BEGINNERS TIP: Pedigree Chart and Family Group Sheets

An excellent way to get started - and to attack brick walls - is to complete what's called a Pedigree Chart or Ancestral Form. Use one of these to start with yourself on the left and moving generation by generation left to right. Enter the parents', grandparents', great-grandparents' names, date and place of birth, marriage, and death. See how much You can fill in, and then talk to other family members to see if they can help fill in the blanks.

Pedigree Chart (Source: FamilySearch.com)

This provides a preliminary framework for your research. You may not know - or be able to fill in - all the information. However, it provides a great starting point.

For each couple, you can then download and complete a Family Group Sheet for each person and spouse. (Separate sheets are to be used for multiple spouses.) You use this form to family records an individual, the spouse, and all the children of that relationship. Some family group sheets include other information, such as occupation. If you have more children than will in the couple's relationship than there is room for on one family group sheet, use one or more additional sheets for them and keep them together for that family unit.

Family Group Sheet (Source: FamilySearch.org)

Pedigree Charts and Family Group Sheets are used in tandem to complete what you know AND what you have located in the way of other reliable evidence of the name, locations, dates, and other facts. They will create a familial picture from which to so other research. Again, you may not have all or be able to initially find all this information. However, these forms are an excellent starting point for individual and family research.

You will find at a huge list of links to these and other genealogical forms at Cyndi's List (https://www.cyndislist.com/charts/). Some are simple downloadable and printable PDF files. A few are downloadable forms for Windows and Mac. In any event, make use of the invaluable forms to graphically represent individuals and families. You'll learn what you do know And target what you need to investigate.

Once you've completed these forms, then is the time to begin searching for original documents that can verify (or refute) what you have entered. And remember to talk to all your relatives and obtain as much information from those people as possible in the process.

The Genealogy Squad IS for You!

Start your New Year off right! 

Join The Genealogy Squad on Facebook at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogysquad.

The mission of The Genealogy Squad Facebook group is to provide a positive space for the sharing of appropriate and reliable methods and resources to assist genealogists at all levels. We focus on answering questions and solving problems while demonstrating best practices in all aspects of genealogical research.

The administrators are George G. Morgan of The Genealogy Guys Podcast, Cyndi Ingle who created and maintains more than 337,000 links at Cyndi's List, and Blaine T. Bettinger, Ph.D., JD, the world's leading lecturer on DNA and principle of DNA Central. (Questions relating to the use of DNA testing are better suited for our sibling group, Genetic Genealogy Tips & Techniques at https://www.facebook.com/groups/geneticgenealogytipsandtechniques.) We have two fantastic moderators working with the team at the moment too! They are Mia Bennett of England and Samantha John of Australia. They are experts in their areas and abroad too!

Membership in the group, which launched on 6 May 2019, is currently approaching 27,000. The members, administrators, and moderators answer your questions or they point you to excellent resources. TGS is the friendliest and most helpful Facebook group there is to help you with your genealogical questions.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogysquad to join. Just answer a few quick questions and you'll be approved and in The Genealogy Squad in almost no time! And if you're already a member, tell your friends and members of the genealogical societies to which you belong!

The Genealogy Squad is here to help!

Focus on the Context Because Context Is Everything

I'm often approached at the end of a presentation at a meeting or conference and asked for advice for solving a research challenge. A person will launch in with something like, "I've been unable to find my 3x great-grandfather and he's a complete brick wall. Where should I look?"

I have to stop the person and ask, "Where do you think he lived? When do you think he was there? What are you trying to prove or disprove?" I need to understand the context first before I can even begin to offer any suggestions. It is imperative that I know the place and time period: that determines what geopolitical entity was in power, what records were being produced at the time, and makes me consider boundary changes and other events that might influence the research approach.

Sometimes the responses I get from a person make me wonder if he or she had really focused on the context of the ancestor's circumstances and/or developed a research plan. The research plan would need to concentrate on time, place, historical and personal events, records being produced, and later jurisdictional changes that influence where the records WERE produced and WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

It's easier these days, with the tsunami of new records being made available online all the time, to get pulled into a mode of reacting with rapid research. This can undermine the time we take to thoroughly analyze each record, and to relate it to others. That means we may miss apparent connections, we may not develop thoughtful hypotheses, and we probably don't prepare (or revise) a viable and potentially successful research plan. We may also rush to conclusions without considering the whole picture.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love talking to people at seminars and getting these questions. They make me think outside my own research box *and* to use my more than half-century of experience with thousands of research record types and content. And what I will always do is ask you to step back and ask yourself the questions that will help place your ancestor into temporal, geographical, and political context. I hope you will do that on a regular basis. Refer to Cyndi's List and to the FamilySearch Research Wiki for ideas and references to records and methodologies.

And take the time to read, analyze, and understand every record you encounter. Compare and relate it to other evidence you may have (or will) encountered. And develop a research plan, no matter how small, to focus yourself on success.

New Podcast Episode with Cyndi Ingle, Blaine T. Bettinger, and More!

We published a new episode of The Genealogy Guys Podcast this morning at http://genealogyguys.com that we know you're going to enjoy!

Cyndi Ingle of Cyndi's List joins us with a regular new feature, Cyndi Says, and this time she tells you how to create your own search engine! She joins Blaine T. Bettinger of DNA Central who this week discusses the Shared cM Project with Drew.

We have news, listener email, and information about our speaking schedule to round out this new episode! We hope you'll be as thrilled with our new teammates as we are!

Researching Loyalists

During the American Revolution, not every colonist chose to defect from British rule.  A significant number of them chose to remain loyal to their king and to support the British in their efforts to quell the rebellious uprising in the colonies.  The loyalists are documented in many ways for the genealogist conducting research on them.  You will find a good collection of Internet-based materials at the Cyndi's List site for Loyalists at http://www.CyndisList.com/loyalist.htm.  Here you will find Web pages containing informative articles as well as links to booksellers and other resources.

The FamilySearch Wiki has an article at https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Revolutionary_War_Loyalist_Records with some research guidance about United Empire Loyalists and links to other wiki articles.

The CanGenealogy site has an extensive page at http://www.cangenealogy/loyalist.html devoted to United Empire Loyalists and a collection of links to Canadian resources and to genealogical societies.

United Empire Loyalist Monument in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada