Interviewing Family Members

The Family History process is one that has a few simple steps that get rearranged and repeated throughout the adventure. As you work on your family tree, you may find it necessary to go back to the interviewing part of the process. 
Interviewing family members may be as easy as calling grandma and having a nice chat, or it may be an intimidating feat. Either way, below are 34 excellent questions for interviewing family members to further your Family History work.

1. What is your full name?
2. When and where were you born?
3. Who is your mother?
4. When and where was your mother born?
5. What can you tell me about your mother's relatives?
6. Who is your father?
7. When and where was your father born?
8. What can you tell me about your father's relatives?
9. What are the full names of your brothers and sisters?
10. When and where were each of your brothers and sisters born?
11. What memories to you have of each of your brothers and sisters?
12. What schools did you and your brothers and sisters go to?
13. Whom did you brothers and sisters marry?
14. Whom did you marry?
15. What are the full names of your children?
16. When and where were your children born?
17. Whom did your children marry?
18. Who are your grandchildren?
19. What memories do you have of extended family members, such as aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents?
20. Where did some of these extended family members live?
21. What can you remember about births, marriages, and deaths of other family members?
22. Where are family members buried?
23. Did you or any of your relatives serve in the military?
24. Which wars did you or other relatives fight in? 
25. Will you share some of these war stories with me?
26. What jobs do you remember your parents and other family members doing?
27. What religion or religions were practiced in your home?
28. What are some important spiritual experiences you have had?
29. Was anyone in the family interested in family history?
30. Are there any family members who kept a journal or who wrote a historical account of your family? Who are they? Are any of these accounts available for me to read?
31. Are you aware of any ancestors who emigrated from their home country to this country?
32. Does anyone in the family own a family Bible, a family history, or genealogical records of any kind? Who are these family members, and where do they live?
33. Will you show me some of your old family documents or artifacts?
34. Will you show me some of your old family photographs? 

This list is a good starting point to a successful interview. Feel free to add and personalize the questions to suit your needs as you meet with family members to discuss your ancestry. 
The questions on this fabulous list come from the Member's Guide to Temple and Family History Work from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You can find the link to the website here. 

Good luck Hunters and Huntresses!