Your research should begin by initiating a good filing system, one

which will allow adequate storage and facilitate easy subsequent

retrieval of data. Many forms are available free on the Internet.

One of the best places for these forms is Family Tree Magazine.com.

This site has a chart or form for almost any type of genealogical

research.

In today’s rapidly advancing technological world however, it wasn’t

going to be long before someone found a way to make our friend the

computer do the real work of data storage and retrieval, and those

researchers with access to even the humblest of personal computers

will now find a suitable program available at relatively little cost or

even free. Legacy Family Tree has a free Windows based software

available for download. This isn’t trial software. It is fully functional

and will suit the needs of most.

Whichever method you choose to use, software or pen and paper, you

will need to know which charts or forms to use and how to enter the

data that you have collected.

The most often used chart is the ascendant pedigree chart. The

ascendant pedigree chart will start with you and move backwards

through time. Your first entry will be yourself and then there will be

two branches where you enter your parents. It will then move onto

four branches where you will enter your parents parents (your

grandparents) and so on. On these forms you will record the name,

birth, marriage and death dates and places of your ancestors.

These charts normally record four or five generations on each page,

but are available with up to fifteen generations per page. You will find

that the four generation per page format is easier and more

convenient to work with.

There is also a numbering system for the pedigree chart known as the

ahnentafel numbering system (after the older ahnentafel chart which

is not used very often today. The numbering system is very easy and

works like this: You would be number one on the chart, your father

would be two times the child’s number (2×1=2) and your mother

would be two times the child’s plus one (2×1+1=3). Your male

ancestors will always be an even number and your female ancestors

will always have an odd number assigned.

Another type of form you will use, is the family group sheet. The

family group sheet is basically the worksheet that is used for your

research. This is the form you will use to keep track of your family unit

and the cousins, aunts and uncles that are in your family. A separate

form is used for each single family unit and you will record dates and

places of birth, marriage, death and burial and make notes on this

form.

There are some rules you should follow when entering your data on

the various charts. These rules will make it easier for you to refer back

to the data you have entered.

Names

When entering names, you should enter them in their normal order,

first, middle and last (or surname). Putting last names in all capital

letters will make it easier for you to follow the different family names

and to tell the last, middle and first name apart.

If a female ancestors maiden name is know, you should enter this

name, If it is not known, enter either a set of empty parentheses or

the husbands last name.

If a female ancestor has had more then one marriage, you should

enter her given name and then the maiden name followed by the last

name of her previous husband(s).

If an ancestor was commonly referred to by a nickname, you should

enter that in quotes after their given name.

If your ancestors last name spelling has changed due to a move to

another country or for ease of use, include both spellings on the form.

ie. SMYTHE/SMITH.

Dates

When entering dates it is best to use the European standard of day.

month and four digit year. For example 12 November 1903. You

should spell out the month but, you can abbreviate the longer months

using standard abbreviations. If you are unsure of the exact date you

can use “about” or “circa” to specify the approximate date.

Places

The generally accepted method for recording place names is to begin

with the smallest locality first and then work your way up to the

largest. You would therefore begin with the town or city name then the

county or district name, then the state or province name and lastly the

country name. If you do not have all of this information you can easily

research it on the Internet. Just type the search phrase “geographic

place names” into Google or another search engine and you will find

many online resources.