American-French Genealogical Society AFGS Class on Charts and Genealogy Computer Programs By Bill Pommenville Webmaster AFGS January 29, 2011

American-French Genealogical Society – AFGS Class on Charts and Genealogy Computer Programs By Bill Pommenville Webmaster AFGS Filling out 5 Generation Charts or Sheets Start by numbering the charts 1 (Upper right hand corner) to about number 17, depending on the number of sheets you have. On the AFGS 5 generation chart the number 1 person is the Focus of the line of ancestors. At the beginning of line 1 place the name of the person you want to list the ancestors for. So if you want your ancestors you place your name at the beginning of line 1. If it’s your spouse you want the ancestor for then place your spouse name at the beginning of line 1. If it is someone else is the Focus then place that person’s name at the beginning of line 1. At the other end of line 1 you place the name of the spouse of number 1, if they have a spouse. When you fill out the information on line 16 the chart will then continue on a chart number 2. On chart number 2 place the information from chart 1 line 16 to line 1 on chart 2. This is how you continue the charts. Each number and line have a listing under them. B = Birth date. P = Birth Place M = Marriage Date P = Marriage Place D = Death Date P = Death Place • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Line 1 is the Focus person Line 2 is the Father of the person on line 1 Line 3 is the Mother of the person on line 1 Line 4 is the Father of the person on line 2 Line 5 is the Mother of the person on line 2 Line 6 is the Father of the person on line 3 Line 7 is the Mother of the person on line 3 Line 8 is the Father of the person on line 4 Line 9 is the Mother of the person on line 4 Line 10 is the Father of the person on line 5 Line 11 is the Mother of the person on line 5 Line 12 is the Father of the person on line 6 Line 13 is the Mother of the person on line 6 Line 14 is the Father of the person on line 7 Line 15 is the Mother of the person on line 7 Line 16 is the Father of the person on line 8 Line 17 is the Mother of the person on line 8 Line 18 is the Father of the person on line 9 Line 19 is the Mother of the person on line 9 Line 20 is the Father of the person on line 10 Line 21 is the Mother of the person on line 10 Line 22 is the Father of the person on line 11 Line 23 is the Mother of the person on line 11 Line 24 is the Father of the person on line 12 Line 25 is the Mother of the person on line 12 Line 26 is the Father of the person on line 13 Line 27 is the Mother of the person on line 13 Line 28 is the Father of the person on line 14 Line 29 is the Mother of the person on line 14 Line 30 is the Father of the person on line 15 Line 31 is the Mother of the person on line 15

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American-French Genealogical Society – AFGS Class on Charts and Genealogy Computer Programs By Bill Pommenville Webmaster AFGS

Charts and Printing 5 Generation Charts are also available in Genealogy programs as well as a number different type of charts and the number of Ancestors included. Services are available to commercially print charts. Listed below are a number of these services. Generation Maps http://generationmaps.com/php/index.php Printing of Charts and blank charts http://www.ancestrycircle.com/ Ancestry Printing http://www.ancestryprinting.com/ Got Charts not GED http://www.gotcharts.com/ Keepsake Family Tree http://www.keepsakefamilytree.com/

Examples

Examples from Print My Family (Out of Business)

Example from Ancestry Printing http://www.ancestryprinting.com/

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American-French Genealogical Society – AFGS Class on Charts and Genealogy Computer Programs By Bill Pommenville Webmaster AFGS

Charts and Printing About.com Genealogy http://genealogy.about.com/od/research_tools/Genealogy_Research_Tools_Software_Forms_Maps_and_Calendars.h tm Genealogy Research Tools - Software, Forms, Maps and Calendars Access tools to help you research your family tree including genealogy and family tree software programs, maps and mapping tools, family tree charts and forms, age and date calculators, calendars, and high-tech gadgets. The majority of these genealogy tools are free! Software and Tools Genealogy Software (158) Dictionaries & Glossaries (40) Translation Help & Software (12)

Charts & Forms (45) Handwriting & Paleography (15) Translation Help & Software (12)

Dates & Calendars (15) Timelines (40) Language Identification (3)

