When time has come for you to start your genealogical research you will have to investigate your family. And you will have to ask , research and jot down some information about them on paper.
Geneasmart suggests you use this family chart especially if you have to start from scratch.
Step one : Choose a root person and start from there
A root person is the person for whom you start tracing back his / her ancestors.
So, you can choose to be this root person or pick one of your parents, one of your grandparents or one of your great grandparents.
If you want to hire a genealogist to do this research for you you'd better start with one of your grandparents or great grandparents.
The root person's box is in the middle of the family chart : write inside the box his full name (surname in capital letters) on the first line, all his / her first and middle names on the second line (each one of them separated by a coma). Keep on writing his / her date of birth on the third line and his /her place of birth on the fourth line .Add death dates and death places below if you know them.
Step two : Add information on paternal and maternal sides
- On the left of the root person's box, the box on the left will be used for this root person's father's infos.
- The upper left box will be used for the paternal grandfather's infos.
- The lower left box will be used for the paternal grandmother's infos.
- On the right of the root person's box, the box on the right will be used for the root person's mother's infos.
- The upper right box will be used for the maternal grandfather's infos.
- The lower right box will be used for the maternal grandmother's infos.
Step three : Add information about the root person's partner and children
- Just below the root person's box there is the partner's box.
If this box is for one of your grandparents or great grandparents he or she did actually have a relationship or got married with someone else because you are obviously the living proof this line continues.
If this box is for a living person who doesn't have a partner yet leave this box empty.
- Below again, check the children's boxes for the root person's children's infos.
I have just put three boxes for three different children even though I am conscious that a few years ago there used to be more big families (with at least 10 to 15 children sometimes) than small families.
Feel free to add more boxes if you want to add all the children born to a same couple.
You can sketch this family chart on a landscape-oriented A4 sheet of paper or do it with a computer program of your choice if you have some computer skills.
For all those who would like to hire me, you can then scan this family chart and email it to geneasmart.com when you send a form.
Here is below a sample family chart for the famous American Kennedy family.
In this case, the root person is John F. Kennedy junior, late President Kennedy's son.
Note that all surnames are typed in capital letters, all first names and middle names have been mentioned and the same for birth and death dates and places.
You won't notice any boxes for children though since this young couple died too soon in an air-crash and did not any children of their own.
