Our ancestors would marvel at how easily genealogy research can be done today with the click of a mouse! Information that once took years of research to dig up now is found so quickly. In days gone by information was verbally passed down from generation to generation typically relying on memory. When keeping records through writing evolved, myths were some of the first things recorded and stored on these written documents. Ancient ancestors believed they were children of gods and their family history was born from a myth. The earliest genealogy research documents are myths.

Genealogy Research and The Bible

Some of the more famous aspects of genealogy research maybe is written in the Bible. “So and So begat So and So who lived to be 278 and begat so and so….” The famous passages from Genesis and the Gospel are frequently referred to as “The Begats.” The Bible is often looked at as the genealogy research record of Jesus Christ. Nearly all the Old Testament people are somehow related to Jesus.

In wondering why our ancient ancestors bothered with keeping genealogies it more than likely was due to squabbles over inheritances In the times when the King James Bible was comprised (1611) this would have especially been an issue of contention while countries were under divine right monarchies. In these days people who hoped to have an opportunity at all of property ownership or a title needed to prove they were related to the recently deceased owner of the property or title.

The 1900’s

My Aunt Ruth use to take me on genealogy research expeditions with her in the mid 1960’s. In those times it wasn’t possible to do any type of substantial genealogy research unless you went physically to the place that your ancestors had lived and died. Their lives were researched through dusty, faded and quite often illegibly scribbled notes on yellowed, brittle pages in the halls of public records in the town that you thought your ancestors might have once lived in as you searched for any trace of them and their lives.
In the past two of the very best resources of genealogy research were cemeteries and family Bibles. Our ancestors would record all the important family information in the blank pages of their family Bible and pass this book down through the generations. Family Bibles are gems to genealogists as they were recorded by the very people they’re researching.

The next best resource was a cemetery headstone. It was common genealogy research practice to hold a piece of paper over the headstone and rub it with a pencil to more easily read the information and take it back home to add to the other pieces of gathered research.

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