Your Family Tree Genealogy - Choosing the Correct Family Tree Charts For Your Family Search

How do you determine which type of family tree you want before you begin researching? Everyone putting together their family history is faced with certain choices. Who to include in the research? Where do I begin to research? These are all important questions that will determine the type of chart you decide to build.

When you are researching your family tree, you may just start out by finding out about grandparents and great grandparents but to find out who they really were and to find out those little, but important facts, you might want to consider broadening your research. There are several ways that you can do that, and below you'll find out about all the different charts that you can follow.

What is a family tree chart?
A family tree by definition is a diagram of someone's ancestry. So in essence it's a map or chart showing the members of a family, their relationship to one another and even the dates of birth, marriage and death. But a family tree is so much more than that. Or it can be. Depending on the type of tree you choose to create, it could include all the relatives, spouses and even friends and neighbors of a family.

Your Family Tree Genealogy - Choosing the Correct Family Tree Charts For Your Family Search

The types of Family Tree Charts
Mapping out your ancestry is a time consuming activity that involves close attention to detail and a desire to find the answers to those burning questions of who am I? And where did I come from? Before you begin, you need to know that not all charts are made the same.

Pedigree, Direct Lineage or Ascendant Family Tree Chart
The Pedigree Family Tree Chart is sometimes called a Direct Lineage or Ascendant Family Tree. This is perhaps the most common type and the one most people think of when referring to family trees. The pedigree chart begins with you (or a parent, or grandparent) and then follows a single bloodline or family name back through the generations as far back as you can go.

If you are researching your pedigree with both your mother's and your father's bloodline, your pedigree chart would start with you, then your parents would be listed, then both sets of grand parents would come next, then all four sets of great grand parents and so on.

If you are researching your father's surname and bloodline, the pedigree chart starts with you, then next on the chart would be your parents, then your father's parents, then your grandfather's parents and so on. In any case, the pedigree chart is the most common and is an excellent starting point for budding genealogists and for anyone interested in tracing their history and their direct bloodline.

Descendant Family Tree Chart
A Descendant Family Tree Chart is the opposite of the Pedigree Chart. This type of chart starts with an ancestral couple pretty far back in the family history and then lists the descendants of that ancestral couple generation by generation until the present. Usually the Descendant Chart is created after the Pedigree Chart is complete as a way to illustrate all known descendants of all lines of the family. The Descendant Chart can then become the outline for writing the family history.

Family Lineage Family Tree Chart
The family lineage family tree chart is similar to the pedigree chart but for one difference. In a family lineage chart, you would include the siblings of your direct lineage or pedigree. So you would include your aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles and so on. This gives a more complete picture of the family rather than just focusing on your direct bloodline.

Family lineage charts are very helpful in identifying your family members and helps to keep all your ancestors organized. It also is an excellent way to find out about relationships between members of your pedigree and their siblings which can lead to you finding out more interesting facts about your family.

Where to Start?
If you are just starting your genealogy search you might consider developing a Pedigree Chart before you get too deep into your research. One problem that novice genealogists encounter is they get excited about the research and end up losing track of who and what they are researching. Although the research always turns up interesting facts and stories, you might get frustrated that you wasted time or didn't get to the ancestors you had hoped to find in the time you allotted for research. If you keep track of names, dates and places of your direct family line on a Pedigree Chart, you are less likely to get confused and go off on searches you don't need to do.

Free Printable Family Tree Charts
Get started right away by downloading a free printable family tree chart. Then begin by filling in all the information you already know like your name, your parent's names, your grandparent's names and so on. Now you have the beginning of an excellent Pedigree Family Tree Chart and a guide for your research. Your first research step after filling out the chart as much as you can, is to interview your parents and grandparents if possible and don't forget that aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings are a good source of information too. Good luck and have fun!

Your Family Tree Genealogy - Choosing the Correct Family Tree Charts For Your Family Search
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Melanie Walters recommends that you visit ObituariesHelp.org to download Free Printable Blank Family Trees, free genealogy resources, guides to building a family tree, sample letters of sympathy and condolence, written examples of eulogies as well as help with all aspects of funeral planning.

Melanie Walters is a writer and editor for http://www.obituarieshelp.org/ the complete online resource for obituaries, genealogy, sympathy and funeral help. Find newspaper obituaries listings; research your ancestry, genealogy and family tree. Plan funerals and write sympathy and condolence messages using free samples and guides.

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People, Places and Events - History is Your Friend in Genealogy Searches

TIP:  Keep a file folder of maps, dates and places handy!
 
Were you like me in high school?  I hated all those historical events, places, and dates that we were told to memorize.   So, I would dutifully memorize them for an exam and then, promptly forget them!  I never had a reason to use those dates, names, places, events after school, so they seem to have disappeared out of my memory.
 
Oh dear, I am building my family tree and am running into many challenges.  For example, right now, I am researching my greatgrandfather's military service - there is a family story that he fought in the Spanish-American War - but I have no idea when the Spanish American War began, except that it was before 1900.   It would obviously be very helpful to have those dates in a simple chart of dates/places/names of wars or skirmishes.
 
Here is another common problem in many countries:  states, provinces and counties changed boundaries, changed names, or became official entities at specific dates and how can anyone possibly remember which or when!   Is it important?  Oh yes!   For example, if a particular Canadian province wasn't formed until 1906, I cannot expect to find a government birth registration for a child born there in 1894.   I will have to look elsewhere for that information.   I have a family in England who have their birth, marriage, death registrations, plus census records showing the same town in two different counties at various times.  I thought it was a silly error, until I found out that the county boundary changed several times.  Maps of boundary changes are now my friend!
 
Over the years, I have learned to gather both specific and general maps of relevant areas and dates.  This way, I will have more success finding my ancestors in the correct places at the times they may have lived there. And I understand what kinds of resources I might search for details of an ancestor living in that decade.  
 
For example, I have a sheet detailing dates and places of major events relevant to my particular family history. These include all the dates, places of wars and skirmishes in the U.S., both World Wars, various ship-building centres in the UK, the Irish Famine years and Irish emigration, information on the Palatine emigrations, and so on.  These are my personal history references to turn to when I check the date of immigration, and realize for example that a family came to the USA before Ellis Island was set up to process all immigrants.  Therefore I will not be able to use that specific Ellis Island database, but will need to look in Crystal Garden or other sources for their immigration records.   
 
There are many historical resources which can be very helpful in uncovering your family's particular history.   Start by asking lots of questions:  What was happening at that time, in that decade?  Where exactly were they living?  Is there a history written of that area?  What area of the country was being sold or annexed?  Where was the seat of government, and when was it established?  Where were records kept in that year?  Were there newspapers published in those places?  Where did ships arrive, and from where?   Are there passenger lists available, indexed, online?
 
By asking such questions, I searched and found the record of my grandmother Harriett G. and her 6 children including my dad, sailing to Canada from England on the ship "The Virginian" in November 1914.  I have a photo of this ship as well as an image of the Nov 1914 passenger list in my family binder. 
 
Details such as these make your ancestors' history come alive, and your tree much more intriguing to others in your family. 

Genealogy Family Trees

People, Places and Events - History is Your Friend in Genealogy Searches

People, Places and Events - History is Your Friend in Genealogy Searches

Retired from the fields of individual rehabilitation and family counselling, Celia is excited to offer quality information, resources, and services for beginners in Genealogy. Check out http://www.rootsbasic.com for articles, newsletters, booklets, forms, online links and more on RootsBasic: Genealogy for Beginners.

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The Importance of Genealogy

You may think you know what genealogy is, but many individuals confuse it with the closely related term "family history." Genealogy is the study of ancestry and descendants. The study of genealogy pertains only to who is a member of a specific family and who these family members are related to.

Family history, though, is the actual narrative of your ancestors' lives. It is also the act of tracking the dates of your ancestors' births and deaths, the jobs they held, as well as any other important factors in their lives.

Genealogy Family Trees

As you make your family's genealogy chart, it'll be difficult to separate the two. After all, in order to learn who came from where, you'll have to learn a little more about their history as well.

The Importance of Genealogy

Who, what, when, where and how of your family tree is often conveniently labeled genealogy. Keep in mind, however, that an occasional relative who likes to take words literally may correct you when you talk about genealogy in such broad terms.

Why does genealogy matter any way?

Perhaps today it doesn't matter as much as it once did. Especially in this country where - according to legend and tradition - every person at birth gets to start fresh in America. He stands or falls on his own merits, without regard to his family status.

Historically speaking, genealogy was an essential study. After all, it was the method of determining inheritance - especially with the nobility. Imagine the need to discover the next heir in line to a throne if the king had no direct son or daughter to pass his rule down to. The compilation of detailed and accurate genealogical records was of the essence to ensure the proper individuals received the throne.

As you can expect, even with the utmost care, many times in history more than one genealogical record would suddenly appear....throwing the process of crowning the next heir into bedlam.

Genealogy even pops up in the Bible. In the New Testament book of Matthew, he spends pages on what many Sunday school students try to quickly gloss over, "the begats." "Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob" and so it went until you get to - some forty-two generations later - "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus..."

Genealogy plays an important role in the lives of many families today, even when no royalty is involved. The study of this timeless pursuit can help play a decisive role in bringing families torn apart by circumstances beyond their control back together. In the decades immediately following World War II, families found genealogy instrumental in tracing members displaced by the many tragic facets of the war.

