Learn More About Family Trees
You’ve almost certainly heard the term “family tree” passed around before — it’s a ubiquitous concept worldwide. But do you really know how the concept itself can help you?
Information About Where You Came From
How much do you know about your personal history? Do you really know where you came from, or are you just basing your information on little anecdotes you heard from relatives throughout the years? If your family members have never really held familial history close to their hearts, you might feel a little disappointed in that lack of knowledge, even if you’ve never really noticed.
When you start looking into your family tree, you’ll inherently end up learning more information about where you and your family truly came from. That might include immigration records, records detailing where your family members lived, or even just basic information about ancestors from many years ago. When you don’t know a lot about your family, even the smallest pieces of information can be enthralling.
A Way to Locate Distant Family
Have you ever felt jealous of people with large extended families? Lots of people don’t keep in contact with distant family members, and that can make it difficult to really feel like you’re part of a community. But if you’re able to get in touch with those distant family members, you can forge a friendship that’s even stronger because of your blood relation.
When you start creating a family tree, you may be able to locate distant family members who are still alive; many of them may even be your same age. Plus, with a people search from PeopleFinders, you can get the contact information for those distant family members, making it even easier to locate them.
A Visual Representation of Your Family
A huge, sprawling representation of a family can be very exciting to look at, and that’s only one of the reasons why a family tree can look so amazing. There are plenty of ways for you to create a family tree as well — do you mostly want to create an ancestry stemming back from you? Do you want to find your connection to one specific ancestor that you already know about?
You can structure your family tree to look different depending on what you want to show. Plus, if you have the right information, you can create multiple family trees. Trace one specific line, include only the family members your same age, or show marriages that tied different families together. It’s all up to you.
Why Should I Research My Family Tree?
If you’ve never really considered researching your family tree, you might not see the appeal. Why might you want to research your family tree more thoroughly?
Prove or Dispel Myths
Many families have myths passed down over the years. Maybe your family has a myth that you’re related to a famous revolutionary, that one of your ancestors discovered famous scientific concepts, or that your ancestors survived especially incredible events. But if they don’t have any actual backing, those myths can feel lacking.
When you research your family tree, you can get to learn more about the true information behind those myths and legends. Maybe you discover a relation to the specific famous individual in question, or maybe you find that the myth stems from a true story that people just blew out of proportion and embellished as the years went by. No matter what you find, at least it should be interesting.
Discover Interesting Things About Your Ancestors
Although some families have interesting myths and legends about the past that they all know about, some families have the opposite problem. You may have really interesting information hidden in your family history that you’ve never heard of. Maybe nobody ever told you about your relationship to a famous scientist, but when you map out your family tree, you could find out about it rather quickly.
It’s incredibly fun to find more information about ancestral relations, and a family tree will help you do that. There are also little tidbits hidden in some of these records that may startle or interest you. If you’re good at hunting down the right records, you can find immigration information, knowledge about familial occupations and hobbies, and maybe even marriages and children that no one talks about.
Get More Information About Your Family
A family tree can actually improve your knowledge of your more immediate family, as well. Family trees can include a variety of information, and some of that may end up affecting your family knowledge in the here and now. For example, maybe you learned that your family actually immigrated from a different country than you thought.
Some of this information can genuinely be useful in other contexts as well. Some censuses, for example, ask for disability information. Although the definition of disability has certainly changed over the years, you may actually be able to discern a familial propensity for genetic conditions that may help your immediate family with certain medical issues. No matter what it is, it’s worth checking out that extra information.
How Can I Create a Family Tree?
With all of this information, are you feeling eager to start on your family tree? Here are some ways to help you get started:
Get Records From Your Family Members
First off, ask your family members if they can give you any records they previously unearthed. Whether they are familial records that the family has passed down through the years or legal information that another family member dug up through a similar process, this can really kickstart your family tree.
The more records you have, the less likely you are to end up hitting a dead end. More records also mean your family tree is more fleshed out and that you have to do less work in order to set up a truly extensive family tree. Don’t be afraid to ask as many of your family members as you can. After all, this information will only help build the family tree, which can be helpful for everyone in the family.
Branch Out With Additional Public Records
Once you’ve compiled everything you can through your family members, fill in the gaps with PeopleFinders. Just start out with a people search and see where it gets you. If you utilize all the public records available for your relatives at PeopleFinders, you have a great chance of building a truly incredible family tree.
Because PeopleFinders has so many documents for so many people, you may need to narrow down your search results at times. Use the existing records you have in order to narrow things down a bit. If you have a lot of public records to sort through, don’t worry — because you can do this all from your home, you don’t have to rush things.
Use PeopleFinders to Build Your Family Information
When you want to craft a beautiful narrative about who you are and where you came from, a family tree is definitely the way to go. Family trees not only lay out your history in a picturesque format, but they also give you an easy way to trace yourself back to important people throughout your family. Plus, with the various information you can run across, it provides some interesting insight into your family.
To get all of those documents, you definitely need to use PeopleFinders. Our experience in the online public records industry is unparalleled, as is our available of data: billions of records for millions of American adults. When you want to build the perfect family tree, PeopleFinders is a great tool to help you get there.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can peoplefinders.com help with family tree research?
As you go further back into your ancestry, you may start to locate relatives you never knew existed. There may even be living relatives you didn't know about. PeopleFinders can help you find these people.
Can I do family tree research for free on peoplefinders.com?
You can certainly start researching your family tree for free on PeopleFinders. But for deeper public record information, you will have to pay to get access to it.
How can I do research on family trees online?
A number of genealogical websites also provide tools for building a visual family tree, as well as the information needed to fill it.
How can public records help me build a family tree?
There are historic public records that go back decades. And many of these records are connected in one way or another to yourself or other close relatives. The deeper you dig, the more you can find.
Where else can I go to get information about family trees?
Maybe you know someone who's already been researching your family's history. Talking to them could give you a great headstart on your own search.