It is said that a person is remembered for one thing that he does that creates history. This is in fact true. The recognition given to the person is astounding and may even be passed on to other family members for generations to come. Aside from the usual paper records which prove that a person had in fact earned such recognition, there are no other viable ways to prove that the person did something significant in history.

This is where geneology comes into play. The broad definition for this term is the study of families and their lineage throughout history. This includes all of the family’s achievements and wrongdoings.

Procuring the Family Lineage

Genealogists have a large arsenal of methods at their disposal to learn a family’s history. The first method is the oral traditions. This method is done by passing on a significant family story to the younger members of the family. There is no way to verify if the story is true but the family who tells the story definitely believes its integrity.

Another method is by tracing historical records. This is perhaps the best way to learn a family’s lineage because it can be certified and everything can be found in file. There is also no bias in historical records since people who write usually don’t have any affiliation with the people who are being written about.

Another method is by DNA sampling. This method makes use of the similar DNA structures of related individuals to determine the relationship and ancestry of an individual to another person. This is used to determine the kinship and pedigree of a certain family who share the same gene pool.

Motivations in Studying Geneology

The study of families is done by a person for 3 general reasons. The first reason is to find history regarding one’s own family which could trace to possible relatives in faraway places. Research on one’s own history may also yield to the origin of the ancestors as well as the original ethnicity of the family.

The second reason is to preserve the past. Preserving the past means to allow the survival of any heritage that our ancestors may have left us. These could be in the form of culture or material things. The third reason is the satisfaction in historical accuracy. Nothing can satisfy more than unearthing the history of a family wherein all questions can be answered or are already answered.