What do you wish you had known when you started your research?

Comment

Comment by tami osmer glatz on July 10, 2009 at 11:27pm

- I wish I had listened to grandma's stories better -- but I'm really glad my sister did!
- I wish I had figured out an organization system before I started making copies
- I wish I'd known just how addicting this was going to be!

Comment by Tracy Glatz on July 10, 2009 at 9:45pm

I wish:
1. I had understood the importance of looking at the family unit as a whole instead of just my direct ancestor i.e. research the siblings!
2. That I knew to document EVERY source or piece of information that I came across because I would forget where I got it.
3. And that I had better organized my documents instead of being overtaken by the "pile monster".

Alas, hindsight is 20/20.

Comment by Jilaine Hock on July 10, 2009 at 9:19pm

I wish that I would have realized that not all my relatives are as excited about knowing their relatives as I am. I can't tell you how many times I have come to a brick wall only to have a relative I talked say, "Oh, didn't I tell you about him/her?"

Comment by Susi (Susan C Jones) Pentico on July 10, 2009 at 7:22pm

I wish the standard for proof was used then so grandparents could have written their data out for us and great grandmother also.

Comment by Katrina Haney on July 10, 2009 at 6:51pm

Michael, I have an article I wrote on this very topic on my website you may like to read. You'll find it at http://genscraps.com/wp/genealogy/friends-neighbors-towns/

Kat