There are other reasons families get separated, as well. Consider famines, where some members must flee the country in order to survive. A mother may move away with her children in order to keep them alive. Or perhaps, as in the events leading up to World War II (and beyond), members of families leave in order to save children or the elderly from undue social persecution...or assured death.

In these cases, genealogy plays a major role in making fractured families whole again...even if the current family members didn't know that they had members missing. Thirty some years ago, a novel based on a stunningly simple idea of genealogy gave many African-Americans a new common ancestor, Kunte Kinte, the main character of Alex Haley's book Roots.

The Importance of Genealogy

Bill Turnbull is a genealogy expert. For more great information on Genealogy [http://www.voodoogenealogy.com] visit Researching Family Tree [http://www.voodoogenealogy.com/researching-family-trees]

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Family Tree Templates - Why You Need Genealogy Family Tree Templates

A printable blank family tree template is a concise place to store vital information about your ancestors and keep it all in a portable, easy to read format. With the increasing popularity of genealogy research and the range of tools available, it is easy to be overwhelmed. Knowing how tools like family tree templates work and how you can use them makes your genealogy research much more enjoyable.

When you research your genealogy, there can be a lot of information to record and keep track of so it makes sense you will need a method of organizing your findings. Before you download the family tree templates and start to add your information, it's important that you understand the principles behind these family tree charts.

Genealogy Family Trees

Genealogy researchers have devised a standard method of completing the charts. If you follow the methods, it will be easy for anyone reading your information to follow your ancestral path without questions. There is also the numbering system, used in genealogy research, which you need to be familiar with as well.

Family Tree Templates - Why You Need Genealogy Family Tree Templates

Benefits of Using Family Tree Templates
o Organizing your information on a template is easy
o No matter how much information you have, there is a family tree template to meet your need
o Helps you keep track of your progress
o At a glance, you can see where you are missing data
o With the click of the mouse, you can get a printed copy

Types of Family Tree Template Charts
There are 2 basic types of charts used to record family genealogy.
I. Ascendant Charts
II. Descendant Charts

Ascendant Charts
Ascendant is defined as "inclining or moving upward," "ancestor." Simply put this family tree chart is used to feature your ancestor. The first space at the bottom of the chart is for your information. Then you trace your family history back through the generations.

There are two types of ascendant charts:
i. Pedigree Chart
ii. Ahnentafel - German ancestry table

The Pedigree Chart
This is the most common type of family tree template chart in use. You use it to record the information for a single person. Let's say you want to chart your family history, you start with your name at the bottom (in position 1 on the chart). Then you add your mother's information on one side and your father's information on the other side. It doesn't include spouses and siblings. It's a simple child->mother & father relational outline. You can also use it to trace only one parental relationship. For example, you can use it to trace only your mother's side of your family.

The Ahnentafel German Ancestry Table
I agree, this is a difficult word to pronounce.
An Ahnentafel (German for ancestor table) or Ahnenreihe (ancestor series) is a genealogical numbering system that allows you to list a person's ancestors in a particular numbered order.
Here is how the table works:

o The subject of the Ahnentafel is listed as #1,
o father as #2 and
o mother as #3,
o Grandparents as #4 to #7, and so on back through the generations.

In this type of family tree template chart, any person's father has double that person's number, and a person's mother has double the person's number plus one. Apart from #1, who can be male or female, all even-numbered persons are male, and all odd-numbered persons are female.

When you use this system, it makes it easier to understand the different familial relationships, without having to write the entire list of names.

The Descendant Chart
It's best to refrain from using the descendant family tree chart if you are a beginner. These charts are more suitable for more advanced researchers. The person is position one is usually your ancestor. If you haven't done any research, you won't have a name to enter here.

Descendant charts are more commonly used when you are trying to find the first person in your family to live in a particular country (immigration records are vital) or live in a particular region (county records).

Family Group Sheets
A family group sheet is a basic genealogical worksheet. Use it to collect data for one family unit, which includes:
- Husband
- Wife
- Children

You should record the following family events for each member:
- Dates and places of birth
- Dates and places of marriage
- Dates and places of death
- Burial place

The worksheets also have extra space to add the date and place of the marriage of children.

Download different types of family tree templates for free. Once you see the types of family tree templates available, you can decide which one is right for your genealogy research.

Family Tree Templates - Why You Need Genealogy Family Tree Templates

Melanie Walters recommends ObituariesHelp.org for Free Family Tree Templates, free genealogy resources, guides to building a family tree, sample letters of sympathy and condolence, written examples of eulogies as well as help with all aspects of funeral planning.

Melanie Walters created http://www.obituarieshelp.org/ to be the complete online resource for genealogy, obituaries, sympathy and funeral help. Download free family tree templates and research your ancestry using our free genealogy resources. Find newspaper obituaries listings; Plan funerals and write sympathy and condolence messages using free samples and guides.

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