First Encounters With Genealogy: Paternal Lineage

Although I've only been seriously researching my ancestors for less than a year now, I've always had a passion for uncovering my roots.  After watching a program on celebrities researching their genealogy, I started asking my parents about any and all information they knew about our family.  When I first started researching my ancestors, a total of 5 people populated my tree:  myself, my brother and sister, and my mom and dad.  As of today, 485 ancestors have moved in.

I started by simply asking who my dad's parents were.  Both died before I was born, so I never had the opportunity to meet them, but my dad remembered their birth and death dates as well as where they lived.  My dad and his parents were born and raised in Iowa, a common region for many Dutch and German immigrants such as my family.  He also recalled spending time with "Grandma Maul" (his mother's mom) as well as numerous cousins from his father's line.  Besides that information, my dad knew nothing.  Unlike my mom's side, whose mother keeps more detailed records about her lineage, my dad had no documents, no photographs, nothing.

Feeling stuck, we went out on a limb and made an attempt to search for my dad's cousins on an online person search engine.  I will never forget that summer afternoon when my dad first called his cousin from Iowa who he hadn't spoken with in 20 years.  Before that phone call, my entire family consisted of 18 people, but suddenly a whole troop of my first cousins once removed appeared in my life.  Miraculously, this newfound family had information on my grandfather's lineage.  Within a week the new family sent me pedigrees, photographs and stories about their lives.  For almost 20 years the only information I had known about my paternal line was that my middle name came from my dad's grandmother, but now I had a sturdy foothold to continue my journey.

If you take anything from this article, understand that even though a meek family tree can be daunting at first, there's always a starting point.  Ask your parents about any, and I mean any, information they may have or remember.  Who knows, you may acquire an entirely new side of your family from it.