WHERE TO START GENEALOGY

Transcription

1 1 WHERE TO START GENEALOGY Spplies needed are manilla file folders. Two three ring notebooks. ( One for WORKING notes, One for PERMANENT records. An atlas ~f yor area of search. Fine or Ultra fine Flair black ink pens (not water solable), pencils, a magnifying glass, a typewriter, some research forms. Basic ones are the 4 & 5 generation charts and the Family Grop sheet. Keep all notes on the same size paper, sally 8 1/2 X 11 lined note book paper. Use a good qality paper that won't become brittle and crmble after a few years. Charts: \ \ \ \ Start with yorse'lf and work backwards in time. Last or Srname in Capital letters. Always se maiden name of females. Dates shold be written with day, name of month, 9 Oct. if yo have to estimate a date se ca. for circa or abot. A family Grop sheet shold be filled ot for each cople on yor ancestor chart. The Hsband's name - is always shown on the top lineage. The Wife's on the bottom half of the page. It's a standard way of showing a chart. If someone was married twice, make a separate chart showing that family nit also and children from the marriage on that chart. When listing Children, try to arrange them in their birth order oldest to yongest. Place a star beside the name of the child that is yor ancestor. year DOCUMENT! -- From the beginning of yor research-- DOCUMENT! \ Always inclde the Conty & State yo are referring to. (Yo know which one yo mean, bt make it clear for generations to come). Example:... The first 3 All 5 of my children were born in Genesee Conty... in Michigan, & the 4th & 5th in N~w York. Also Docment: \ Name, date, and place of family interviews. \ Athor, pblisher, date of pblication, and page nmbers. \ When photocopying from a book or Bible, always copy the title page and reverse side of Bible page to show the date of pblication. \ Make Xerox copies of newspaper clippings and obitaries for ftre reference. Always copy or get the name of the paper; page nmber; colmn nmber; as well as the date. Write it in pencil on the back of copy ntil yo get home & type it on or se a flair pen. \ Keep a record of names, places, what library, and dates showing exactly where each fact was fond!

2 2. Try to do yor Genealogy so that someone else can pick p where yo left off or another person can share the job and go researching when yo can't. When going to research for a day, make a "shopping list" of what yo hope to find that day. The Federation of Genealogical Societies mentions The Researcher's Gide to American Genealogy by Val. D. Greenwood; Genealogical Pb. Co. 111 Water St., Baltimore, MD 2122 as a good research and docmentation" how to" book to read. In genealogy we need to kn~w 3 things before we will find any information abot or ancestors. 1. A Fam i1y NAI'IE. 2. An approximate DATE of their birth, marriage, death, or land ownership. 3. A PLACE where they lived. What state and what conty. Finding the conty where they lived is a major sorce of information becase now all the cort hose records can be searched, sch as probates, deeds, wills, birth, and death records. Cemetery records and Chrch records can also be checked. To begin to find the above - interview relatives sti 11 al ive. Ask what places or ancestors lived. Ask what time they lived there. Use a tape recorder if possible, as well as writing down information. This is where yo can gather some of those hman interest family happenings by asking yor relatives for what they remember... Do it now! Follow p the above information with: \ Newspaper annoncements to find a reference. \ Obitaries \ Phone directories \ IGI at Family History C~nters \ City directories \ Rral directories \ City directories before 186 for 5 largest cities are on microfilm. Write Cstomer Order Dept, Research Pblications, Inc, 12 Lnar Dr., New Haven, CT Ask for a brochre and listing of cities covered and for the years available. A Next step is to se Censs Indexes to loca~e a family. The Sondex incldes only hosehold~ with children ten years or older. The 19- and the 191 Sondex indexes provide a qick way to locate family. It is a phonetically coded index of srnames to help the researcher several ways. A family can be located when only the state of residence is known, bt not the conty. All families of one srname are groped together, making it possible to find relatives and to make family connections.

3 3. When copying censs records or tax lists, try to note the neighbors as well. They may be relatives. They may have been listed as a neighbor or witness in a civil cort case. Location of property- \ Check Grantee/Grantor index which is the index to deeds. \ Borrow LOS index and deed records for the conty and period yo need. Try to copy every etry for the names yo are researching that reference a property description for the deed. A typical deed record will always give an address for a person. This can be crcial in determining when a person first came to a conty. In order to know where to find records, genealogists need to nderstand the evoltion of conty bondaries for the states they are researching. Remember --- when writing and reqesting information a Iways send a se 1f addressed stamped enve lope; (SASE) l Remember --- always answer a qery that comes to yo even if no connection is fond to 'yor family. It's only corteos. Also, when yo pick p yor research tote bag and coin prse to go ot family researching, remember to take yor good manners along. It helps everyone have a good day. Happy hntingl ---Or Ancestors did not give s a Lineage to enjoy, --- They gave s a Heritage to preservel Compiled for se at Genealogy Classes - Niagara Conty, NY Genealogical Society. by Anna Zehner Brski

4 How to properly fill ot a Family Grop Sheet Step One The Family Grop Sheet details every cople on the Pedigree Chart. Yo can find free Family Grop Sheets at FamilySearch.org. Family Search has a free software program called Personal Ancestral File (PAF). It allows yo to qickly and easily collect, organize and share yor family history and genealogy information. There are other free Family Grop Sheets online. Step Two Always se pencil when filling ot a Family Grop Sheets. Step Three Names - write fll names, inclding middle names and nicknames. Example: William "Bill" Allen Davis. Step For Dates - write complete dates, if known, Write dates as (day month year). Example: 12 Apr 195. Approximate the year by adding "ca." Example: born ca Step Five Places - write names of places in order from smallest to largest geographical divisions, separated by commas. States are abbreviated with the standard two letter postal abbreviations. Example: Chambersbrg, Franklin, PA or Meldal, Sor- Trondelag, Norway. If yo know the city, bt not the conty of a place, se the Family History Library Catalog to locate the name of the conty. The link is listed in the resorces at the bottom of this article. Step Six Hsband: Enter in his name, date and place of birth, date and place of marriage, date and place of death, date and place of brial. Step Seven Wife: Enter in her name, date and place of birth, date and place of marriage, date and place of death, date and place of brial. Step Eight Children: List each child in order of birth. Enter each of their names, dates and places of births, dates and places of marriages, dates and places of deaths, dates and places of brial Don't worry if yo don't know the exact dates of events, as approximate dates and places are very sefl to locate records.

