Organizing family history makes research easier

Once you begin family research, you accumulate documents and other information rapidly. To avoid the problem of failing to locate information quickly and to avoid paper blizzards or computer confusion, have an organizational plan from the start.

A number of free or inexpensive forms are available to assist in organization. You can purchase these in electronic or paper versions, find them free online by using a search engine, or access them through most genealogy software packages. The primary online genealogical sources Family Search, provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and Ancestry, among others, offer these and other forms. The National Genealogical Society also offers forms on its website. If you work mainly by computer, use "fillable" versions of the forms so you can type in information.

A basic form is a Pedigree Chart or tree chart. This is a summary of key information about three to five generations of your ancestors, showing the relationship in a branching format. It is very handy to summarize what you know on one page. You can take these with you on research trips to remind yourself at a glance what information you lack on individual ancestors. Ancestors have designated numbers, starting with 1 for yourself, 2 for your father, and 3 for your mother. Father's numbers are the child's number multiplied by 2, mother's by the father's number plus 1. (That is, paternal grandfather is 4, paternal grandmother is 5, maternal grandfather is 6, and maternal grandmother is 7.) As you learn about more ancestors, you can continue backward by adding more sheets.

Another key organizational form, the Family Group Sheet, focuses on an ancestral couple and their children. It typically provides far more detail than the Pedigree Chart, meaning you can focus on additional gaps in what you know about that family, and allows recording basic information about children.

If you are not careful in your searches, you may eventually find that you repeat yourself and copy the same sources multiple times. To avoid this, use a Research Log. This form includes space for the date of your search, the name of the source, where you viewed it, comments and what you found (or failed to find). This should include a complete source citation, to allow you to relocate the source and evaluate the quality and reliability of the source. I'll discuss source citations in a future column.

Whether you work from paper copies or digital documents and files, you should use a filing system to organize the information. Many genealogists use genealogy software for this, as well as to organize the results. Choose a filing system that works for you. If you use paper, you can use folders, or binders if the papers outgrow folders. Make sure each document copy has a source citation written on it or as part of the file.

The computer equivalent is files for individual documents, then folders for collections of documents at different levels. You might organize by surname, each married couple, surname by location, or record types (census, land, wills, court records, unusual records, etc.). Keep a separate folder for possible but unconfirmed ancestors.

I organize my computer files in directories by individual ancestors. The file names are in the format, "surname--given name--location--record type--location of source." Thus, "Smith Peter Cape Gir Co Will Book 2 p 43." This file is in a subdirectory "Smith Peter," and a directory, "Smith Cape Gir Co." Again, organize in a way that makes sense to you.

Featured Research Repository

The Cape Girardeau Research Center of The State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) opened in 2013. Founded in May 1898 by the Missouri Press Association, SHSMO is the premier research center for the study of Missouri history. The research center has over 50 collections of personal papers, photographs, correspondence, diaries and journals, and records of churches, organizations and businesses. Also available are a library specific to Southeast Missouri and subscriptions to Ancestry, newspapers.com and Fold3. SHSMO is an affiliate of the Family History Library.

Patrons may request collections from the other five research centers. The center is in Room 103 Pacific Hall on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. Current hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday through Friday, or by appointment. Phone 573-882-2689 or email capegirardeau@shsmo.org.