If you have a family tree that was passed down to you, consider finding sources for each person on the tree. It’s not as difficult as you might think, and we can give you suggestions for making it easier for you.
Start with the earliest people on your pedigree chart and work your way backwards in time. In addition to birth and death records, don’t forget about marriage and census records.
FamilySearch.org is free and has lots of good information available online. This is one of my favorite sources. Plus they create a perfect source that you can cut and paste into your genealogy program. Here’s the exact FamilySearch source provided to me for someone I’m researching:
“United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3CT-VHB : accessed 13 April 2020), Adwood Taylor, Howell Township (excl. West Plains city), Howell, Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 54, sheet 15B, family 294, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,860.
Ancestry.com is another great source of information, but there is a cost. That said, I’ve had an Ancestry account for more than 10 years and I’ve never regretted it for even one moment. Be sure you use it for sources and not to copy unsourced family trees unless you intend to source them yourself. Their source suggestions are confusing and convoluted, so I will copy what I need, but make them look the way I prefer. Here’s how I source an Ancestry.com piece of information:
Missouri Death Certificates. Missouri Secretary of State. Atwood Taylor, died 04 May 1929 in Howell County, Missouri. Ancestry.com. Web: Missouri, Death Certificates, 1910-1962 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. See: https://ancstry.me/2V4oLin.
Another favorite for me is Findmypast.com. If you have ancestors from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or Canada, this can be a great source. Some of the information can be found in Ancestry and FamilySearch, but it’s not consistent or complete trade off. The only negative is that it can be difficult to match death records if you don’t already have a location or general date for your ancestor. I work around that as best I can. Here’s how I write a source for information found here:
Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms, Owen Clark, baptized 19 June 1836 in Haggardstown, Armagh, County Louth, Ireland. Via Findmypast.com online database, see: https://bit.ly/2yTnSk6.
If you have found information in a publication that is not available online, then use a traditional, scholarly source, as recommended by all professional genealogy organizations:
“1834 Census of Grimm in the District of Saratov, Russia”, dated 2 February 1835; Translated by Brent Mai, Concordia University, Portland, Oregon; Published by Dynasty Publishing, Beaverton, OR, USA; Published 2011; page 74, family #248, Johann Michael Kaltenberger family.
Or this:
Eichhorn, Dr. Alexander, Dr. Jacob and Mary Eichhorn, The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766; Bonn, Germany and Midland Michigan, USA; Drukerei und Verlag Steinmeier GmbH & Co. Kg, Deiningen, Germany, 2012; page 409, family 427, Jacob Fritzle/Fritzler.
No Bull Genealogy 