I recently had the opportunity of viewing the movie “Mongol”, a film based on the life of the warrior king Genghis Khan. It was a good film, if you like that sort of thing, but the best part of it was that it invoked a memory of a Human Genetics study that I had forgotten about, and of which you may not have heard. If you are aware of the study, then perhaps you’ll enjoy having your memory refreshed as I have, as the study revealed quite an interesting genealogical theory. If true the theory thus accounts for the drive to succeed and reign supreme at the top of our chosen fields that exists within many of us, if not, it simply means that we’re working like crazy to meet our financial needs and obligations and put our kids through college! I’ll let you be the judge of whichever thesis best suits your own personal circumstances or personality, you’ll know better after reading about the study.

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The teeth of four plague victims uncovered in east London have yielded fragments of DNA that is 700 years old, and thought to be that of the bug which causes the Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the “Black Death”. Scientists have managed to reconstruct the complete genetic code of the Yersinia pestis bug, which killed up to 50% of the population of Europe (around 100 million) in the five years between 1347 and 1351. It is the very first time that researchers have had success in successfully drafting the genome of any pathogen or other disease causing agent from ancient times. Yes it’s amazing, but a little scary too, don’t you think, especially since they consider the particular strain they reconstructed as the mother of all modern bacteria associated with the Bubonic Plague.

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I’d like to introduce to you, Mark Rabideau, a genealogist who specializes in the genealogy and family history of both the Rabideau and Henss families.  His website, Many Roads has become the largest online archives for helpful and interesting information including the largest collection of data for the region of Prussia.  I’m very excited to announce that Mark has agreed to contribute to this blog.  Look for his upcoming posts!

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Whether you are an experienced genealogist or a new comer to the hobby, it’s always good to have some help when you don’t know where to start. The following is a kind of checklist you can use to help you get past obstacles in your research.

Download a family tree template then use this checklist of 10 steps as a basic guideline to get started in building your family tree:

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Asking your family is the best place to begin in tracing your family tree. But there are other things you can do to begin your family tree research.

Official Documentation

Quite possibly you’ll find a wealth of genealogy treasure and history right under your nose at home. Your mother or grandmother most likely have some official documents stashed away somewhere that can be of immense value. Some of these would include:

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Once you make the decision to document your family history, the next logical step is to document what you find. You are excited and feel tempted to plunge into the research. However, starting with a plan is a precursor to your success. Here is a beginner’s guide to starting your family tree.

Create your Roadmap. Imagine you decide to drive from Los Angeles, California to Miami, Florida. The first thing you do is to look at a map and plan your trip. You figure out the distance, the time it takes to get there and your route. Without looking at the map, you can wander along, get lost, take detours and may take twice as long to et to Miami. But, you would like to get to your destination as quickly as possible.

In order for you to document your family tree properly, you need a plan of action.

• What is your goal?

• What to include, maternal and paternal relatives?

• Where to look?

• How to document it? Download a family tree template to help you document your research.

Take the time to create a roadmap. You will increase your chances of completing your project successfully.

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Every life is a story. I am sure you have one too. You don’t have to be famous to have your story told. And, you definitely don’t have to wait for someone to tell it for you.

You can do it yourself.

Now is a good time to shake your family tree and document your family genealogy before it’s too late. Before the storytellers are no more, their memories fade and the history is forgotten.

Make the family connection – Are you one of those people as a child you hated to go to Grandma’s house or visit your great Aunt Jane 3000 miles away? How you hated the stories, they used to tell repeatedly. How many times you heard, “When I was your age….” You probably rolled your eyes every time you heard those words.

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I’m very exciting to introduce Xenia Stanford who is a genealogist and writer, and runs Write On! Xpress. She’s just published a book of memoirs of a one roomed school house. You can check it out at her website, the book is called, Pigtail Times at Taimi. Xenia is a connected genealogist with a full schedule and lots of experience.

I’m thrilled that she will be contributing to this blog and answering questions about genealogy research and writing. Here is her first post explaining how she got started with genealogy research and she also shares some important tips for anyone searching their family history. I could go on, but I’ll let her explain in her own words!

I started collecting family information from as early as I can remember. Either it was while sitting on my grandmother’s lap or on the floor between her rocking chair and the wood-burning kitchen stove. She told me stories of the “old country” (Austria) about her siblings, parents and activities. She also had many stories about life in the new country (Canada) as a pioneer, first working in a store when she could only speak German and the owner could only speak English.

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