A Time Machine

Five generations, there you have the start of your family tree. Now place your notebook before you and imagine from this point onward you have a "time machine". On the first few pages you have the geneograms of you, your parents, your grandparents, and children. You have started on your great grandparents. Think now that as you look down at the graph pages yet to be completed, you have generations yet to come. Each page can be organized by dates or generational groups going back in time until you reach the beginning. You can actually place dates on the pages you already have, with the top page being the present date. Then starting with your great grandparents, you can "rough in" the expected dates of their lives going back in time. Twenty years can be used as a reproductive life span, with roughly three generations per 100 years. You then write dates on each page, along with family surnames, locations, and what you need to know. On each page write in large letters the maiden names of each wife so that you can follow parallel lines as the information become available. The major items that will become important are which state (or country) each generation belongs, into which county and city did they live most of their lives. What type of jobs did they have? What church did they attend? On and on it goes, but that is for ge-ne-al-o-gy 301.

Five Generations

Well now, let's see. You have your genealogy notebook. You have your graph paper (at least 75 pages counting the few you have thrown away). You have pencils, ruler, and a good understanding about doing genealogy. Your family tree should be started with your own geneogram including your squares and circles connected by vertical and horizontal lines. You should now have all the information recorded about yourself, your spouse, your bothers and sisters, your parents, and your children. You should have your sheet protectors ready to place all those primary documents you have collected. Well done. Well done. Your geneogram should look something like that shown on the right. The darkest squares and circles are where you started in Ge-ne-al-o-gy 101. The lighter squares and circles are what you are to add in Ge-ne-al-o-gy 201. If you have started placing your grandparents, you will have a five generation family tree. You are now ready to collect your ancestors, and start climbing out each branch of your family tree.