How to Do the LDS Genealogy Search

Before, doing a LDS genealogy search meant going to Family History Library or to local Family History Center. Thanks to the priceless digitization efforts of the LDS church, you can do a fast family search by checking the LDS genealogy site. It is free, easy and has over 1 billion titles in its database.

1.    Gather your love ones Information. Genealogy research always starts with you and then moves backward throughout the time. The first step in researching online of your family history is to gather as much love ones information as possible. This includes maiden names, dates of birth, marriage and death, names of places like where a person was got married, born, died and was buried. The more you know before starting your search, the more effective your LDS search will be.

2.    Surf over to LDS website like www.familysearch.org. Begin your search on the home page by filling up at least a surname or (last name). If you know more than the surname, like the first name or year of birth, add that detail, too; or else, it is possible to get hundreds of results -many of which won’t even represent individuals in your family!

3.    Click on the Advanced Search web link to add a wife’s name to your search. For example, if you know that your great-grandfather’s name was Epifanio Kinalamay and his wife’s name was Esther, add Esther’s name to search box, even if you do not know her last name. This way, the system will filter out any “Epifanio Kinalamay” results that are not associated with a wife named Esther.

4.    Don’t check the “Exact Spelling” box. Here is why: Our ancestors were normally poor spellers, and usually often did their spelling phonetically. If you force the search engine to search only for a correct spelling, it is possible you will not find your families because of a spelling difference. For example, the last name Hendrickson might appear in the records as Hendrixsen, Hendricksen, Hendrixson, or Hendriksen.

5.    While searching for ancestors, do not miss the website tabs of Research Guidance and Research Help. Explore these tabs to learn more about LDS genealogy research in a particular place. For example if you have families who lived in England in 1700s, the England Research Guidance will tell you how to find things such as church, military, or land records. Research Help will guide you to information outlines on records available for any place, i.e. how to search for Ohio or French ancestors. These files can be view through online or can download and print as a PDF file.