While it’s exciting to make new genealogical finds in documents and records,, it’s time to pause and take a look around our own homes to uncover forgotten family mementos which might contribute to our knowledge of ancestors in the family tree.

It’s very possible that you have long ignored items around the house that have been overlooked in terms of their helpfulness in the quest to learn all that we can about our ancestors.

Here are common items pertaining not only to elder family members or those who are gone, but to our own lives – lives which might in the future be researched by our own descendants.

Address Books
Baby Books
Banking Records
Baptismal/Birth Certificates
Bible
Death Certificates/Obituaries/Funeral Programs
Diaries/Journals
Land Deeds
Letters, Postcards, Holiday Cards
Medical Records
Newspaper Clippings
Passports
Prayer Cards
Recipe Cards
School Items – Report Cards, Yearbooks, Awards
Scrapbooks
Travel Souvenirs
Wedding Albums
Wills

In addition to those mostly small, easy-to-store items, there are other heirlooms which you may own. What about arts and crafts-type of remembrances. I have a serving tray painted by my grandmother in tole style. We also have three quilts made by my husband’s great grandmother, plus Nammie’s rocking chair (full-size), a couple of old watches, a Mason pin and Theodore Haviland china. None are of great financial value, but irreplaceable in sentimental value.

Most importantly, make a plan now for the future home of each of these family items!