Blank Family Tree

How to Make a Better Family Tree

Many families take great pride in their ancestry; maintaining and preserving their family history in great detail. For countless others, knowing their origins determines for them, to a great degree, how they see themselves today. When you first set out on this journey and begin to learn just how much time and effort are required to study your family’s roots it can be a little daunting. For this reason some people may shy away from this rewarding pass time thinking it too difficult.

 

 

That is simply because they do not yet know that there are many people in the world of genealogy only too happy to reach out and lend a hand to beginners.

People as resources

One of the best things about taking on the task of researching your family tree are the people you will meet along the way, those who share your passion for genealogy. People who can help point you towards great resources or who will take the time to give a little advice when you are stuck at the dreaded brick wall and are just not sure where to look next. Persons who can help you get off to the best possible start by taking the time to introduce you to the many tools that will make your research easier.

Making a better family tree is not always about finding those important names, dates and places or about filling in as many blanks as possible. You will discover that as you as you add the branches, it is the friends you make along the way that put the blossoms on your tree.

Great resources available here: Free Blank Family Tree Template.

About Genealogy Trees

Picture this, you have gathered all of the information for your immediate family and grandparents and are ready to start documenting it. You have looked all over the internet and have found so many types of family tree charts that you are now completely overwhelmed. What type of tree should you use? My advice to the beginning genealogist is…for now… just keep it simple. Start off with your family group sheet and a basic six generation pedigree chart. At this point you do not need to go to any expense ( we have some complimentary ones to get you started just click the links above) as you still have so much research and learning ahead of you.

You don’t need more than a simple, easy to follow, straight forward form.  As you continue with your research you will gain a better idea of exactly what chart you want to use for presentation purposes.

The chart you use while documenting your initial findings should be:

• Simple,
• Well laid out
• Clean in design

So you can easily record your information onto it in a way that will be understandable in the future, when I was just beginning having lots of space for writing was an important factor. A six generation chart will work well for that purpose. Later, as your family tree expands, so can the size of your pedigree chart and as your experience grows you will find larger charts more manageable and easy to read.

Find out Genealogy Trees

How to Make a Family Tree

Some great advice from veteran genealogist on how to make a family tree.  This is good advice on the “three documents” [birth, marriage, and death certificate]. However, the Federal Census’ comes up there in documentation. I’ve gotten more information from these when I couldn’t locate the other three.

 

 

 

Finding out what the head of household’s occupation was gives you clues in other places to search! Having other family members names listed can help also. Parents that have disappeared on records, could be living with one of their children and found listed under that household. In-laws , grand children, etc. They may have done Their research, posted it online and it could make the connection you’re needing.

I found out one of my great grandmother’s remarried, hence I couldn’t find her death record. I was looking under the wrong name and hitting brick walls. Her second husband had also died, she spent her last days with her daughter and son-in-law.

If they [your ancestors] were  farmers, they probably owned the land, land records are very helpful. If they was a doctor, you can go to the Retired American Physicians listing and get information there. The information is out there, one just needs to learn how to SEARCH the available records. The “three” are not always easily found.

Names change as you go back in history. For example, my great grandfather’s birth certificate shows him as simply “Henry”, his father called him “Senator”, his mother called him “Roy”. Some public records list him as “S. Roy or S.R.”. Bottom line being his birth states “Henry” and his death certificate “Roy” This as you can imagine, took some time to understand that this was all one in the same person.

Hard lessons learned, as I didn’t have the resources available to me as they are today. (We’re talking back in the late 60’s – 80″s) Everything was done by writing a letter and waiting patiently for a reply.

Plus this same individual [Henry/Roy] died in 1948, and was cremated. Family lost track of his ashes. I couldn’t find his burial any where, 30 years of searching and I finally hit pay dirt! He was buried with his wife when she died in 1962!! The only record to back this up was found in her file at the cemetery.

Just wanted to offer some other avenues that you may want to pass on.

Thanks again for the great advice. I’m sure this will be very helpful to new and seasoned genealogists working to fully understand how to make a family tree.

 

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Now It’s Your Turn!

Blank Family Tree

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How to Make a Family Tree Chart

I received an email today where someone who had previously downloaded a family tree chart had written:

“Personally what I have trouble with is where to put people on the tree. Is each tree for each branch of the family? For instance, my husband has 3 siblings, my father-in-law has 3 siblings. Where do I stop on the tree? Having the cousins listed is important.”

 

 

This is such a comment type of question (and something that drove me crazy when I was first starting trying to figure out how to make a family tree chart). Let me post my reply here under the suspension that this might also be a question you’ve had (or have).

I replied …

XXX, thank you for writing,

You would find it helpful to review the family tree instructions. I wrote it to answer these specific questions. You can read about this download at the URL below:

https://www.genealogybeginner.com/blank-family-tree-template

Let me try to answer your question here as well. When making a family tree chart, Your family tree is only parents. Your children are the 1st generation, you are the second generation, your two parents the 3rd generation, your four grandparents the 4th generation, your eight great grandparents are the 5th generation, etc. So… you typically don’t include brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, or aunts in YOUR family tree. The reason is that your family tree is a record of your direct ancestors. Your husband has a different set of ancestors. If you were to include your husband’s brother, for example, and that brother was married, your sister in-law’s parents would have no relation to you directly. Therefore, they don’t below on YOUR family tree.

