First capture the data you know. Source it: First Hand Knowledge of <your name goes here> and date stamp it. Second, interview family members and record what they tell you. Source it: First Hand Knowledge of <interviewee> and date stamp it. Third, turn to the historical record.

The what? The Historical Record: the paper trail others recorded of your ancestor's activities.

	Local newspapers may have published a birth notice, a marriage announcement, or an obituary. They may have also published election results, career advancement notices, etc., pertaining to kin.
	Churches kept registers of baptisms, marriages, and funerals.
	Municipal government offices tracked tax records, land purchase records, voters lists, etc.
	Federal governments produced national censuses every decade and tracked military service.
	A readable cemetery stone may survive.
	Most of us have ancestors that arrived from Europe on a boat that had a name and per-voyage Passenger Lists (mini-census, if you will).
	Another descendant or an archive may have the Family Bible, graduation certificate, military ribbons, photos, etc.

Until recently most historical records were recorded and stored locally in County Archives. So if you lived miles from the ancestral homestead just getting to the historical record or even learning where the appropriate Archive was located, was your first challenge. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First, figure out what you do know, and consequently what you need to find. 

Which historical records will provide the most information depends on several factors: what you already know, when and where those ancestors lived, what records were kept back then, and your ancestors' social status. 
 
Do you have reason to think your great-grandfather was a Methodist minister in 1870 Illinois, a father of Confederation, a victim of a crippling disease, or came from Poland? Frequently family lore is all you have as a starting point. Knowing who, roughly where, and some idea of when, you can build on that.

Social status can make a big difference. The more money, education, prominence, your ancestors had, the greater the likelihood they left a paper trail to find. The illiterate could not write a biography to leave. They were also less likely to be elected or promoted. If they couldn't afford to buy property, searching land transaction records won't help.

Worse yet, the historical record was frequently recorded by literate others who wrote what they heard. Different officials would spell the name different ways. Their penmanship wasn't always first rate either. And back far enough writing customs were different (you'll know when you get there: s looks like f ).

Several of my ancestors married in the local Methodist Church, where long-serving officiating clergy consistently misspelled their surname. It is hard to find Leask family members when their own minister consistently spelled the name Lisk (with L 's that look more like K.)

Another ancestor was recorded as Donnel in Scotland, Daniel in New Jersey, and Donald in Norfolk County. Family lore says he was a Lt.-Col. in the military, but surviving military records show him only as a Private. He signed his will with an X, suggesting he was illiterate, which pretty much puts high rank in doubt and may explain his acceptance of various first name spellings.

Today we take literacy for granted. Our ancestors didn't. As late as the mid-1840s, 25 percent of grooms and 40 percent of brides signed the St. John's Anglican Woodhouse register with an X. 

Expect to find the information you seek in some official's handwritten scrawl. Moreover historical records don't always agree. The Family Bible, baptism record, obituary and cemetery stone may all provide different birth dates for the same person. Recording your Sources will help the reader of your masterpiece confirm your claims.

Is it all beginning to sound like detective work? It is! If genealogy was a TV show, it would be part CSI, part Cold Case, part Dragnet ("Just the facts, mam"). The Historical Record is your witness list. And while witnesses may disagree, most juries side with the preponderance of evidence. Never settle for one witness if you can find two.