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Documenting Your Pedigree Chart 
By Melody Daisson

Have you ever picked up a family group record you worked on six months ago and couldn't remember where you found the information on it? Or, has your aunt sent you a family group record that she worked on without any documentation? It can be very time consuming to rustle through documents or search the records at the library again to determine where each bit of information came from. Taking the time to document your pedigree chart will help you pick up where you left off quickly, enable you to analyze your research, and help someone else see what research you have completed.
  

Source Notes

Most people are unsure of what needs to be documented. A general rule is to document any information that is not a common fact. In addition, documenting several records that contain the same information will make your genealogy credible. As you begin your research, you will undoubtedly look through many documents, especially if you are working in the United States. It is likely to find a birth date in a birth certificate, census record, obituary, and a family bible. It is important that you document each record as a source for the birth date. Finding a birth date in several records shows that your information is correct. Documenting it proves you have thoroughly looked at all the records.

Most genealogical software programs have a place to record your source notes and your research notes. Source notes contain bibliographical information about individual records and research notes are useful to keep track of the information you found in each record. 

Your source notes should contain the following information:  author, title of record, publisher, date of publication, film or book number, repository, and page number. 

The following is an example:
Stephenson County Genealogical Society, Portrait and Biographical Sketch of Stephenson County, Chapman Brothers, 1888. p.77 Repository: Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT . FHL Book US/CAN 977.333 D3   For a record that is not a published source, such as a family bible, be sure to write down whose possession it is in.

The key to good source documentation is to provide enough information so the document can be located by you or by someone else. An excellent book on genealogical documentation is Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Research Notes

In the notes section of your genealogy program, it is helpful to record pertinent information you find in each document as well as other miscellaneous information found on the individual. 

For example, suppose you are researching John Smith in census records. You find him in the
1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses. In your notes, record pertinent information. Your notes might look like this:

1900 Census: John Smith, age 35, born June 1865, married 17 years, born in Alabama, parents born in Alabama. Occupation: Farmer 
1880 Census: John Smith, age 15........

For this example, continue to type in pertinent information for each census, even if the information is identical to what you found on the previous record. It is easier to look at your notes and determine that the records are consistently giving the same information than to have to rustle through a pile of documents several times. Conversely, also take special care to note when two or more records dispute each other. It may be that their were errors made in record keeping or that the records are of two individual persons. By careful note taking, you can easily analyze your research to identify consistent and inconsistent records. As you research, add information found in other record types such as family bible, land, emigration or probate records.

Recording parent links in your notes is useful, especially when doing research in localities where birth registers were not kept. An example of a parent link for John Smith would be:

PARENT LINK
The 1880 census states that John Smith is a son of the head of household, William Smith. Land records show William Smith's wife, Mary signing the deed dated 1862, three years before John's birth. A probate (will) for William Smith names John, the executor of his will and states John is his son.

In the example above, the census record shows a father- son relationship between William and John Smith. The land record dated 1862 shows Mary Smith signing a deed. It was a law for wives to sign in land transactions. Thus, it is likely that Mary was John's mother. Finally, the probate record confirms that the census was correct. Keeping track of parent links in your notes will help you remember which record, or combination of records linked a child to his parents.

The more precise your notes are, the easier it is to keep track of the research you have completed and determine which records still need to be looked at. In addition, someone else working on the same line will be able to look at your notes and understand what research you have done.

Melody Daisson is a freelance writer and a stay at home mom to three children. The author has a bachelor degree in genealogy/Family History and does genealogical research for clients part time.