Easiest Way To Do Research In FamilySearch's Tree

There are two basic ways to do expand your family tree. You can try to add more direct ancestors or you can work on fleshing out the families of your ancestors by finding their spouses and descendants.

Finding descendants is what I spend most of my time on. What follows is my approach. Hopefully it is helpful for you.

1. Pick an ancestor fairly far back. Right now I'm starting with one of my 3-great grandmothers,
   Margaret Hackston (1832-?). I prefer an ancestor born in the early 1800s because there are good records in the 1800s and therefore progress is much easier.
   
   
2. Bring up the "Tree" for the ancestor.
   
   
3. Switch to the Decendancy View by clicking the icon in the upper left corner.
   
   
4. Look for the blue "Record Hints" icons beside the descendants. Clicking on this icon will show a list of historical records that FamilySearch has found that they think involve this person. Each is an opportunity to improve your tree. If you do not see any then you may need to expand the number of generations shown and scroll down.
   
   

Adding sources to existing persons in the tree is real genealogical research. Often the records include new information about the person or their parents, spouses, or children that needs to be added to your tree.

If you have any troubles or I can help in any way please let me know.