Flagg / Hart Genealogy

INTRODUCTION

by: Robert Hart Flagg

If I were asked to express an opinion of genealogy research,
I would have to say it is interesting, which puts it somewhere
between euphoric and manic depressive, neither of which are
conductive to good research.

You can forget the use of logic, science or math since they are
problem solving tools and instead arm yourself with a shovel,
a pick and a hoe; typical research tools used to uncover or
expose something relative.

The first and most important step in the research is to locate any
and all living relatives. In most cases, they can steer you to locations,
grave yards, census information, counties, states, churches, birth
and death certificates, pictures, albums, etc. Also of value is social
security death index (ssdi). Find out where to get copies of birth
and death certificates, Finally, contact any historical societies
located in the area.

Having done all this, you can begin to piece toether a family tree
and go after the missing pieces. I would leave country of origin
heredity research until last. This can be very frustrating, time
consuming and costly. Also, unless you want to spend lots of
money, stay away from genealogy search organizations.