PEDIGREE CHARTS

As I mentioned earlier, I use PAF to store my family data. To display my ancestors, I have generated a number of Pedigree charts. The first set of charts starts with my father and the second set with my mother. For example, the set starting with my father as the first generation goes back to the 5th generation. Specifics like birth, death, and marriage dates and locations are given for each person shown, but the fifth generation displays only the name. This first pedigree sheet can identify up to 15 additional family names. When my research identifies additional ancestors and I enter the information into my database, I print “second level” pedigree sheets, each starting with a 5th generation person. This additional sheet has the capability of going back an additional 5 generations, but since I started the second level pedigree chart with the 5th generation family, the 9th generation is at the end. This process may be repeated so that many more generations may be displayed, but the 5th generation on the last sheet always only shows the name. For most purposes I do not print beyond my second level pedigree sheets and 9 generations even though in some instances I could go many more generations.

To help me trace these ancestors, I also generated an Excel sheet that shows all head-of-household names, starting with the 9th generation or as far back as the family members have been identified. For each person I give the birth and death year and location, their generation, and identify the federal census year for which I found them. Unfortunately, census years prior to 1850 only give the male name so the certainty of all such census records are more suspect. Without a wife’s name, I had to rely upon ages of children and wife, when known, or general location. This information occasionally identifies in-laws or other families in which they lived at that particular time.

I have been fortunate in my research to have found people that been working for years to document their family and have made the information available to others. I normally do not enter all "the available information" since taking my ancestors back hundreds of years is not my objective nor have I independently verified the claims of others. I found it interesting to learn that there are a couple of family connections that “are known” to go back 500 years or more. Normally, I stop adopting information after I have the capability of displaying the family for one or more generations in the "old country." This corresponds roughly to having a second level pedigree sheet when data is available.

A second set of pedigree chart shows my mother's ancestors. I also print out the second level pedigree charts for her ancestors when possible.

I have done the same thing for Carol's father and mother.