Researching is only the first step

The old question of the chicken or the egg came first very much applies to family ancestry and history research and when to document it.  The excuses are many for not documenting and preserving what we have now:

• Preservation techniques are quite expensive.
• Thinking we can't possibly be the expert and write about our family history.
• I don't have enough information yet.
• I'm too busy with life.
• I'm too busy doing more research!

So how do you move past the excuses? 

Set goals and deadlines.  Personally, I've selected 5 books to write; my parents and my husband's parent's family history and one on our family patriots.  The books are for my children so it's documenting their family heritage.

So now the projects are a bit more manageable and I can set writing deadlines for different chapters, much like you probably do for work.  Remember, you'll never have everything and you can always write more later!

What does it mean to preserve your family ancestry?

Preservation can be pretty low tech or super fancy with lots of room in between.  I recently received a distant uncle's hand written autobiography.  He served on the Union side of the Civil War, fighting during the Battle of Shiloh.  A genie angel typed up the hand written document and it is now on my Ancestry.com family tree.  There are 3 layers of preservation going on there!  John Martin documented his experience (graphically as I felt I was there with him), Walter typed it up many years later, and now it is housed on the internet for others to find.

Getting ready for a family reunion or large family event?  Perfect timing to start a preservation project.  There are a number of companies that provide publication services.  My personal favorite is Heritage Makers (not a consultant for them any longer but still love their products).  Making a brag book, scrapbook, or some other book is easy to do with the online products.  Even Walmart, Costco, and other provide simple to edit brag books where you can document people with their pictures and events.

A fun family gathering thing to do is make a deck of cards with the pictures and details of the first couple of generations or different family lines.  What better way to make learning about family history fun than an old fashioned card game!  There is also research to back up that children who learn about their own family history do better in school, especially in history and geography.  Why?  Because they develop a personal attachment to people, places and events of the past. 

So get out there and start your family history preservation project today!  Don't know where to start?  Then contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.and we'll get you going down the right path.