About.com Free Forms Offers several unique forms in PDF format, including an online research log, U.S. research checklist, timeline, and interview note sheets for interviewing cemetery and funeral home employees. About.com Free U.S. Census Extraction Forms Free interactive U.S. federal census extraction forms can be completed online right in your browser and then saved locally to your computer or printed. Free census forms are available for the U.S. federal census years 1790 through 1930. About.com Genealogy Relationship Chart Top Ten Review Why Genealogy Software? http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ Millions of people have adopted genealogy as a hobby and even as a passion. People discover a sense of self-identity and family pride through uncovering their family's legacy. Genealogical research of your ancestral roots can bring your current family together by creating a project to which everyone can contribute. Whatever your reason for researching the past, genealogy software can become your most valuable tool. Genealogy software will provide you with comprehensive reports and charts so you can organize and see the progress of your research. Some of these reports and charts include: Ancestor charts include a person's direct-line ancestors, so you can see exactly how far back a line goes. Ancestor narrative reports are book-style reports that begins with a specific person and follows that person's lineage like a story. This is a great way to share your research with family members and friends. Family charts show entire families including husband, wife and children. Genealogy software includes tons of easy-to-use tools that will help you discover and organize your research. Organizational tools link people together based on relationships, merge individuals into family trees, help spot problems and locate duplicate entries. This software will also aid in your search for individuals and entire families. Genealogy.com Form Letters ~ http://www.genealogy.com/00000023.html Want to request information from an archive in France but don't want to look up every word in the dictionary? With fillin-the-blank form letters, contacting institutions and family members in other countries is easier than ever. To use these letters, just copy the text into a word processing program and fill in the blanks with your information. English, French, German, Italian, Spanish - Write to an institution, Write to a family member, Write to an institution for general information

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American-French Genealogical Society – AFGS Class on Charts and Genealogy Computer Programs By Bill Pommenville Webmaster AFGS

Genealogy Software A Genealogy program is an excellent tool to help with your research. They are not just a place to put the information but much more. Below are excerpts from an article on How Things Work. Genealogy software is the first step in computerizing your family history. Changes are more easily made with software, and the variety of reports, charts, and forms provided ensures that there is something to suit your needs. Why Use a Genealogy Program? The best genealogy programs help you cut down on duplication. When using forms such as pedigree charts and family history sheets to organize your ancestors into family units, you'll find yourself recording the same information in more than one place. In the pedigree chart you'll list name, date and place of birth, date and place of marriage, and date and place of death. Then you'll record the same information on one or more family group sheets. That's a lot of writing! If you use a genealogy program, however, you enter the information once and then direct the software application to incorporate that data into whichever form you want. Accuracy in Genealogy Programs A good genealogy program has a lot more to offer than simply saving you some time. What are the benefits? A good genealogy program will: Alert you if you enter conflicting information. Say you enter "1845" as the year of birth and then accidentally key in "1809" rather than "1908" for the date of death. The program will catch the mistake and notify you so you can fix it right away. Let you enter information only once. You can then recall that information from lists. Once you type in a place name, such as Haverhill, Essex County, Massachusetts, for example, you'll never have to type it again. The program allows you to select that place instead of retyping it. Help you with consistency. Reducing the number of times you type something reduces the potential for typos or omission of information. • Give you a place to store notes and family stories. • Help you create a family history book, with pictures of family members or documents. • Give you the tools to create your own Web page so you can share your research with family members all over the globe. • Not All Genealogy Programs Are Created Equal As you research genealogy programs, other things to consider are ease of use, the number of events in a person's life you can record, the cost, and the provision of technical support for the program. Another important feature to many people is the interface. The interface is what the screens look like as you are entering information about your ancestors. If you find the fields of the program confusing, or find it difficult to locate menu items, it's a safe bet you will be frustrated with the program. And that defeats its purpose! It would be smart to find a different program. As a beginning genealogist, you may not have an idea what you want in a program. After all, you are a beginner and don't yet know all that you will want to record about an ancestor. As you travel deeper into your family history, you may find that the genealogy program you started with doesn't do everything you require now. Your genealogy program should be a help, not a hindrance. Don't stick with it if it frustrates you. Testing Genealogy Programs Before you decide on a genealogy program, you may want to see which ones offer a demo version that lets you try it out before you commit. 4

American-French Genealogical Society – AFGS Class on Charts and Genealogy Computer Programs By Bill Pommenville Webmaster AFGS