5 1. All information shold be lettered or typed. 12 GENERATION CHART {or any lineage/pedigree chart ) Directions to Aid Work a. all srnames shold be in pper case (capitals) and listed first. See Sample. b. Given names, places, and month names shold be in lower case lettering. See Sample, 1. Upper Case: ABC D E F G H I J K L M N P Q R STU V W X Y Z. Lower Case: abc d e f g h ij kim n p q r st v w x y Z 111. Nmerals: c. A maiden name coincidentally the same as a woman's married name shold be nderlined - (showing that yo didn't mistakenly list her married name). 1. SMITH, John Joseph Carl m. SMITH, Maria 2. Label with pencil first all pertinent data yo have and go over proven information with ink. (Fine or ltra-fine "non-bleeding" pens (black or ble) work very well.) The penciled data may then easily be altered or inked over at a later date. 3. Fill in pper left comer with yor own crrent data, inclding present date. Add yor "Society Nmber". 4. No.1 on chart may be anyone yo choose, depending on yor own prpose, how extensive yor work, etc. It cold be yorself (adding yor own sibling(s) in nearby margin, if desired), yor own child (children), or grandchild (children). It cold be yor hsband/wife or a parent. (Note: Several siblings may all be listed on #1, dividing #1 into separate sections by first extending the lines as far to the right as possible.) Ths: Ist Generation JONES children. I. David John Kevin Peter Daniel Richard b. 15 Jne October November 1968 All born in Lockport, memorial Hospital, Lockport, Niagara Co., NY p.b. 945 Pine St. 945 Pine St. 12 Locst St., (res.) Lockport, NY Lockport, NY Lockport, NY 5. All dates shold list Qgy first, month (in entirety) second, and year (complete). Abbreviations can be confsing - Mar. (March) or May (May)? - so try to avoid. Ths: 16 March Places shold be listed beginning with most local place know first and ending with state or Contry. Ths: Start Manor, Delfort Tn., Otsego Co., NY Or Ballymorey Par., Belfast, Co. Antrim, Ireland (Note: both examples are fictional places.)

6 7. Back of chart begins with coples listed at far right on front of chart (9 th generation). Begin on back as continos as possible to where same name appeared on front. Pt male name next to and wife's name below. (Leave blanks in proper order ntil spose name is known.) Add corresponding nmbers (from front of chart) on dotted lines at left of each srname. Contine with nmbers dobling each generation. Each wife's nmber is one larger than her hsband's. STUDY NUMBERS ON FRONT CHART TO LEARN "PATTERN". 8. "Additional information" space may be sed in any way yo wish. Sometimes sorce of material is mentioned; sch as a family history book, with an asterisk next to each srname whose information was gleaned from said book... Note: war vets...in similar manner. 9. Sqeeze in as mch information as yo can, bt REMEMBER this chart is yor family's record (no matter how complete or incomplete!), representing many hors of yor work - so PLEASE do a clear, neat, carefl, accrate job so that all information is easily read and nderstood by others. 1. As time passes, send in all newly acqired information and it will be added to yor chart.

7 ~Relationship Chart Instrctions: 1. identify the most recent common ancestor of the two individals with the nknown relationship. 2. Determine the common ancestor's relationship to each person (for example, grandparent or great-grandparent). 3. in the topmost row of the chart, find the common ancestor's relationship to cosin nmber one. in the far-left colmn, find the common ancestor's relationship to cosin nmber two. 4. Trace the the row and colmn from step 3. The sqare where they meet shows the two individals' relationship. THE MOST RECENT COMMON ANCESTOR IS COUSIN NUMBER ONE'S... or niece or -niece or-niece or-niece or -niece or -niece or-niece nephew first cosins first cosins first cosins first cosins first cosins first cosins first cosins or niece once removed twice removed three times for times five times six times III removed removed removed removed ~.. grandnephew first cosins second cosins second cosins second cosins second cosins second cosins second cosins... til ::; or-niece once removed once removed twice removed three times for times five times ::J removed removed removed z z in ::J great- first cosins second cosins third cosins third cosins third cosins third cosins third cosins!!! grandnephew twice removed once removed once removed twice removed three times fortimes.. or-niece removed removed... II>... z great-great - first cosins second cosins third cosins forth cosins forth cosins forth cosins forth cosins ( z grandnephew three times twice removed once removed once removed twice removed three times ::; or-niece removed removed ::;... third-great- first cosins second cosins third cosins forth cosins fifth cosins fifth cosins fifth cosins z... grandnephew for times three times twice removed once removed once removed twice removed or-niece... removed removed... II> ::; forth-great- first cosins second cosins third cosins forth cosins... fifth cosins sixth cosins sixth cosins :x: grandnephew five times for times three times twice removed once removed once removed... or-niece removed removed removed fifth-great- first cosins second cosins third cosins forth cosins fifth cosins sixth cosins seventh cosins grandnephew sixtimes five times for times three times twice removed once removed or-niece removed removed removed removed e FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE