Family documents
How to Use Old Letters and Postcards to Build Your Family Tree
Extract useful names, places and relationships from family correspondence without losing the personal story or guessing at missing details.
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Start with one letter and its envelope
An old letter can mention a cousin by a nickname, describe a visit or name a place your family once called home. Begin with one item rather than trying to sort the whole collection. Keep its envelope, enclosures and original order together. Give the item a simple reference number that you can use in filenames and research notes. This preserves the context when you later compare several letters.
Record the details you can actually read
Note the writer, recipient, written date and any address, marking uncertain words clearly. A postmark and a handwritten date may refer to different moments, so record them separately. Do not turn a partial date into an exact one. Keep a clear copy of the whole item, including the reverse and envelope when useful, while handling the original as little as possible.
Make a transcript before interpreting the story
Copy the text into a working note, preserving names and unfamiliar spellings. Use a marker for words you cannot confidently read rather than silently replacing them. Keep your transcript separate from your interpretation. This lets another relative check a difficult passage and prevents an early guess from becoming the only version of the evidence you retain.
List people and relationships separately
Write down every person mentioned and what the letter actually says about them. A phrase such as our cousin is a clue whose meaning depends on who was writing and who was receiving the letter. A familiar name alone may not identify the person. Compare the surrounding relatives and events before adding a new connection to your tree.
Use places and events to form better questions
A visit, a move or a family celebration may help you identify which branch the writer meant. Record those clues with the relevant passage and source reference. An address shows where the letter was directed; it does not by itself prove how long the recipient lived there. Ask a knowledgeable relative about the context and keep their recollection distinct from the written text.
Respect private content while keeping useful evidence
Family correspondence can contain information the writer did not intend for a wider audience. Consider whether an entire letter needs to be shared or whether a short factual note is enough for the project. Ask before distributing correspondence contributed privately by living relatives. Keep sensitive passages out of a public presentation and store your working material with appropriate care.
Connect checked discoveries to the tree
Create a free Family Tree Builder account and add the branch you can support from your notes. Check each relationship as you enter it. Where appropriate, use the person’s story field for a brief account of what the correspondence reveals, while keeping the full transcript and source copies separately organized. The visual tree helps you place the writer, recipient and relatives in a connected family context.
Build a useful branch from a small collection
Start your free Family Tree Builder account with the people you can identify confidently today. Work through a few letters at a time and keep unresolved names on a question list. Once the branch takes shape, explore the paid plan and decide whether it supports your next stage. One well-understood letter can help you move forward more reliably than a large collection of unexplained names.
Keep exploring: How to start a family tree · 25 questions to ask your grandparents