Self Help

No matter how you stumble into genealogy, at some point you get bitten by the bug and want to start tracing your own family tree. Genealogists work backward in time. They start with themselves and carefully align each older generation on top of the younger - much like a toddler stacking a tower of blocks. A good place to start is with your own history.

Writing your own personal history is one of the greatest legacies you can leave for the generations yet to come. It will be of value not only to your own children and grandchildren, but also to your siblings’ descendants. This is especially true if you record the stories of your life growing up with your parents, siblings, and other relatives you remember.

A personal history is autobiographical in nature, but doesn’t have to be as long as a book. Start small with the basics, and as time permits, add stories. The major events in your life form the basic outline as you answer the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions:

1. What was the full name you were born with?
2. Was your name different at any other time in your life? How did you get that nickname?
3. When were you born? What was the weather like on the day you were born? What was going on in your community and the world on the day you were born?
4. Where were you born? Why were you born there?
5. What are your parents’ names? Are there any naming traditions in your family?
6. How old were your parents when you were born?
7. Do you have any siblings? Are they younger or older? What are their names and when and where were they born? Describe some of the character traits you best remember about each sibling.

Tell about each stage in your life: birth and childhood, family life and school years, courtship and marriage, your child-rearing years, your vocation and travels, middle age, and retirement as it creeps up on you. Write about your pets, your modes of transportation, and your family traditions. If you have a rich heritage of family photos, choose a photo and write about what was happening when that photo was taken.

Make a list of questions you want to answer. If you have any trouble coming up with questions to write about, consult lists compiled by oral historians and genealogists. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Lists of personal history (and oral interview) questions are available from many Internet sources, in adult-education classes, and in books at your public library. Your local genealogical society and any LDS Family History Centers near you are additional resources for help writing your personal history.