Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of your ancestors. It uses a wide variety of sources: • Family information such as photos, stories, and personal recollections • Records, such as birth, death, and marriage, church, census, military, deeds, wills, estates records. • Family histories and historical books on cities, towns and counties and other resources • Can be further supported, disproven, or extended through genetic genealogy (DNA) testing Genealogy can trace the lineages of individuals and provides essential information to ground personal and family histories.
Personal History
Personal history is the study of a single family member’s history over an extended period. A personal history preserves milestones of your life and how you relate to those loved ones around you. Examples of personal history products include: a memoir focused on a particular time; an autobiography capturing the full spectrum of a life; life stories that bring a family tree to life; or a history of a group told from the point of view of the people involved.
Family History
Family history is the study of a family’s history and traditions over an extended period of time and may involve documenting stories as well as factual information. A family history documents and preserves important family stories and memories, the stories that bring a family tree to life. Historians may use oral interviews, historical and other records, and genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members. The results are often displayed in charts or written as narratives. Family history puts flesh on the bones of genealogy.
