Add a Source to Family Tree

In case you missed it on the FamilySearch blog, you can now add sources to Family Tree from other websites. You can also add documents and photos to the sources category on the for your ancestor. See the video demonstration included above.

The option to attach historical records from within FamilySearch Historical Records was a feature already. Now you can add all your sources that are other websites to one place on Family Tree. When your family members ask to see your findings, they can log on free at FamilySearch to access everything you share there.

If you have PDF files or other documents or photos at home, upload them to Family Tree. Scan or take digital photos of resources that are still in paper form. With these new features, you can finally get organized and preserve your research for future generations.

A great app for smart phones is CamScanner. It will turn your phone camera into a scanner that you can carry in your pocket eliminating the need to waste money on endless photocopies because you can upload and source everything all at once. Digital cameras produce high quality images that photocopying never could. CamScanner will also turn your digital copies into PDF files.

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Avoiding the Weak Limb on a Family Tree

The most popular database on Ancestry.com is the Public Member Tree with over 2,100,000,000 records which are more entries than any individual US Census. That is enough to make one concerned about the value of a member tree. To those new to research, finding another person's family tree is like a kid being let loose in a candy store. What the more seasoned researcher knows is this: A family tree with no sources is like a diet with only sugar and no substance to sustain life. A tree with no sources ought to have a flashing red sign: "Researcher Beware!"

Trees with no sources

Finding trees are relatively easier than taking the extra effort to dig deeper or order a resource that is not online. It may even be thrilling to find someone else that has your ancestor listed on their tree, but what good is finding your ancestor on a tree with no proof of family relationships? Taking unproven information into your tree is like scooting out on the weakest limb.

It does not take much time to move back adopting ancestors using undocumented trees, but you are sure to reach the end of the line ancestor somewhere. When there is no tree to document the next generation, people usually are forced to consult historical records. This is when the weak limb breaks because nothing jives in the records. You are forced to start over with what you can document as being true.

Use documentation

Brick walls just do not show up in your path. You build them around your ancestor by following undocumented paths. If you have climbed your tree a few generations back without solid sources, you risk placing the wrong ancestor in the tree and wasting a lot of time.

Here is an example of research results achieved using documentation from FamilySearch.org:

Catherine Eliza Mallet was born in 1849 in Nova Scotia according to the 1900 Census. According to the 1900 Census, she immigrated in 1863. She married John F. Bushey of Canada, and in 1870 they lived with their children in Essex County, Massachusetts. By 1880, she was widowed and lived with her children in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She and John had the following children:

• Sarah E. Bushey
• Stephen Bushey
• John F. Bushey​
• Mary L Bushey
• Augustus Ildegarde Bushey
• Stephen M Bushey

Now compare the information above to another tree that had no sources attached:

Catherine Eliza Bushey is listed as deceased in 1880 although she appears on the 1900 Census in Beverly, Massachusetts. The following children are listed: John W. Bushey

• John W. Bushey (wrong middle initial)
• Mary Isabell Bushey
• Stephen M Bushey
• Augustus Frank Bushey (wrong middle name)

If research in the second example was done using resources, the researcher may have noticed that the 1900 Census documenting Catherine was overlooked. A lot more details were gleaned from using records than from relying on trees. These records open up other avenues of research and provide more information about Catherine's life. This is not to say all family trees are erroneous. Just take the ones with no resources with a grain of salt.

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Not the Curiosity That Killed the Cat Genealogy

As you begin to trace your own roots, you may not know or understand the standards professional genealogists follow everyday, but that should not exclude you from ensuring the integrity of the findings you share with family members or in online communities. Considering three of the basic principles below will help those who come after you and may even lead you more accurate discoveries.

Family trees

It is a great temptation to be curious about what others may have on your ancestor in an online family tree. Remember the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat?" The same holds true if you delve too deeply in a family tree without documented sources. You may end up more confused if you do this with no idea who your end-of-the-line ancestor is. Many newbies accept information as factual and adopt the wrong person as an ancestor. Then when they attempt to document the person they think should come next in line, they run into the proverbial "brick wall."

The correct way to take advantage of an online tree is to first research as thoroughly as you can to learn more about the missing ancestor before you even turn to someone else's family tree. Some find that confusing: "How do you research someone you do not know?" You can research an ancestor even if you do not know his or name. Just begin with the children. Much of the time records that document the generation before mention parents. If an ancestor had six children, you have six avenues to locate resources where parents may be mentioned. If that ancestor has a sibling with children, well, you can do the math! Records types to look for would include death certificates, obituaries, funeral home records, church records, the census, wills and probate and marriage records.

Sources

Many beginners stop researching an ancestor after one or two discoveries. If you look for a wide range of sources throughout the lifetime of an ancestor, you can develop a more accurate picture of their life and who they were related to. For example, searching for your ancestors on each available census can reveal a snapshot of their family every ten years. If that same ancestor was enumerated on a state census, your chances to learn more are even greater. Using the federal census, you may discover infants who died young, parents or grandparents who lived in the same house, or neighbors who married into the family.

Citing your sources helps other people interested in your findings to be able to follow in your footsteps to access the same records you used. Are not all family historians looking for that "one person" who will take an interest in the family's history and carry on where they leave off? You have the power to make things easier for them.

Complete and accurate citation of sources allows others to replicate the steps taken to reach the conclusion. (Inability to replicate the research casts doubt on the conclusion.), The Genealogical Proof Standard

Drawing conclusions

Is your genealogy made up of oral history or stories that you have never documented? Memories dim over time. Facts can be forgotten or misunderstood. If you have a huge research challenge that you have not been able to overcome, and you are basing your research off of "things your mom or dad said," then perhaps it is time to test your theories by documenting each part of the story that you can. Chances are you will actually learn more to add to the story, or you may discover that bits of it are not true after all.

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