Genealogical Research Forms

Free, downloadable forms online

• Midwest Genealogy Center: Family History Forms (can be filled in, then printed)
• Ancestry.com Charts & Forms to download and print
• Shoestring Genealogy Forms, Charts & Checklists
• The Bailey's Free Genealogy Forms
• FamilyTree Magazine offers a wide variety of free forms to download, but they want your email addrss so they can send you advertisements.
• FamilySearch.org Wiki Research Forms has links to several online forms
• Use Cyndi's List to find links to many and varied printable charts and forms
• The following books have reproducible forms:
  • Croom. Unpuzzling Your Past Workbook: Essential Forms and Letters for all Genealogists. (find in a library)
    • This Google Books copy gives text and examples from the Croom book
  • Dollarhide. Managing A Genealogical Project (find in a library) (read a review)

Forms used to recording family information:

• Instructions for Creating Genealogical Charts
• About.com: Filling Out Common Forms: how to use the pedigree chart and family group sheet
• Free, downloadable forms are readily available on the internet, but you can also use Microsoft Excel or Word Processing Software to create family group and pedigree charts, using these templates.

Family Group Record/Sheet : A standard form for recording the parents and children; one family group sheet per parental unit.

• EXAMPLE of a filled in family group sheet
• This family group sheet with images was created with the genealogy program Brother's Keeper -- other software programs can do this too.
• FamilySearch Wiki:
  • Family Group Record explains in detail how to fill out and use a family group record. This article also contains links to free family group sheets available on the web.
  • Family Group Record Analysis explains how to analyze data in a family group record.
• Family Group Sheets: Why and Wherefore -- an interesting blog that discusses the use of family group records and shows examples
• Genealogy 1010: Using Family Group Sheets
• Here is an idea for creating a photographic family group record.
• Ways to redesign the family group record

Pedigree Chart: A pedigree chart shows direct line ancestors... the parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so forth. The chart is numbered. #1 is always the person whose ancestors are being recorded. That person could be male or female. From then on: even numbers are males; odd numbers are females.

• EXAMPLE
• It can also be called an Ancestor Chart
• Sometimes they are in the format of a fan chart; this is an intersting blog on creating some non traditional charts.
  • Martha Stewart shows you how to create a fan chart.
• Genealogy 1010: Starting with a pedigree chart
• How to make a pedigree chart in Excel
• How to make a pedigree chart in PowerPoint (a template)
• FamilySearch.org messed with the classic construction of a pedigree chart, to the ire of this blogger!
• I'm not quite sure why you would want to do this, but this genealogist experimented with font size in his pedigree charts. This same person, however, experimented with a pedigree chart that added the names of children to each couple on the chart;that is a nice addition if you can fit it in.

Forms used to extract data from a document

• Census extraction forms:
  • Ancestry.com has dowloadable, printable census extraction forms for the U.S., U.K., and Canada
  • About.com offers interactive pdf census extraction forms -- you can fill them in on your computer (if you have Adobe Acrobat software -- not just Adobe Reader)
  • Pikes Peak Genealogical Society created agricultural schedule extraction forms.
• Passenger List extraction forms:
  • example (from SteveMorse.org)
  • Ellis Island passenger list extraction form (you must register to use the Ellis Island site, but it's not a problem -- they don't pester)
• Cemetery extraction form: Bailey's Free Genealogy Forms offers a two part form that is very thorough: part 1 part 2
  • pt1 allows one to map a cemetery and has room for cemetery contact information, as well as room for two gravestone entries"
  • pt2 pages "have smaller maps (perhaps an inset from the first page) and room for six gravestone inscriptions."
• Probate record extraction forms
• Relationship charts aren't for recording of information, but they can be very helpful in figuring out how people are related to each other.
  • About.com Genealogy relationship chart
  General Research Extract Form: (Click on the first line to download the form) -- a good way to remind you of details you want to record for each source you check.

Forms Used to Track Research Efforts

• Research Log -- considered one of the most essential of the genealogy forms.
  • FamilySearch Wiki:
    • Keeping a research log : a beginners overview
    • Research Logs has a link to a downloadable log and explains how to use these logs.
    • Also read their suggested article: Document as You Go
  • See also this FamilySearch 2 part video on using research logs: part 1 and part 2
    • (you may have to register, but you will want to do this as there are numerous helpful video's on this site. And no bad consequences)
    • Notice you can also download handouts from these videos
• Correspondence log: a holdover from when genealogists used to write letters to each other, it still can be useful in tracking mailed requests and even online correspondence.
• Source Summary forms can be used in conjuction with family group sheets or pedigree charts to keep track of where you find your information. Number each source, then put that number by each relevant fact on the form.
  • Read this FamilySearch.org Wiki: Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)

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This page last updated April 12, 2014