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eLearning Series: Geneology
My Family Tree is Important to Me
( 50 articles in this series )
Your
Family’s History: Create a Timeline
Successfully filling in a family tree and
uncovering the details of your family history can be an incredibly
complex and overwhelming process. Charts and other organizational
timelines, either on paper or in computer programs, can help
you gather all of the genealogical material you have discovered
in a comprehensive and presentable manner. Timelines
come in a variety of forms. For example, genealogy charts focus on
either the descendants or ascendants of a particular family
member; family group sheets focus on specific individuals in
a family, their spouses, and their children; and chronological
profiles plot the life of a single individual. Each form basically
builds on the other forms, and they are often used in conjunction
with one another.
The
most basic type of timeline is an ascendant chart, also
known as pedigree chart. It typically begins with you, on the
left of the timeline, and branches out to the right, going
backwards in time through your parents, your parent’s parents,
and onwards. It can include between four and fifteen generations
of ancestors, with four generations being the easiest to work
with visually. Earlier ancestors can each receive charts of
their own. Pedigree charts often includes birth, marriage,
and death dates and places, as well as maiden names and nicknames,
but they do not include citations of the sources where you
received your information. Take special care to include as
much information as possible on the pedigree chart, however,
including full names, complete locations, and complete dates
so that you know what, if any, information you are missing.
You can refer back to the charts later and add more information
or change incorrect information.
Each individual in a pedigree chart typically receives two
family group sheets, one for his role as the child of two of
your ancestors and one for his later role as the spouse and
parent of two of your ancestors. Each sheet contains vital
data on a married couple, such as the dates and locations for
their births, christenings, marriages, deaths, burials, employment,
military service, and their parents’ and children’s names.
Their children’s birth and death dates and locations and the
names of their spouses are also included. The sources where
you found the information for a family group sheet must also
be included so that facts can be both double-checked by you
and referenced by others.
Descendant
charts are the most difficult of the multi-individual charts
to complete. They are typically derived from completed
ascendant charts and family group sheets. They begin with the
earliest proven person in your paternal or maternal line, also
known as your progenitor, and move forward in time through
his or her descendants. On a descendant chart, you can include
all of your progenitor’s descendants or only the descendants
which lead directly to you.
Sometimes you may want to delve
into one of your ancestor’s lives in greater detail, or you may want to record your life
or your parents’ lives in greater detail for future generations.
In this case, you can create a chronological profile that will
help you move beyond simple birth, marriage, and death dates
in order to better see gaps or discrepancies in your information.
A profile often serves as a road map, of sorts, pointing you
in the direction you need to take your genealogical research.
A chronological profile should be set up with separate vertical
columns for the date on which an event occurred; the age at
which the event occurred; a description of the event itself;
and the sources containing the information you provided about
the event. Events that should be recorded include the birth,
death and marriage dates of all of your ancestor’s immediate
descendants; the location of his residence and place of employment
in different census years; the details of his education, employment,
and involvement in the armed forces; the details of any religious
events, such as christenings or conversions; information from
tax records and court records; and the death dates of immediate
relatives. Plotting the small details of your ancestor’s life
may allow you to catch problems with your data, both big and
small, that you might have otherwise missed. Marriages at birth
or at very tender ages, impossible reproductive feats, or military
service at odd ages could indicate either that you should double-check
your sources for errors in your note-taking or that the source
itself is incorrect. Chronological profiles also highlight
missing pieces of information. Perhaps you had to leave large
chunks of your ancestor’s life blank, or maybe large gaps between
his marriage and the birth of his children could indicate missing
descendents. Locating the gaps in your knowledge will help
guide your research.
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SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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