Come Forward a Generation


Remember being a kid and being told to look it up in the dictionary.  Remember wondering how you were supposed to look it up if you didn’t know how to spell the word in the first place?


Similarly, family history research is the same way.  In order to locate information about a person you need more than their name and where they lived; you need to have foundational information.

Where do you get that foundational information?   You find foundational information by coming forward a generation.  For example, you want to find information about your grandfather but you cannot locate anything.  The next step would be to come forward a generation—to your father and his siblings.  Locate any and all documents about your father and his siblings and those documents will lead you to hints for your grandfather.  For example, marriage records usually contain the names of the bride and grooms parents, and you have found the marriage record for your parents and your father’s parents’ names are not on the marriage record.  If you also looked at your aunts and uncles marriage records, they will contain the same information you are looking for—your grandfather’s name!

Sometimes, beginners in family history work will overlook the valuable and foundational information found in collateral relatives.

Foundational information can be found by coming forward a generation. 

In order to go backwards, you have to take a few steps forward.


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