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When I was growing up, my mother had a book with a picture of a tree with roots and branches. On the roots, she had placed pictures of her father and mother. In the branches where pictures of my mother and her sister. Next to them were pictures of their husbands.

As our family grew, my mother's tree grew, too. She put pictures of each of her children. There were nine of us. It was through this pictorial representation that I understood how to start a family tree.

There are two ways to create a family tree. The first chart is an ancestor chart. My ancestor chart starts with my name, then my parents, then my grandparents, and so forth. The second chart is a descendants chart. This type of chart would start with my grandparents, their children, and then their grandchildren.

These two basic charts are all you need to know to start a family tree.

If you think that you must start with a big bang, every ancestor with all the information in a chart, then you will burn out quickly. My family started their genealogy charts in the 19th century. I would have more names and dates than someone who started a family tree today.

For instance, my husband was a foster child in Washington state. When he joined the military in the late 1960s, he met his biological mother for the first time. He also met his father. Now you would think that with these two names it would be easy for him to start his chart. But no, there were a few problems.

My husband did not know his mother's maiden name. Remember he only met her one or two times. And even though, he met his father, my husband wasn't sure how the name was spelled. Further, on my husband's birth certificate, his mother who was unmarried muddied the waters by lying on the birth certificate.

When my husband began putting his chart together, both of his biological parents were dead. He spent two years looking for something about either one of them. Just a social security number. Anything.

His big breakthrough came when his dying foster mother gave him a baby book that was put together at his birth. This book contained names of relatives. He researched the names and discovered his mother's maiden name. Also, these names led him to cousins who were also researching the Tune name. Finally, he had family.

At this time, he has been able to trace his family tree to the Civil War. He has been unable to research farther than that event. But, genealogy is not straightforward. Someday someone will find a document and he will have a little more of his tree. So why is he using so much effort for such little reward? My husband wants to make sure that his girls and grandchildren know their roots. It means much to the former foster child to know some of his family history.

Today, it is easier to trace information on the Internet. There are vital records (birth, death, and marriage records) there and extremely available to the researcher. There are many good research sites. Some sites I have used are Rootsweb and Ancestry.com.

There are many good reasons to create a family tree. After watching my husband's research, I see that the main reason to create a family tree is to have a connection to the past. We need to have roots. It is part of being human.

Learn more about this author, Cyn Bagley.
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