Monday, December 27, 2010

Building My 2011 Research Template

It's that time of year when people begin to reflect on the past year and make resolutions for improvement in the year to come.  I've decided that in order to make my blog and my genealogy research better, I need to come up with a systematic plan to document my ancestors' lives.

I've decided that I will start by focusing on my great-grandparents, both maternal and paternal, as well as their children.  I will use this blog to document the records as well as gaps that need further research. I will highlight and document the facts and information I have discovered, using the following template:

Documentation of GGF and children:

1. Vital Records (birth, marriage, death)
     1.1. Birth certificate
            1.1.1 Birth notice in newspaper
            1.1.2 Bible record
            1.1.3 Baptismal record
            1.1.4 Adoption record
     1.2 Marriage license
            1.2.1 Marriage notice in newspaper
            1.2.2 Anniversary notice
            1.2.3 Divorce decree
     1.3 Death certificate
            1.3.1 Obituary in newspaper
            1.3.2 Funeral home record
            1.3.3 Tombstone photograph
2. Census Records
     2.1 Federal Census Records
            2.1.1 1930 Federal Census
            2.1.2 1920 Federal Census
            2.1.3 1910 Federal Census
            2.1.4 1900 Federal Census
            2.1.5 1880 Federal Census
            2.1.6 1870 Federal Census
     2.2 State Census Records
     2.3 Agricultural / Mortality Census Records
3. Military Records
     3.1 Draft registration
     3.2 Pension records
     3.3 Service records
4. Land Records
     4.1 Deed records
     4.2 Plat map / county map
5. Supplemental records
     5.1 Social Security records
     5.2 Church membership records
     5.3 City directories
     5.4 Court records

My goal is to start with my great-grandparents, completing this template for them and each of their children (my grandaunts and uncles) and then eventually to continue backwards each successive generation.  If I can progress slowly and methodically, I hope to become a better researcher and create a more thorough documented record of my ancestors lives.

I will also endeavor to document my sources consistently, so that others may see how I arrived at my conclusions.

What are your thoughts?  I would appreciate any comments regarding this plan.

10 comments:

Carole said...

That sounds very organised and a very good idea. The only thing I would add is burial record.

Keep up the good work

Anonymous said...

I would add will and probate records. The court records could take you into a number of productive areas. Harold McClendon

Carol said...

We will be reading, should be an interesting year!

My Gen Research said...

Looking forward to seeing your posts in the coming year as this sounds like a wonderful idea.

Susan Petersen said...

This looks like a well organized plan. I have some one-page check lists from the pre-computer days that I've been thinking about resurrecting into digital format. I like what you've put together here.

Kristin said...

this sounds like a good way to make sure it's all covered. i need to do something similar.

Nancy said...

This is a really organized plan. I like it. Maybe I'll adopt a similar method. Thanks for sharing.

Debbie Golding said...

Wow. I like this. Right now I am all over the place.

Penny said...

Great idea, Travis! I'm constantly trying to determine what else I should try to find for a particular person. Your template looks like a great way to handle that!

Chris said...

This is a great plan and very methodical and organized way to go about research. I'm usually all over the place. I may have to adopt your idea. Thanks!

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