We did a survey a little while back where I asked the original visitors to this website what their biggest challenge was when making a family tree.

The idea was to make sure the website was a resource that would help people overcome these initial barriers.

This is what people said was their hassle:

• Trying to figure out how to complete a formal family tree chart (like the one you downloaded)

• There was confusion on whether or not cousins should be on your tree

• Some folks had a terrible time understanding how to obtain birth, marriage, and death certificates (and when or why they were important).

• And surnames (especially when immigrating relatives changed the spelling) were a problem.

We actually received 182 different responses but there were some of the more popular ones.  We built this site around the results of that survey and developed the tools you’ll find on this site around solving these problems.

How are things going with you?  Are you finding that any of these relate to what you’re experiencing?  Use the comments area below to post your biggest genealogy challenge.

I’ll answer what I can.  Others, please feel free to comment as well if you know an answer or resource that might help.

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