To ensure a good interview your family tree templates must be current and easily read. This article will help identify the questions and organize the template or chart to improve your ancestor interviews and develop robust trees and charts of your ancestors.
The easiest way to document ancestor information is with your own family tree template. These charts can be hand written and photocopied, or use a word processor or spreadsheet program to setup the table or chart. These templates list the facts that you should collect about each of your ancestors, but more importantly, provide room for the stories that you should record. You will find that the family stories are the real history, not just the names and dates. Use one page per household.
Experiment with the forms and fill it in for your own family trees. The questions should follow this pattern:
- Husband
-
- Full name
- Birth Date & Place Christened
- Date & Place Marriage
- Date & Place Death
- Date & Place Cemetery
- Nickname & Title
- Father
- Mother
- Wife
-
- Full Name (Maiden name)
- Birth - Date & Place Christened
- Date & Place Marriage
- Date & Place Death
- Date & Place Cemetery
- Nickname & Title
- Father
- Mother
- Child's full name
-
- Birth - Date & Place Christened
- Date & Place Marriage
- Date & Place Death
- Date & Place Cemetery
- Nickname & Title
- ...provide space for 3 or 4 children.
Collecting family tree information on these templates is a great way to interview and research your ancestor trees. You will find that the chart will improve the time you spend researching your ancestors. It will be very rewarding and the template will help you complete the ancestor tree charts completely and easily.