Does that make sense? That said; there is no reason why you can’t create a separate family tree for your husband or a sister or cousin (as you suggest below).

Again, the URL above has a brief guide that covers some of the logistics around how to make a family tree chart and offers additional detail. If you decided to purchase it and it didn’t meet your needs, just let me know and I’ll refund your purchase right away.

Good luck,

Chris

Genealogy Beginner
https://www.genealogybeginner.com

How to Do a Family Tree – Update on New Resource

The Family Search website has added over 15 million new indexed records to its Record Search pilot, all from the 1850 and 1870 U.S. Censuses. The records are linked to the digital images of the originals.  The new records can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).

Chris

Scotland’s Greatest Story: www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

(This posting is from Scottish Genealogy News and Events. Click the link to view the full article from its original source.)

 

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Where to Next?

Blank Family Tree Template

 

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Family Tree Confusion

A little while ago we talked about the fact that there are a lot of family tree templates available online. Many of them are extremely fancy and can be very confusing. These decorative templates are great for presentation purposes; however, most people are looking for a simple solution and don’t want to spend endless hours trying to understand this box or that branch. I thought I would take this opportunity to describe my approach here at Genealogy Beginner.

Continue reading “Family Tree Confusion” »

Make a Family Tree with the “Ancestry Toolbar”

There are a lot of great resources out there to help you make a family tree. One of which is the great work done over at Ancestry.com. Recently the Ancestry Insider wrote a great review of how to use Ancestry.com to make a family tree. Specifically, they focus on how you can make a family tree with much more ease than would otherwise be the case by using the browser toolbar.

(See bottom of post for original article that I’ve summarized below)

Continue reading “Make a Family Tree with the “Ancestry Toolbar”” »

Giving Your Family Tree for Christmas

The Ancestry Insider is quickly becoming one of my favorite blog spots, in a post titled “Giving Your Family Tree for Christmas.” There is an amazing wealth of information about publishing a family tree book for yourself or a family member. The best part about the post is that it was inspired by a reader’s question. (See link at the bottom of this article to visit the original post and read about a site visitor who asked a question that started it all.) Here are some highlights from the article:

Continue reading “Giving Your Family Tree for Christmas” »

How To Make Family Tree

There can be a lot of confusion the fist time you’re trying to figure out how to make a family tree. There are so many sites, resources, templates, and so-called experts that you’re left wondering which way is up. This short article is designed to provide you with a few simple steps that will allow you to get started so you know exactly how to make a family tree. First you need a blank family tree template. You can get one for free at the www.genealogybeginner.com website. Once you download your blank family tree template you’ll need to complete it for yourself and your parents.

Just start here. It can be as simple as digging out your own birth certificate and (if appropriate) your marriage certificate, writing do the dates on the blank family tree template, and filing away our certificate copies.

Next you do the same for your parents. You’ll likely need to speak with them about their own parents and to ask for original copies of their birth and marriage certificate so you can make copies and add them to your records.

And that is really what building a family tree is all about. The trick to how to make a family tree is not all that hard (but can be frustrating if you don’t have the basics). It’s a process of identifying the three primary certificates for each of your ancestors (Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, and Death Certificate), obtaining copies, and then making notes about who leads to who on a family tree.

Now your family tree search doesn’t need to be limited to just this. While these are the core tasks there is a wealth of other items you can work on and develop to make your tree even richer.

For example, you’ll want to collect any family artifacts you come across like:

• Photos
• Deeds
• Court filings
• Estate records

As well as anything “official” that marks the existence of your family. Some folks make a point to take photos of grave stones or even do gravestone etchings to add to their tree.

With all of these materials in place, you have the basis for a great scrapbook or similar type family heirloom that can be passed down for generations to come. Get an artistic rendering of your official family coat of arms (if you have one), put it on the cover, and you have a wonderful book that defines your legacy.

You see, learning how to make a family tree doesn’t need to be complicated or overly confusing. It simply takes a little understanding of the basics and the will to figure it all out. Check out the resources below if you need a little more assistance:

• Download a Blank Family Tree Template
• Download instructions on How to Complete a Family Tree
• Download a Step-by-Step Genealogy Guide to get you started with your online research.

Family Tree Form

It starts with you (or your son or daughter if you’re working on a great gift). To create a family tree form or your first family tree chart you write down all the names you know on both sides of your parents’ families. Begin with your name and work backward to your parents and then their parents.  As you write each name, write down everything you can think of about this person. Most specifically, focus on:

 

 

• Full Name (i.e., first, middle, and last)
• Date of Birth
• Place of birth (i.e., city, state, county, and country)

Next Step… Download a Blank Family Tree Template

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