|
Documenting Your Pedigree Chart
By Melody Daisson
Have you ever picked up a family group
record you worked on six months ago and couldn't remember where you
found the information on it? Or, has your aunt sent you a family group
record that she worked on without any documentation? It can be very time
consuming to rustle through documents or search the records at the
library again to determine where each bit of information came from.
Taking the time to document your pedigree chart will help you pick up
where you left off quickly, enable you to analyze your research, and
help someone else see what research you have completed.
Source Notes
Most people are unsure of what needs to
be documented. A general rule is to document any information that is not
a common fact. In addition, documenting several records that contain the
same information will make your genealogy credible. As you begin your
research, you will undoubtedly look through many documents, especially
if you are working in the United States. It is likely to find a birth
date in a birth certificate, census record, obituary, and a family
bible. It is important that you document each record as a source for the
birth date. Finding a birth date in several records shows that your
information is correct. Documenting it proves you have thoroughly looked
at all the records.
Most genealogical software programs have
a place to record your source notes and your research notes. Source
notes contain bibliographical information about individual records and
research notes are useful to keep track of the information you found in
each record. Your source notes should contain the following information:
author, title of record, publisher, date of publication, film or book
number, repository, and page number. The following is an example:
Stephenson County Genealogical Society,
Portrait and Biographical Sketch of Stephenson County, Chapman
Brothers, 1888. p.77 Repository: Family History Library, Salt Lake
City, UT . FHL Book US/CAN 977.333 D3
For a record that is not a published
source, such as a family bible, be sure to write down whose possession
it is in.
The key to good source documentation is
to provide enough information so the document can be located by you or
by someone else. An excellent book on genealogical documentation is
Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing
Company, 1997.
Research Notes
In the notes section of your genealogy
program, it is helpful to record pertinent information you find in each
document as well as other miscellaneous information found on the
individual. For example, suppose you are researching John Smith in
census records. You find him in the 1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses. In
your notes, record pertinent information. Your notes might look like
this:
1900 Census: John Smith, age 35, born
June 1865, married 17 years, born in Alabama, parents born in Alabama.
Occupation: Farmer 1880 Census: John Smith, age 25........
For this example, continue to type in
pertinent information for each census, even if the information is
identical to what you found on the previous record. It is easier to look
at your notes and determine that the records are consistently
giving the same information than to have to rustle through a pile of
documents several times. Conversely, also take special care to note when
two or more records dispute each other. It may be that their were errors
made in record keeping or that the records are of two individual
persons. By careful note taking, you can easily analyze your research to
identify consistent and inconsistent records. As you research, add
information found in other record types such as family bible, land,
emigration or probate records.
Recording parent links in your notes is
useful, especially when doing research in localities where birth
registers were not kept. An example of a parent link for John Smith
would be:
PARENT LINK
The 1880 census states that John Smith is a son of the head of
household, William Smith. Land records show William Smith's wife, Mary
signing the deed dated 1862, three years before John's birth. A
probate (will) for William Smith names John, the executor of his will
and states John is his son.
In the example above, the census record
shows a father- son relationship between William and John Smith. The
land record dated 1862 shows Mary Smith signing a deed. It was a law for
wives to sign in land transactions. Thus, it is likely that Mary was
John's mother. Finally, the probate record confirms that the census was
correct. Keeping track of parent links in your notes will help you
remember which record, or combination of records linked a child to his
parents.
The more precise your notes are, the
easier it is to keep track of the research you have completed and
determine which records still need to be looked at. In addition, someone
else working on the same line will be able to look at your notes and
understand what research you have done.
About the Author:
Melody Daisson is a freelance writer
and a stay at home mom to three children. The author has a bachelor
degree in genealogy/Family History and does genealogical research for
clients part time.
|
