Lesson 6

Putting it Together

In Lesson 5 you learned about important records and conducted an interview with a family member to learn more about their life. So what do you do with all this information now that you have collected it. One way to  organize the information about your family is to use an Ancestral  Chart.  It is not the only chart you’ll use during your family history search, but starting with a pedigree will help you focus your search from here on out. As you can see, a pedigree is simply a chart that records descent.

Ancestral Chart

Key points to follow:

Start with yourself on line 1. Your father’s full name should appear on line 2. Your mother’s full name before marriage should appear on line 3. (Male names will always be recorded on even numbers, except for line 1, and female names will always be on odd numbers). Use maiden names for females. Write dates using the day, month, year (27 MAY 1955). Write place names as completely as possible (city, county, state). If you’ve completed lessons one and two, you’ll have much of the information you need to start filling out your Ancestral chart. As you look at the chart you will notice that some information is missing. How do you find this missing information? The following activities will help you to find that information. Just like a detective you will begin to gather the clues.

Take a look at the blank spaces on your Ancestral Chart. Choose one ancestor to focus on and then decide what piece of information you want to learn about that ancestor. Start with the most recent person as it is easier to find information from the recent past.

What person, object or record will have the information you’re looking for? Is there a gravestone that could tell you the death date of your great-grandfather? Or has a genealogical society in the town in which your ancestor died created a compiled record of local death certificates?

Investigate the source for the information you are looking for. You can look for records at cemeteries, court houses, and genealogical societies. There are also many online resources that can help with your search.  Evaluate the results of your search and share your information with relatives who are also family history detectives.

On-line Resources

Cyndi’s List, one of the largest sites for genealogical links, offers this great index of biographies. 

This site is for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The Family History Library is the largest genealogical library in the world. Click on "Browse Categories", and then click on "Family Histories and Genealogies" to see if someone has already given the library information on your family tree.

http://rootsweb.com

RootsWeb has a number of resources that contain Family Histories. Try entering your ancestors name and see what information is found. Remember that there are many people with the same name so be careful and check the dates and places of that person to make sure it is really your ancestor.

Questions to Consider

1. How does the Ancestral Chart help you?

2. What type of information was most difficult to find?

3. What are some of the resources you can use to find that information?

What have I learned?

Remember that the advantage of finding a compiled record is that someone may have done the detective work for you. Remember to check their sources. In the next lesson you will learn how technology has impacted Family history and how it can help you with your search.

To Lesson 7