Family Group Sheets, also known as Family Group Records, are
the next form that you will want to become familiar with.
Once you have put together your four or five generation
Pedigree Chart, the next step is to complete a Family Group Sheet for each
couple on your chart. You will need to complete
eight Family Group Sheet forms, for a 4 generation pedigree chart.
1 – Person 1 (and spouse)
2 – Person 2 and 3 – your parents and your siblings
3 – Person 4 and 5 – your father’s parents and his siblings
4 – Person 6 and 7 – your mother’s parents and her siblings
5 – Person 8 and 9 – your paternal grandfather’s parents and his siblings
6 – Person 10 and 11 – your paternal grandmother’s parents and her siblings
7 – Person 12 and 13 – your maternal grandfather’s parents and his siblings
8 – Person 14 and 15 – your maternal grandmother’s parents and her siblings
2 – Person 2 and 3 – your parents and your siblings
3 – Person 4 and 5 – your father’s parents and his siblings
4 – Person 6 and 7 – your mother’s parents and her siblings
5 – Person 8 and 9 – your paternal grandfather’s parents and his siblings
6 – Person 10 and 11 – your paternal grandmother’s parents and her siblings
7 – Person 12 and 13 – your maternal grandfather’s parents and his siblings
8 – Person 14 and 15 – your maternal grandmother’s parents and her siblings
Most family group sheets will record the names of the
husband, wife and children in a family unit.
They also record the birth, marriage and death information, as well as
additional spouses (if any) of the parents and in some cases the spouses for
each of the children. A well-documented
family group sheet will also cite the sources of the information, usually in
the footnotes area at the bottom or on the last page. Some have additional blanks for information
such as: cause of death, cemetery information, religious affiliations, military
service, occupations, etc.
Online Forms
There are several good resources online to find FREE Family
Group Forms. I prefer to use the forms that
are printed in Landscape, because they usually can get several children on one
page but the spaces can be small for writing if you write big. Some of the portrait style forms have larger
blanks, but usually only get 3 children on the first page and you need to print
continuation pages for the rest of family.
This is the one I use when I am helping someone get started
with their research:
Ancestry.com – Family Group Record http://c.mfcreative.com/pdf/trees/charts/famgrec.pdf
Ancestry.com – Family Group Record http://c.mfcreative.com/pdf/trees/charts/famgrec.pdf
But this is also a good form - portrait style with online fill
in the blanks in PDF form from the Ancestors tv series on KBYU:
Page 1 http://www.byub.org/ancestors/charts/pdf/familygroup1.pdf
Page 2 (for continuation pages) http://www.byub.org/ancestors/charts/pdf/familygroup2.pdf
Page 2 (for continuation pages) http://www.byub.org/ancestors/charts/pdf/familygroup2.pdf
And if you are LDS, then you may want to use the LDS version
located on FamilySearch:
https://familysearch.org/sites/all/themes/frankie/documents/Step-2-Family-Group-Record.pdf
https://familysearch.org/sites/all/themes/frankie/documents/Step-2-Family-Group-Record.pdf
Staying Organized
In order to stay organized at this point, I suggest getting
a 2 inch binder, and putting the Pedigree Chart in the front and then each Family
Group Sheet behind it by generation. So
you, then your parents, then your father’s parents, your mother’s parents,
etc. As you gather documents and photos
in your research, you can put them into archival sleeves and store the
materials behind each respective family group sheet.
What Next
Similar to how a Pedigree Chart gives you an overview of your
direct ancestors, a family group sheet helps you get a more detailed overview
of the lives of your ancestors and their immediate family. I use completed Family Group Sheets when I’m creating
a “timeline” for an ancestor I am researching, by seeing the important dates in
their family along with historical events. Such as the date parents died, and
children were married, and census locations and occupations at various times
along with dates of wars, or presidential elections, etc. I get a better picture of the life my
ancestor had.
Family Group Sheets provide spaces for you to record
information about the parents and children in one family. They have spaces for names, dates and
locations and help you get a more detailed image about the lives of your
ancestors in relationship to the various events (births, marriages and deaths)
of each family member.
Use the details on your completed family group sheet to get
additional ideas about where to search next for more information on the
family. For example: analyzing when a
couple’s first child was born (perhaps based off an age and birth place
location on a census record) may give you a clue where and when to focus your search
for their marriage record. Or analyze when and where they moved from and to
based on the dates and locations of the births of each child, and maybe be able
to narrow in on a time the family may have immigrated.
Let me know if you have any questions, otherwise I'll see you back here next week for a look at reviewing types of documents you may want to use in your research.
Love & Aloha,
~Cuzn Amy
~Cuzn Amy
