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Genealogy Is Simpler Than It Looks: Who, Where, When
Published on January 12, 2026
Starting a family tree often feels overwhelming. You may want to learn more about your ancestors but have no clear idea where to begin, what information actually matters, or why some searches quickly turn into dead ends. Genealogy looks like a puzzle with too many missing pieces — until you understand that it follows a very clear internal logic. In fact, most genealogical research can be reduced to answering three basic questions, always in the same order:
Who? Where? When?
Who? Where? When?
Who?
Family research moves upward, from the known to the unknown. You start with the last ancestor you can confidently name and work your way back generation by generation. If the furthest point you’ve reached is your great-grandfather, your next task is to identify his father, then his grandfather, and so on. At this stage, family stories and conversations with relatives are often your main source of information. Once the “Who” is more or less clear, it’s time to move on.
When and Where are deeply interconnected — especially in Eastern Europe.
From around 1800 onward, church records documenting births (baptisms), marriages, and deaths were regularly kept and have largely survived. This period alone can keep a researcher busy for years. Earlier records exist, but they require more experience, patience, and sometimes the ability to read older languages and scripts.
The challenge is that borders changed frequently. The same town could belong to different states at different times, which directly affects where its records are stored today. For example, places like Vilnius or Grodno were part of the Russian Empire before 1917, Poland between 1921 and 1939, and later the Soviet Union. As a result, documents related to one family may now be scattered across archives in several countries.
Where?
Knowing where your ancestors lived is one of the most valuable pieces of information you can have. Administrative borders shifted repeatedly, and each state had its own archival system. Identifying the correct location — even approximately — helps you narrow down which archives are worth searching.
When?
Human lives follow fairly predictable patterns. People tend to marry, have children, and pass away within similar age ranges. This makes it realistic to search through a window of 10–20 years for a specific event — but only once you know where to look. Searching every possible place without a time frame is simply not feasible.
That’s why genealogy always comes back to the same logic:
first Who, then Where, and only then — When.
Family research moves upward, from the known to the unknown. You start with the last ancestor you can confidently name and work your way back generation by generation. If the furthest point you’ve reached is your great-grandfather, your next task is to identify his father, then his grandfather, and so on. At this stage, family stories and conversations with relatives are often your main source of information. Once the “Who” is more or less clear, it’s time to move on.
When and Where are deeply interconnected — especially in Eastern Europe.
From around 1800 onward, church records documenting births (baptisms), marriages, and deaths were regularly kept and have largely survived. This period alone can keep a researcher busy for years. Earlier records exist, but they require more experience, patience, and sometimes the ability to read older languages and scripts.
The challenge is that borders changed frequently. The same town could belong to different states at different times, which directly affects where its records are stored today. For example, places like Vilnius or Grodno were part of the Russian Empire before 1917, Poland between 1921 and 1939, and later the Soviet Union. As a result, documents related to one family may now be scattered across archives in several countries.
Where?
Knowing where your ancestors lived is one of the most valuable pieces of information you can have. Administrative borders shifted repeatedly, and each state had its own archival system. Identifying the correct location — even approximately — helps you narrow down which archives are worth searching.
When?
Human lives follow fairly predictable patterns. People tend to marry, have children, and pass away within similar age ranges. This makes it realistic to search through a window of 10–20 years for a specific event — but only once you know where to look. Searching every possible place without a time frame is simply not feasible.
That’s why genealogy always comes back to the same logic:
first Who, then Where, and only then — When.
