Basic Beginning Genealogy

Lesson Number 1. Over view

Spelling= GENEALOGY= not Geneology- PC= Pedigree Chart FGS= Family Group Sheet

Understanding basic research is the first step.

There are two basic definitions.

1. That genealogy is "that branch of history that determines family relationships" through RESEARCH, not copying".

2. Research is an investigation of this subject and the interpretation of facts, the revision of accepted theories/family stories, in light of new findings.

Theory of genealogy is to search out and VERIFY all facts; to interprete those facts, document facts and to cpile themn a usable format, including the documentation.

There is a type of system used in all research- it starts with

1. Determine your goals/objectives and plan your research.

2. Gather and record data.

3. Evaluate your findings.

4. Analyse any problems.

Other basic rules are:

Whatever you find, be it a horse thief, illegitimate child, outlaw, you have a responsibilty to report facts as found; do not color the situation differently than it is; too many genealogists in the past have hidden and distorted their family trees, to avoid having a "less than desirable relative". Those people are not deserving of any recognition as a genealogist and have become and are a libability to the science.

For what ever reason you have decided to pursue your ancestry, there are certain basic things that must come first. Some people begin because they want to join an ancestral organization like DAR for women, or SAR for men and are only looking for straight line ancestry back to their Revolutionary Patriot ancestor. Others just have this intense "need to know" and they become more than a genealogist, they become a family historian and genealogist. You decide which you want to be!!

Go to http://www.geocities.com/genchatlessons/ or to and print out a pedigree chart[s] and family groups sheet[s]. You can use a notebook and make you own, if you wish.

Remember- ALL research cannot be via the internet. Your local libraries, genealogical and historical societies, Family History Centers, regional and state libraries, courthouses, etc., may be your only choice for information.

1. Decide which side of your family you wish to start tracing first,[the others will follow] usually it is your surname, with which you were born. What ever the name, other surnames will also appear in the search for just one names.

The one person that you know more about than anyone is yourself, so, with the assistance of basic genealogical charts and forms, you start recording events with your own information. Use a pedigree chart and family groups sheets. Although we are now using computers for nearly everything, paper copies in the beginning will help you visually to see what and where you are in your search.

[DOCUMENT ALL SOURCES-ALL INFORMATION-REGARDLESS of WHERE IT ORIGINATED]

BOOK NAME- AUTHOR or COMPILER-PUBLICATION DATE- PAGE NUMBERS- INTERNET SITES with the URL and as much information as possible.

Pedigree charts numbering system starts with the number 1. This person [#1 ONLY ] can be either male or female. From here on, all even numbers are male, all uneven numbers are female. It depends on whethere you are using a 4 or 5 generation chart as to how many numbers on on the chart. A 5 geneation chart will have 32 entries, including #1. Only the numbers of 2,4,8 and 16 will follow the surname of # 1. The father, grandfather, great grandfather and great great grandfather. when you have completed one Pedigree Chart, this will lead you a second PC. # 1 on the 2nd chart is what ever number you choose to continue from the first one. Logically, the PC 2 would start with the person at # 16 on a 5 generation pedigree chart # 1. That person becomes # 1 on PC 2.

#'s 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, etc. will the the maiden surname of the mother of # 1.

All other numbers follow the same pattern.

This is a straight line chart, so, we use family group sheets in conjuction with the pedigree chart.

Your full name, birth date, birth place, including town, county and state. Use the standard recording method for dates of day first ie: 21, then the month abreviation or full Jan. or January and last the year 1949- [21 Jan 1949] With this method, you will never be in doubt as to what you have written, nor will any one else. Keep a copy of your birth certificate with your genealogical material.

Second, your parents, record all events, birth date and place, in the event that are no longer living, also the death date, burial date , place of death, and cemetery. Document your research with notes as to where the information was found; from whom, or what source. Use official documents, if possible. Birth certificates and death certificates. There are guides to state and county repositories of vital statistics.

