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Start With Yourself
The first step in genealogy is to identify what you already know. Start with yourself and work backward in time by filling in as much information as you can, by memory, on a Pedigree chart. When you're done, you'll know who's missing in your family tree.
Here's the information you'll need for each missing person:
- Full name (including maiden names for women)
- Approximate dates for vital events (birth, death, marriage, residence, etc.)
- Locations for vital events — location is the key element in genealogy, since it indicates where vital records are today
Genealogist's Glossary:
Pedigree chart - A pedigree is an identification of the direct ancestors of one person, such as yourself. (To include yourself and spouse on the same pedigree, make the first person one of your children.) Use ID numbers to identify the names on the chart — the first person on the first chart should be number 1. Note that a man's ID number is always double the ID number of his child. With the man always in the upper position, all males have an even number and females an odd number. A wife's number is always one higher than that of her husband.
Download a PDF version of the Pedigree Form to print your own quality forms. It is printable and viewable with Adobe's Acrobat Reader FREE software.
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