Lesson #2: Navigating the FamilySearch tree

Overview:

Hello there, friends. So, you should have signed up for a FamilySearch account. And now we're going to teach you how to use it. In this lesson, you will learn how to navigate in the tree, and how to find a starting place for your ancestor search.

FamilySearch offers two big services, the Family Tree, and Record Search. Today we're going to be focusing on the Family Tree.

STEP #1.

 Log into your FamilySearch account. It should look something like this.

Spiffy. OK, click on that tab called Family Tree and then the Tree option that pops out.

STEP #2.

Welcome to the tree. Here you can see 3 generations of my family. There's me, my parents, and two pairs of grandparents.

The tree begins with you, and branches backwards in time. To go back a generation, click the little grey arrows.

The farther back you go, the wider the tree gets.

See?

Depending on how much work has been done, you may some tree branches (often called "lines") that go back to pretty crazy old dates. I have a few lines that go all the way back to the 1400's or so. However, if you're new, then your lines might end after only one or two generations. THAT'S ACTUALLY A GOOD THING.

See, most of the digitized records that are available online only go back to the 1800's or so. If all of your work is done up until 1800, it will be considerably harder for you to conduct internet-based genealogical research. (Harder, BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE.)

STEP #3.

Each person's box on the family tree has some crucial information. Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death, Place of Death. To get more detailed nformation on a specific person, click their name, and a little bubble box will come up;

See that? This box tells you the person's name, their FamilySearch ID (in Benjamin's case, it is 2W31-XV4) their birth date/place and death date/place.

It also includes a temple key. See the grey boxes next to "temple?" That means those ordinances have been done. Sometimes those boxes will be green. That means these names are ready to be taken to the temple!

Looks like Caroline Maria needs her Initiatory and her Endowments done. Click on this link to learn more about how to prepare names for the temple.

B=Baptism
C=Confirmation
I=Initiatory
E=Endowment
SP=Sealing to Parents
SS=Sealing to Spouse

Got it?

STEP #4.

If you want even more detailed information, click on the person's name in the bubble box again.

See? We've left the family tree, and entered the "Person" page for Caroline Maria. (Notice that instead of the Tree tab being marked in green at the top, we now have the Person tab marked.

On this page, you can record information about when they got married, who their children were, any records of places they lived, etc, etc. It's sort of like a Facebook page for your ancestor.

STEP #5.

Returning to the Tree section of FamilySearch, I want to show you some nifty little tools that FamilySearch has added in. (Pretty recently, as a matter of fact.)



See the buttons?

Blue button-This is a hint button. Click on it, and FamilySearch will auto-suggest some records for you to search

Purple button-Research suggestions. Clicking this button will tell you what information is missing for this person.

Green button-Temple Ordinance opportunities! Click here to see what work needs to be done.


Conclusion: 

FamilySearch is easy, convenient and effective. Play around on it, and you'll get the hang of it.

Any questions? Feel free to post them below!

Lesson #1: Signing up for Family Search and Ancestry

Hey there. Welcome to Lesson #1.

There are two websites we're primarily going to use, FamilySearch and Ancestry.com

FamilySearch is the genealogy website sponsored by the LDS church. It's a great place to build your family tree, and search through billions of indexed records for information about your ancestors. It's very useful. 

However, for an internet-based genealogist, an Ancestry account is absolutely crucial, because Ancestry generally has more complete records than FamilySearch. Also, on Ancestry, you can use my favorite genealogy secret: hacking other people's family tree, which makes your work a ton easier. 

If you already have a FamilySearch account AND an Ancestry account, then feel free to skip to lesson #2. 

IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN ANCESTRY ACCOUNT then please skip down the page to a picture of a man with a mustache, because you're gonna need an Ancestry account. (If you're LDS, then it's free.)

If you need a FamilySearch account, here are some instructions. I will warn you in advance, they are mind-numbingly basic (not everybody was raised as a digital native) so if you know how to register for an account, you might also want to skip down to mustache man.

So: if you have no FamilySearch account, here's what you do. 

STEP #1. Click on this.

STEP #2. Go up to the top right-hand corner and click the FREE ACCOUNT button. 

STEP #3. Fill out all the required information. Make sure you mark YES I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS. (I am assuming, right, that you are a member. If not, then I still love you deeply.) 

STEP #4. Your membership record number is important. It should be written on your temple recommend. If you don't have your recommend handy, then phone your Bishop, his counselors, or the Ward Clerk. They can look it up for you. If you don't have it, just mark the "Remind me later" box.



STEP #5. Once you click CREATE AN ACCOUNT down at the bottom, the website will inform you that you have been sent a confirmation e-mail. Head on over to your e-mail inbox, and open the e-mail from noreply. 




Click on the big blue membership COMPLETE REGISTRATION button.




STEP #6. Sign in to your new account by clicking the blue SIGN IN TO GET STARTED button or the small grey button that says SIGN IN up in the corner. Enter in your username and password.

STEP #6. You're all set! FamilySearch will take care of you from here. Click START HERE and FamilySearch will ask you a few questions to hook you up with your family tree. Or click on VIEW TRAINING to access some handy tricks and tips for navigating around the tree.

MUSTACHE MAN! 

How to register for Ancestry.com 

So, you're going to want to click on THIS LINK

Introduction

If you're like me, you've spent a good many General Conferences cringing whenever "Family History" was brought up. 

Home teaching? Check.

Generous Fast Offering? Check. 

Family History? Dang...well... you know...I'm busy...really busy....

It's not that we wouldn't gladly rush to the aid of our forgotten ancestors, trailing glad tidings of salvation in our wake. It's just that the process of Family History work bewilders us. Ought we rappel down into a dusty vault, Indiana Jones style, casting our flashlight beam along endless tomes marked Anderson, Andersen, Andorsen, etc, etc? 

Or perhaps you are like my dear 12-year old sister, Rachel. Having treasured up the words of the prophets in her heart like a good little Beehive, she went onto familysearch.org and starting clicking buttons. Two hours later, my parents bore the brunt of a very angry phone call from Aunt So-and-So in Connecticut, complaining that Rachel had deleted Great-Grandpa Vernon from the tree, and would you please leave the family history work to the octogenarians of the family who know what they are doing, thank you very much. (Poor Rachel.) 

This blog is designed to empower the willing of heart but the bewildered of mind. I assume that you have a basic understanding of why we do family history work in this church. I assume that you at least know the general goal. (If not, I invite you to read this article, which sums up the purpose and goal of family history work quite nicely.) 

The lessons will focus on very basic things, and I'm going to share all the tips that enabled me to make Family History work a very rewarding and daily habit. We won't talk much about traveling to Europe to chat with the record-keeping monks in your ancestral hometown. This blog will focus on very simple strategies to find your ancestors using free online resources, mainly FamilySearch and Ancestry. 

That's another thing. This blog is intended to be super-very-extra-uber practical. Probably due to the fact that I'm a college student right now, I cannot stand reading things that are one word longer than they need to be. So, here's my promise to you: no one lesson will take longer than 5 minutes to read. 

Well! That's about it. Let me bear my testimony:

In the course of one year, I have gone from a nice little mormon boy who had never so much as logged onto FamilySearch, to becoming an archive-scouring, microfilm-reading Family History junkie. I now do Family History work for 30 minutes every day, finding literally dozens and dozens of previously unknown ancestors, and have had the privilege to sit in temple sessions and know that somebody way out yonder in the spirit world was receiving their ordinances thanks to my efforts. 

It's worth it. It's simple. It just takes 5 minutes to start. What are you waiting for? Lesson #1.