Forms for Recording Genealogical Information

FAMILY GROUP SHEETS

Chances are patron will want to know more about his family than just a few names. The more you know about each generation, including brothers, sisters, and in-laws; the easier it will be to find the members of earlier generations. The number, spacing, and naming of children can tell quite a bit about the lives, lifestyle, and values of ancestors. The succession of birthplaces of children and death dates of close family members can help locate the family in particular time periods. To record this information, keep a record of each family, as it existed in each generation. This is compiled on the Family Group Sheet.

Providing Forms for Patrons

Stock up on this particular form. Libraries often sell stacks of Family Group Sheets at low cost, perhaps the cost of copying them. Family Group Sheets are available from the same sources as Pedigree Charts--other libraries, genealogy books, genealogy societies or one can type their own and print it out. Some computer programs will now print one out at the push of a button.

A patron should plan on needing at least 100 if researching a large family, as one sheet must be filled out for each generation as it existed in time. Most people will be recorded as children on one sheet and as parents on another, as they lived in two different families at different times in their life. Mulitple marriages also require a separate sheet for each marriage, and unmarried people are recorded on a separate sheet with any children they have. It is biological relationships being traced, not necessarily marriages.

Filling Out Family Group Sheets

The top line is for the husband or father; and several spaces are given to record the date and place of his birth, christening, marriage, death, and sometimes burial. Also included are spaces for the names of both of his parents.

Entering the Wife's Information

Following this, the information is requested for his wife ,or whoever is mother of his children. Each Family Group Sheet should record only one marriage. There are spaces to indicate if either party was married to anyone else during his or her lifetime. This serves as a reference guide to other Family Group Sheets which should detail other marriages and the children of those marriages.

Remember, once again-women are always recorded with their maiden mane, and surnames are recorded in ALL CAPITALS. You will want to use a pencil until all data can be verified through documentation.

Adding Children to Family Group Sheets

Under all of the husband wife information, space is provided to record information on all natural children of that particular marriage or union. Occasionally, you may come across adopted children- this should be noted as such, because genealogy is really a search for genetic lineage,

and the adopted child has one or both parents different from the family into which he or she has been adopted. If an adopted child's natural parents are known, a separate Family Group Sheet should be made to indicate who they are, and it should be noted on that separate Family Group Sheet the name of the family that the child was adopted by, and the date of adoption or date the went to live with new family.

Entering The Children of A Marriage

The children of a marriage should be listed in order of birth if known. Once again, the surname should appear in all CAPITAL LETTERS. A space is given to indicate male or female; and their are a few lines to show date and place of: Birth, Marriage, Spouse's Name, and Death of each child.

Extras on Family Group Sheets

Since Family Group Sheets are the basic record forms for your family, you may want to add other information to help identify this family.

Others details you may wish to include are:

• the family address
• occupation of the husband and others
• relationship to yourself or other close family member

Place addresses and occupations at the top, and relationships in the bottom margin. The back is a good place for comments and notes as well, but remember to copy them when making copies of the front side to pass along to others.

Don't Forget to Cite Sources of Your Information

The most important extra information is the source itself of what is recorded. This is very important so that the information recorded is traceable to its origin. The more accurate the original source, the more accurate will be the information recorded; so it is a good idea to know where the data came from.

Forms for Recording Genealogical Information

• Pedigree Charts
• Filling Out Pedigree Charts

This website written and designed by:
Sharon Marie Centanne,
Genealogy Research Instructor and Internet Trainer
Please direct any questions to:
Sharon.