Family groups sheets are used with the same numbering system as the pedigree chart. #1 is the family of # 1, wife and children, # 2 is the family of the father of # 1, his wife and children. [Note, when you do family groups sheets, it is repetitious for the wife of that ancestor. My suggestion is that family groups sheets are done only for the parents of the female spouse, which will show her siblings, etc. Use a system such as PC 1-30-FGS-1-30 to indicate that this is the FGS for the person listed on Pedigree chart # 1, ancestor # 30. [Note: the man ALWAYS goes at the top]

When you progress past the first pedigree chart, then that becomes PC #2, and the FGS will refect that in the numbering system- PC2-FGS 31-

At this point in your research, assuming that you haven't done so yet, contact any and all relatives for information, including parents. The most important documents that can find are the originals that deal directly with your family. [ Primary records are those which report an event at or close to the time it happened. They are original records of events and include state or federal census records; courthouse records, such as deeds, wills, probates, birth or death records, naturalization records, or court proceedings (both civil and criminal); church records, primarily baptism and marriage; ships' passenger lists; and military records. } Birth certificates, death certificates, wills, letters, military records, church baptism records or affiliation, old newspaper clippings, scrapbooks.

{ Secondary, or published records, include histories, indexes or compilations of census or marriage records, printed family histories or genealogies, and collections of tombstone inscriptions}

Ask them specific questions:

[DO NOT ASK- "What do you know about the family." Many persons do not not how to answer a question like this.]

Is there a family bible anywhere?

Are there any old letters, or documents?

Are there old pictures of our family anywhere?

What do you remember about your great grandmother? [or whoever you are talking about]

" I would like to know the name of my grandmother, where she was born, where she died, when she married, how many children did they have, etc."

[Same thing for any relative, regardless of generation.]

At this point, you need to keep an accurate record of who you have contacted, the information received, the date, and from whom.

You may be told stories of your ancestors by family. Please use the stories with caution. Memories and stories change over the years and with the telling of them. While family traditions are great, many are not accurate. There are many stories in many, if not all, families of the 3 or 4 or 5 brothers who came to this country together, one went south, one went north, one went west, one or two were never heard from again. This probably is true in some cases, but generally, does not check out. The majority of genealogists ignore this type of thing , unless proven without a doubt. It is an easy way of linking to others with the same surname.

There are some other common problems with family traditions you should watch for. Some examples:

An incident often will be credited to one side of the family when in fact it\par happened to another side. Your grandmother may tell you a story she heard as a child about something that happened to her paternal grandfather and later you discover that it was her maternal grandfather who was involved. Sometimes the story will be credited to a person in the wrong generation. An example appears in my grandfather's obituary, which says he was descended from a "Revolutionary War veteran who became known as Judge John Pence." Since Judge John wasn't born until 1774, I knew this was impossible. I assumed what happened was that the family stretched a statement in an early family history from "the family goes back to Revolutionary days" into veteran's status for the first known ancestor. Years later I discovered documentation that John's father was the one who had served in the Revolution}

Mistakes about national origin can confuse a family's history. Your great grandmother may have denied a particular nationality because it was not "the thing to be" in her day. Consequently, your grandmother might pass on to you what she believes to be the truth; in reality, though, great grandmother "withheld evidence." }

Don't be surprised if, while you're interviewing Aunt Bessie, she suddenly has amnesia after having displayed a remarkable memory about the family tree, complete with names, dates and places. Suddenly - when you ask her about a particular ancestor - she can't remember a thing. That's a sure sign you've found a family "black sheep" - we all have them!}

Following your interviews with relatives, and the recording of the information, the next step is to verify any and all information with documentation.

1. Birthdates- death dates- places of interment- marriage dates- military records-

Birthdates can be verified through some states, but, many states did not start recording vital records until sometime after 1900. Each state varies as to date, and when all counties in the statecame into compliance. Some exceptions to the 1900 date are mostly in the eastern states.

Marriages and death records fall into the same category of state law. To locate the information per state, there are a number of books on the market with this information. "The Handybook for Genealogists", published by Everton Publishers is the oldest one that I am aware of, a new one is updated and issued every ten year. Information on each state and each counties within each state, plus maps of the state counties, etc. This book is a 'must' for serious genealogists, or one similar.

The Federal Census is nearly an index to the country. While there are many mistakes in the census, it does place people in a location at a given period of time. The census takers were not accurate in their recording of dates, etc. Frequently, birth year will vary from one census to the next, but it is the best "finding tool" that we have. The census may be found in libraries in book form, book index form to the microfilm, on the internet, or you may purchase microfilm.

The federal Census resulted from a Constitutional mandate that specified "an enumeration of inhabitants". [ Article I, Section 2, of the United States Constitution required in 1787 ]Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.]
Nothing more was specified and the Federal Census has evolved over the years to contain very inportant information for researchers. It was mandated that the census be taken every ten years, in years ending with 0. There is a 72 year privacy law which means that the census cannot be released to the public until 73 years have passed since the ending of the census year. We now have everything including 1920 available. The 1930 census is due to be released next year.

The first important thing to know about the Federal Census is that it was not taken on the census day specified by Congress. This is only the day the gathering of information from all households began; basically this means that within the given period time allowed by law, for the "census takers" to visit everyhold, the information gathered related to that "census day" only, not the day the visit was made to the household. It DOES NOT include births after that census day, it does include persons living on that day.

The first "Federal Census" -1790-is actually a re-constructed tax list, it covers only the states in existance in 1790 with the name of the 'Head of Household"on that day, who those who died a bit later, even the next day.

States included in this census were: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia. The only name given is for Head of Household. All others enumerated are listed with tally marks. Much of the 1790 Census was destroyed by the British during the War of 1812, but a few parts remain.

The 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830 Census contained: Only the names of the heads of households.

1840 Census is the ONLY Census that listed Revolutionary or military service pensioneers, head of household only.

1850. For the first time since the census began, each and every person in each household are listed by name. All dwellings in each census district were given a number. Each family was also assigned an identification number. Each census sheet listed the county as well as town or township.

1860. Much the same as 1850.

1870. The first census year that added the birth place of the parents. Very few states or counties have been indexed. This particular year, 5 years after the Civil War, has been extremely hard for me to use. The quality of the microfim, people moved about after the War, the handwriting in many cases was not readable. Be patient if you use this one. [TIP: If you cannot read the hand writing, use a reader/printer, print out the page, fold it along the lines you cannot read on film, hold it up to the screen of reader and tilt down a bit, makes it easier to read]. This applied only with microfim readers, I don't know if it would work on the census images that are online.

1880. Added to the 1880 census forms were the relationship to the head of the household, their marital status, birthplace, birthplace of parents. also, this is the beginning of the "Soundex" indexing. [Later lesson]

1890 census was totally destroyed by fire, with a very few exceptions.

1900 and 1910- Also part of the soundex indexing-

1920. Not sure if this is in the Soundex system

The census taker was instructed in the information he was required to obtain, primarily, the information for the household on the first day of the census year. The following the first day to complete and return the enumeration sheets varied by year. Dates indicate the year and day of the year and the amount of time to complete the census by each enumerator. The route the census taker followed could result in persons living side by side or separated by a fence or field, not being shown as neighbors. If a person lived on a corner, the neighbor across the street or road, could be listed several or many pages away. over time the first day of census changed from the 1790-present

1790-2 August- 9 months to complete = 1800 May

1800-4 August- 09 months

1810-6 August-10 months

1820- 7 August-13 months [note the time expanded]

1830-1 June-12 months [started earlier and has continued since then as June 1]

1840-1 June- 18 months [extended period of time]

1850-1 June- temporary offices were established and from here on the reporting was far less-1 month

1860-1920- same as above

There is a very good site for the statistics of the census at: Historical United States Census Data Browser

Keep in mind that all of the census is not on the internet. there are many hard working people attempting to get this gigantic task completed. There are many printed census books in the various libraries.

Answers to FAQ's from the census bureau http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/faqgene.txt

Now that we have gone through this- what to do with the paper copies?

You need some sort of a filing system: File Cabinet, folders, loose leaf notebook with dividers for families, and a correspondence file. Keep copies of all letters sent and received, attach answers to the original letter. Keep a log of who and when- you sent for information. File the last letter- last in the folder, this will keep them in cronological order by date.

Daily, if/when you are researching libraries, court house, cemeteries, computer searches, post your information to your files or computer. [I believe in paper copies and back up floppies for computer daily]

If possible, use archival acid free paper for documents.

Next Lesson will be 1. Questions on this session for a few minutes- first- then- lesson on Familar Record Practices- including handwriting-

I will post a list of common abbreviations found in old documents, which you can print out.