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Your Family Tree
A family tree, as we said, isn’t a tree but a kind of map. Instead of showing miles, a family tree shows how family members are related to one another. It can go back over many years; from you to your great-grandparents and beyond. The family tree form is called that because of the way it shows family members “branching out” from one another, like tree branches are connected to one another and to the trunk of the tree.
MAPPING YOUR FAMILY
Are you ready to begin drawing your family tree? Do you have enough information to begin? Yes, at least to start. You know who you are, and how you are related to your parents (you are their child). And you know how you are related to your grandparents, your parents’ parents. So, let’s start you off with a really simple family tree.
1. Find a large piece of paper, and make a circle near the bottom. On the inside, write your full name (first, middle, and last). Under your name, put your birth date (month, day, and year).
2. Make two lines going upward and draw two more circles at the top, like balloons. In one, write in one parent’s full name and birth date. Write your other parent’s full name and birth date in the other. (Ask for the correct spelling and birth dates.)
3. Make more lines going upward (more balloons): two from one parent’s circle and two from the other parent’s circle. Top each of them with two more circles. In these circles, write in your grandparents’ full names—one parent’s mother and father above one circle and one parent’s mother and father above the other circle. Put in their birth dates.
That’s a good start. Next, if you have brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles, and cousins, you’ll want to add them to your family tree, too. Your brothers and sisters are your siblings, which means that they are your parents’ children, too. And your cousins are the children of your aunts and uncles. So they’ll be listed on the family tree under their parents. This means you’ll need a much bigger piece of paper, or some type of pedigree or genealogy form, to keep track of everybody! A genealogy program or app could also be a smart way to map out your tree.
List each person in your family tree, then try to find out:
when the person was born. Where.
what schools the person went to. Years graduated.
where the person lived.
what jobs the person held.
if a person was in the military. What service, where and when.
if a person emigrated. From where and when.
if the person is dead. When. Where. How. Where buried.
How much of this or other information you will want to put into your family tree diagram is up to you. But don’t miss out on gathering the information while you can, so you can record it in your loose-leaf binder and later in your family scrapbook.
GROWING YOUR FAMILY TREE
Even if you start small, remember that big family trees grow from tiny roots. Here is a part of a family tree form. At the top would be the oldest relatives that you know, probably your grandparents. Vertical and horizontal lines map out your parents and their siblings, and you and your siblings, if you have them. Remember, you have two sets of grandparents—your mother’s parents and your father’s parents. That means you’ll have eight great-grandparents. Your family tree will grow quickly once you start, so every time you learn about a relative, add his or her name to your family tree form, along with important vital statistics such as birth, marriage, and death dates. When you hear or find new stories about a relative, write them all down in your loose-leaf notebook. By the time you’re finished, you should have a huge family tree that you can frame and hang in your room and a notebook filled with lots of family facts.
From this diagram it’s easy to see how people in your family are related. Horizontal boxes side by side mean the people are siblings (brothers and sisters). Vertical lines tell us descent (who is the parent and who is the child). You can also see that your maternal grandmother and grandfather were married and had two kids.
With this kind of system, you can easily add more information. For example: Next to or beneath each name, you might write B (for birth) and D (for death) and put in the dates—at least the year, although the place is important, too. If the person is still living, put a small dash after the birth date. For example, if your birth year is 2007, you would write B2007–. Later on, after you’ve done some detective work, you’ll have a lot more information to add.
If you want more information, write in M (for married) and the date. How would you show if someone was divorced? Since “D” stands for death, you can put a slash through the M and add the divorce date for M 1982–1991.
BRINGING YOUR FAMILY TO LIFE
As you learn more about your family, you’ll find yourself really getting to know them. You’ll want to write down where family members were born, and when and where they got married (if they did). You will definitely want to add when, where, and how people died (if they are no longer living), and where they are buried. People often make visits to the graves of family members on departed relatives’ birthdays or the anniversaries of their deaths. This is a good time for you to go, too. The person’s full name and birth and death dates are etched on the cemetery gravestones. Be sure to bring one of your small notebooks and a pencil or two and take down the information, or simply take a picture of the tombstone with your phone. You may need it if you ever need to order a death certificate or find an obituary.
Death certificates are official papers issued at the time of death. If your family doesn’t have a death certificate for a deceased grandparent, you should be able to order a copy for a fee from the local courthouse where the person lived, or from the Office or Bureau of Vital Statistics. You’ll need the full name and year and place of death, and a reason for requesting the certificate.
Obituaries are much easier to find and often provide much more information. An obituary is a short biography of a person who died. Local newspapers print obituaries to tell their readers (often friends and neighbors of the deceased) that the person has passed away. Newspapers keep archives of everything they print. If you know the date a person died, you can search the archives of the local newspaper for that person’s obituary, either online or in print. It is usually printed in an issue a day or two later. Libraries sometimes keep microfilm archives of old issues of local papers. An obituary can provide a lot of helpful information when you are researching your family tree.
A fan-shaped pedigree chart such as this one is a good way to keep track of, and display, just your direct-line ancestors, rather than all family members. It is easy to see how several generations all come down to you.
This type of pedigree form gives you room under the name line for important family details: date and place of birth, death, marriage; where buried, children’s names, and other useful information you choose to include. Here, we include birth and death dates.
It can be extended as far back in time as you have room on the paper. If each ancestor on the chart is numbered, it is easy to key file folders to the chart, then arrange the folders accordingly.
Key
Born
Died