom was born in Mexico and it has been a pain to find her relatives. She was raised by an aunt in Texas and doesn't remember many names. Mexico doesn't seem to keep very good records either. My mom's birthdate is also wrong on her certificate and so is her name.

[@LanceHall]

The biggest mistake I see is that people try to research their ancestor as if they lived in a vacuum and had no siblings. Siblings are proxies for your ancestor so you need to research them as well. If a nephew or grand nephew had a biography in a county history they often give important family info going far back.

[@moweaquas]

I am just starting with Family Tree Maker. Where do you keep your notes and how did you make it bigger?

[@bt1990]

Is it possible to get some help for a search in Russia 1920's?

[@AncestryUS]

That's a tough one. You might want to try searching Facebook for a Russian Genealogy group that you can join. There are a lot of great researchers out there with experience all over the world. (Crista)

[@Kelli_D.]

to add to the "Places are recorded smallest to largest" some towns(city) actually are in 2 different counties. that's how it is in a lot of my Genealogy, because of where I come from In Ohio. example Part of Adena, Ohio is in Jefferson county, part of it is in Harrison county.

[@chrisjoy439]

I managed to trace my 8th great fathers ancestors back to 1410

[@arcountry21627]

How do I get a list of the free data base's

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Butch, You can find that complete list here: www.ancestry.com/search/categories/freeindexacom/ Be sure to scroll past the search box.

[@kingfooliesavage8277]

RISE OF THE SONS=SUN=🌞

[@gayleguthro2895]

How accurate are the leaves from ancestry?

[@skeetmoses]

I did the DNA test, the results are fine but the connections are not what I expected. I'm disappointed in that.

[@SanjaySingh-uw7iy]

Chart

[@SanjaySingh-uw7iy]

Make

[@MonicaCorpusSmith]

Hi Crista - what do you do when…. You absolutely are unable to locate birth records. My father (living, born 1939) doesn’t know who his biological father is. I had his DNA done through Ancestry; in hopes of filling in the gaps. To no avail. But we did discover, He is 58% Native American. I’ve tried to search those records; but I’m lost. My dad is 81-yrs old; and I desperately hope to give my father The missing piece of his life. Any help you give will be very appreciated.

[@AncestryUS]

Thanks so much for reaching out to us, Monica! We here at Ancestry Social Support would be happy to offer a few tips. Crista has a wonderful video on using your DNA matches to make some rewarding discoveries, as well as searching for biological family members. We'll include these videos below which we do hope can provide some great tips for piecing this puzzle together! We do hope these resources help you in your journey, but do let us know if you have any questions! Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gniQaYxnbqaBecU Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/raivpaxrp5h6hqc

[@phillipporter9693]

If one of my grandmothers got a married license and that was for her second husband but didn't legally for her first husband how do I record that and she did something like her first name middle and last and did a -married name with her second husband. How do I do all this?

[@AncestryUS]

Always record women by their maiden name. Record marriage and divorce dates on the FACTS page for the person as they appear. If she married a second husband without divorcing the first, you might want to just make a note of that on the 2nd marriage date as a note. (Crista)

[@jerrywilliams1770]

I was adopted and only know the name of my mother, and birthplace, is it impossible to find out my heritage

[@AncestryUS]

+Jerry Williàms Have you considered taking an AncestryDNA test? There are people discovering biological family every single day through their genetic matches. (Crista)

[@jerrywilliams1770]

+Ancestry I found my real name,maybe someone can help. Jerry Glen Clark/Kunkel born in Muncie In Oct 23 1946

[@jerrywilliams1770]

+Jerry Williàms Mother was LaJune Clark/Kunkel born in Ok

[@julie-yz7jz]

+Jerry Williàms I am wondering if you were still looking for help.

[@jerrywilliams1770]

julie3142 I could use all kinds of help

[@williamstull50]

I wish to do my DNA i have the test now for more than a week now what.

[@susangarcia753]

my husband DNA came back he is 47 percent Native American 21 percent Spaniard So does this mean he is Native American?

[@AncestryUS]

Native American includes North, Central and South American natives. If he is a mix of Native American and Iberian Peninsula (Spain), then his immediate ancestry is likely from Central or South America. (Crista)

[@rachelgillooly1443]

I am working on my dads fathers family. I have my Grandfathers name and children. My Great grandfathers name and children , Great great grandfathers name and children, my ggg grandfathers children. I know his children's name just not sure what happened to them they did not all come to America from Scotland. So, I came to a brick with with my ggg grandfathers 14 children. born in Scotland but where they all went well that is still not all clear. There are a few I know. But I wish I had more answers.

[@randystone5571]

My grandma and an uncle are full blood Cherokee born of edgemon Anna Mae and James bud haven’t been able to find any more information about the family Anna Mae married loyal Jennings Robertson but that’s all I know I have no computer

[@kingfooliesavage8277]

🧠uploaded

[@joycemccormack9001]

i in England when i started my f/h i did what i called my to /do /list ( IE ) 1 name born married 4 children census occupation lived 8 another place certificate about the lives 11 do record sheet 12 when they died,

[@shawnuclearmoneyforthecure7842]

?

[@KlausBioMadsen]

lol

[@annechesney5734]

I have a BIG-BIG Brick Wall Have been trying to find my 2nd great grandfather's parents... grandfather was John Clarkson Brayton-b. 25 Aug 1839-Albany,NY=d. 7 Aug 1903-Montrose,Lee,Iowa---he was married 2 Aug 1860-Albany, NY to Sarah M. Slingerland===she was born 31 Jan,1846-died 6May, 1925 in Montrose, IA=== they had a adopted son, William Myrick Braton(Birth name: Whitman Myrick Johnson).. William was born 1859 in Montrose, IA-d. 1947-Kansas City, MO---All I don't know is John C. Brayton's parents.... HELP! Thank You.....Anne

[@rezkid283]

My dad found out that we’re realated to Oliver Cromwell

[@vlmason9072]

I don't think its still free to make a tree

[@abdielbarraza6193]

I put my parents name and info and there’s no record ):