This is a golden rule of genealogy.
Fill out a family group sheet for yourself. 
Then one for each of your parents, 
now for each of your grand parents. 
Keep going for one surname or adding Great and Great, 
etc... grandparents. 
At this point you will also fill in YOUR  Pedigree Chart . 
Remember to number carefully!
You are number one, on sheet one. Sheet two's starting person 
would be #4 from sheet one (your G-Grandpa) 

 Legal documents are the first source you may wish to 
examine. You can get an uncertified copy (@ $1.00) of a vital
(birth, marriage, death or burial) record from the town your 
person was a resident. 
If you like, certified copies are any where from $5 to $30 or you can always hand copy the document yourself.
Often you don�t know were the person lived. 
The best way to determine where to look for a certain record 
would be to look at other records you do have. 
For example if you have your birth certificate it will state 
where your parents live when you were born  their birth place 
and their occupations. 
With just these few leads you can now search for your parents 
birth records, then their parents.... 
I MUST NOTE HERE, not all states will allow you to view or copy 
all vital records even though they are public, unless you belong 
to a genealogical society. 
This is because the documents are old and they can trace who was 
in the archive last through your genealogical society ID number. 
Unfortunately this doesn't help those that write in for a copy. 
BUT it is possible to get microfilmed copies of any record you 
like from a FAMILY HISTORY CENTER. 
Look for them listed under Mormon Churches in your yellow pages.
(or using a search engine on the WWW).

Interviews with relatives, family folklore & stories, 
bibles, baby books, scrapbooks, family documents & letters, 
photographs, census records, probate records, land records, 
court records, city directories, church records, military records,
immigration papers, naturalizations, statements of intent, 
passenger lists, write letters to anyone with your surname 
in the phonebook, and computer contact with others searching 
for the same surname.