As a ‘paper genealogist’ (one who prefers actual printed,
tangible data), I feel as though I am part of a dying breed – and that may not
be such a bad thing – as I constantly complain to anyone who listens about my
massive clutter & genealogical disorganization!
In my defense, when I began
genealogy 20 years ago – everything I did was handwritten, with photocopied
forms filled in by hand – so I grew as a researcher, used to the tangible
printed info. Of course, years ago, I graduated to a computer program and
printed forms – but I still have binders of hard data …..
Which brings me to the discussion of
pedigrees – and how they
are used today and how I use
mine – It goes without saying, I print mine out (as
I
must have something I can doodle on and make notes) and even though it
creates more paper – I only have 4 generations per sheet – [
Legacy scrunches down
the last generation to include almost nothing if you use 5, so I use 4 – which
is why my printed pedigree is over 60+ pages!]
Now here comes my dirty little secret – some of it is very
outdated – and when I say outdated, I mean there are pages with that date to 2 Dec
1998! WOW- is that embarrassing!! (so much so, I’m tempted to delete this
part, and might yet…) But I do promise you, "updating pedigree" is on my ‘to do’
list! And along with updating, I’m trying to identify all of my ‘sources’ and
obtain as many hardcopies as I can for these ancestors.
It’s further embarrassing to have 60+ pages of a pedigree and
realize that you haven’t documented as well as you should have… Many of my lines
are early New England stock, some from the early 1600’s – so there are easily
accessible records out there – and I’ve been working on relocating these
resources and documenting them better (what fun!)….
And not only do I like to fill in the vital statistic data
for these pedigree folks, but I also like to do a little research on them
and see what things they were up to... (usually no good, in my family!) – and these
historical tidbits not only add some meat to the bones of the family – they make
it easier to see these pedigree names as real people – something I forget on
occasion.
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| My 'Pedigree binder'... Always a work in progress |
So in today’s world of the internet, weekend warrior
genealogists, and the merging of 10 undocumented family trees into your own (all
in one fell swoop, taking you right back to Adam & Eve without a lick of
research), do researchers still have tangible records and more importantly,
tangible pedigrees?
Do they actively document (or attempt at least) the data
they find?
Are these never ending online trees being examined closely or are
they taken as gospel?
Are researchers actively searching to add substance to the
lives of these people, or am I alone on this pedigree quest?
So take a looksee at your own pedigree... Re-examine some brickwalls... 'Google' early ancestors to see what might be out there about them.... Connect with other researchers... Obtain some documentation....
So how do you use your pedigree (if you do)? Are you an
active documenter for those pre1800 ancestors?
As always, I’m interested in what
others do (or don’t do), if you have great ideas or fellow dilemmas. Share your hints or suggestions... Now, if you'll excuse me.... I have some pedigree updating to do...