Genealogy Software Source Citation Good genealogists cite their sources. A source is any record, letter, interview, or other resource that has supplied you with the information you've recorded. Sources include vital records, wills, tombstones, baptism certificates, letters, Web sites, and anything else used in the research process. Anytime you add a name, date, place, or relationship to your genealogy database or to your family group sheets and pedigree charts, make sure you have a source connected to it. Organizing Data with a Genealogy Program While genealogy database programs organize the individuals in your family tree, there are other programs to help you organize the facts you uncover as you progress in your research. What Else Can a Computer Do? There is no limit to how your computer can help you track your family history. Be creative and demand a lot from your genealogy programs and your computer. You can Abstract information found in cemeteries or census records. Diagram pieces of land based on descriptions found in land deeds. Track medical information. Create elaborate charts or use timelines to aid you in your research. Above From and Article on How Stuff Works http://people.howstuffworks.com/genealogy4.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A number of Genealogy programs are available below are a few links Top Ten Reviews http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ GenSoftRevews 543 programs http://www.gensoftreviews.com/index.php PAF from Family Search.org http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp Lower Right is a section that explains about downloading PAF for free. Roots Magic http://www.rootsmagic.com/ Legacy Family Tree http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ Reunion 9 for Mac http://www.leisterpro.com/ Family Tree Maker http://store.ancestry.com/ The Master Genealogist TMG http://www.whollygenes.com/

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American-French Genealogical Society – AFGS Class on Charts and Genealogy Computer Programs By Bill Pommenville Webmaster AFGS

GED What Is GEDCOM or GED? The acronym GEDCOM stands for GEnealogy Data COMmunication. This feature, which is built into genealogy programs, allows users to create a file in which the information from one genealogy program can be exported and transferred into another program. Sometimes the transfer of data goes smoothly, but other times you may have to clean up the file because the new program doesn't understand where to put all the information. A GEDCOM file is a file containing Genealogy information created by Genealogy Software. Using GEDCOM, you may be able to transfer your data from one program to another with minimal cleanup, saving yourself hours of retyping. GEDCOM - According to the help file of PAF version 5 software: "GEDCOM is a computer format that permits one type of software program to read genealogical records created in another program. GEDCOM was created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make it possible for individuals with different brands of software and computers to share their information. You can recognize a GEDCOM file on your computer because its file name ends with ".ged."" GEDCOM file Most Genealogy Software Programs have that ability to create GED files. For instructions on how to create a GED file with your software, select your Genealogy software help screen, then search for GED or GEDCOM. How do I make a GEDCOM file (.ged)? In most programs a GEDCOM is made by pulling down the file menu (top left corner) and choosing Export or Save as. Then, choose GEDCOM in the Save As Type or Destination drop-down box. Remember what file folder you save it in so you can find it later. Exporting a GEDCOM will not change your main file in any way. Ancestry.com Ancestry.com allows their members to post their information on line in Ancestry Family Tree. According to an article by Michael John Neill there is a way to download your family tree from Ancestry as a GED file. Downloading GEDCOM files from the Ancestry World Tree http://www.ancestry.com/learn/learning/download.htm By: Michael John Neill Here is the directory structure that I use: A folder named download, which contains several folders, one titled genedata, which contains several folders, including one titled jones. This folder contains specific a folder for each GEDCOM file that I have downloaded on this surname. There are other options, but remember, the more files you put in one folder, the more confused you eventually may be and the more difficult it will be to later track the individual files. If the file is downloaded from Ancestry’s site in the PC format, it will appear on your computer as filename.exe and should be placed in the appropriate folder on your hard drive. This file can be executed directly from Windows, by double clicking on it. The file will be expanded into a GEDCOM file with the name filename.ged (and should be placed in the same folder where the downloaded file was originally placed). It is this file that you will use to convert to your genealogical software’s format. Let’s look at a specific example. The file that I originally downloaded from the Ancestry site was named h12025.exe. After the file was executed (a separate dos application window will appear as this happens), the GEDCOM file was created, H12025.ged. 6

American-French Genealogical Society – AFGS Class on Charts and Genealogy Computer Programs By Bill Pommenville Webmaster AFGS

How to make a GED on PAF 5 Producing a GED on PAF 5 To produce a GED for only a portion of the database. Select the Focus person (the number one person for the Ancestors or descendants) Select File (upper left) Export Select GED Select Partial Select Select Screen will show with the Highlighted person (Focus Person) Under Relationship filter pull down select Ancestors (this will produce the ancestors of the focus person) Select Select New Screen displays Select number of generation to make Change Descendents to zero if you only want the focus person and the ancestors of the focus person Press OK Press OK Press Export Name the file example class1.ged Select Export Press Done Press OK - You should now have an exported GED file To check the export Close existing PAF file (do not exit just close the file) Go to File Select Close In PAF create a new file Go to File Select New Name the file Example class1 Select Save Preferences screen will show Press OK How to import the GED Go to File Select Import Select the GED to import (the GED you just made) Select Import Select OK – Now a report will display with any problems. To check for problems at any time in PAF. Go to File Select Print Reports Under Reports and Charts Select Lists Select Possible Problems Select Options to set parameters Select OK Select Preview This will give you all the possible problems in the database. 7