Now that you're retired, you can unravel your family's story and preserve it for future generations. A big plus of living in Hickory Villa Assisted Living and Respite Care in Omaha is the many local libraries where you can find resources and information for your genealogy research.
Apart from immediate family records, you'll almost certainly need to research to find historical information about your ancestors in the country. To help, Nebraska has excellent genealogical resource centers that are mostly free. There's also an extensive national network of free and paid genealogical sites. Here's a list of useful resources to get you started.
The Genealogy Room at the Administrative Branch of the Omaha Public Library at 3020 South 84th Street holds government documents that date back to the 19th century. It also has microfilm collections of local newspapers, census records and other local history records. Some of this information is available online.
There are FamilySearch Centers in many local churches and government buildings across the country, including one at the Omaha library. Helpful staff are on hand to assist you in accessing family histories.
The Greater Omaha Genealogical Society holds multiple record sets, including birth and marriage records as well as obituaries published in local papers. There's a small annual fee to join the society.
There are many free websites where you can search for family records. The National Genealogical Center has collated a list of 18 free genealogy websites containing important records where you can trace your family history.
Services offered by paid websites often include DNA testing to help you discover your origins and international record searches. Top sites include Ancestry and MyHeritage.
The basic principles of genealogy are relatively simple: Start with the current generation and progressively work backward to earlier generations. It's wise to create a family tree template and keep a written record of everything. Because historical records sometimes have unintentional errors, it’s a good idea to build a documented chain of evidence using as many sources as possible. This helps avoid errors or making the mistake of following the wrong family line.
Decide how far back you're going to go. Each family member has two parents and four grandparents. This means that if your table contains your parents and grandparents, it must have space for six people. As you go back through further generations, the number of people increases exponentially, as illustrated below:
Generation Number
Total People in Table
Generation 1: Parents
2
Generation 2: Grandparents
6
Generation 3: Great-grandparents
14
Generation 4: Great-great-grandparents
30
Generation 5: 3rd-great-grandparents
62
These numbers don't include siblings, and if they're included, you will need a very large template or possibly some form of database to keep track of everyone.
If you're planning on an exhaustive study into the family's history, it may be wise to take an online course in genealogy. There are free online genealogy tutorials available on the National Archives Website, and paid courses are available from the National Genealogical Society and other educational institutions.
Creating the family tree may seem daunting at first, so start with the easy bits first. You'll gain confidence as you proceed. One secret to success is to stay organized and write everything down.
Practical steps to prepare the family tree include:
As you work, you'll collect photos, news clippings, stories and other interesting tidbits about your ancestors. Use these to annotate the family tree. Also, add notes such as where each person was born, how they came to America, what they did and how they moved to Nebraska.
