The most common practice in ancestral work is to pre­pare a genealogy charts. To prepare one, however, is but to con­struct a skeleton, and while every structure must have its framework, its bones, some covering on the bones will add to the picture.

By all means make a chart. It is necessary.

There are a great number of genealogy charts forms on the market which can be purchased for about any price one wishes to pay. All have some points in favor of their use, and each in the opinion of its originator surpasses every other system. Some are simple and some are exceedingly complex. It would seem that a chart as simple and as flexible as possible should be recommended. It must be simple enough for the beginner, and comprehensive enough to meet all the require­ments. It should not be so arranged as to pile up waste paper for lines not found, and yet elastic enough to allow for all lines when and if they are found. The simplest possible form that meets the requirements should be adopted. To the ex­perienced worker a chart elaborately worked out may be clear and plain, but he must remember that his work may fall into the hands of the uninitiated and, to them, be as a Greek puzzle and worthless.

The chart illustrated, which seems to fill the need, is per­haps as simple in design as possible. It can be added to as occasion requires, and it can be replaced by separate sheets in case of accident or error without destroying an entire book of bound sheets or a very large sheet upon which there is a great amount of work.

A person begins with himself if it is to be his own ancestral lines which are being charted (or whoever is the common offspring who is to become the basic point of the genealogy charts), and fills in his own name on the middle line at the left side of the page. His father's name will be written in the space marked 2, and his mother's name in that space marked 3, with the proper data of birth, marriage, death and residence where they are indicated on the chart. His parental grandfather's name will be in the space marked 4, and the parental grand­mother's name in the space marked 5, the maternal grand­father in space 6 and the maternal grandmother in space 7, thus carrying on until the right-hand margin of the sheet has been reached. The person in the direct line of the father, and of the same surname as the subject at the beginning in space 1, will occupy the top line on the right-hand side of the sheet, in the space marked 16, who will be the great-great­grandfather of the person in space 1, or the father's father's father's father.

At the top of the page following the heading, Chart No. 1, will be marked on the first page showing that it is the be­ginning of the record. To continue the line which has been run to space 16, a second sheet will be used which will be headed:

Chart No. 2 Continuation of Chart No. 1

and on the center line corresponding to space 1 on the chart shown in the illustration, at the left side of the sheet, re­write the name of the great-great-grandfather as it appeared in space 16. At the end of the line in space 16 on chart No. I should be written the number of one of genealogy charts on which the line is con­tinued, thus (2), to show that the line will be continued on chart No. 2.

It is not necessary that continuation genealogy charts should follow in the order in which the names appear on the right-hand side of the sheet. The great-great-grandfather whose name ap­pears on line 28 can be continued on chart No. 2 as well as that ancestor whose name appears on line 16. Whichever line first reaches the right-hand side of the sheet and requires continuation should be carried to chart No. 2, the next line to need continuation, taking chart No. 3, and so on until all lines have been continued. The continuation reference num­bers at the right hand of the last name on each line on the right-hand margin will indicate where in the work the reader is to look for the continuation of the line.

The same method is pursued from sheet to sheet so long as ancestors can be found to record. It will probably be found that lines will be lost in some branches before the right-hand margin of the first chart is reached, but space is provided for them when found, and such time as they are found will be sufficient time to allow for their continuation. By this method there is no mass of blank pages left for unfound lines. Sheets can be added when required, thus conserving cost and the bulkiness of the record which would otherwise occur. It is just as easy to continue a line on chart No. 30 as to do so on chart No. 2 if twenty-nine genealogy charts are used before some ancestral line is found to reach the right-hand margin of chart No. 1.

CHART NO. ___________

CONTINUATION OF CHART NO.____________

					(16) Father’s father’s father’s father
				(8) Father’s father’s father	B	M
					D	R
				B
				M	-17
				D	B	D
		(4) Father’s father		R
		B
		M			-18
		D			B	M
		R		-9	D	R
				B
				D	-19
					B	D
	(2) Father’s name
P A T E R N A L	B
	M				-20
	D			(10) Father’s mother’s father	B	M
	R				D	R
				B
				M	-21
				D	B	D
		(5) Father’s mother		R
		B
		D			-22
				(11) Father’s mother’smother	B	M
					D	R
				B
	ANCESTORS OF			D	-23
					B	D
	(1) Own name
M A T E R N A L	B
	R				-24
				(12)  Mother’s father’s father	B	M
					D	R
				B
				M	-25
				D	B	D
		(6) Mother’s father		R
		B
		M			-26
		D		(13) Mother’s father’s mother	B	M
		R			D	R
				B
				D	-27
					B	D
	(3) Mother
	B
	D				-28
				(14)  Mother’s mother’s father	B	M
					D	R
				B
				M	-29
				D	B	D
		(7) Mother’s mother		R
		B
		D			-30
				(15) Mother’s mother’smother	B	M
B - Born					D	R
M - Married				B
D - Died				D	-31
R - Resided					B	D

It is not advisable to use ring binders to hold the genealogy charts. They do not hold the sheets firmly with the result that the holes soon tear out, and if patched with cloth which can be purchased and al­ready punched and designed for the purpose, the capacity of the binder is only lessened to that degree. There are a num­ber of stock binders having posts instead of rings, and with a mechanical arrangement that provides for compression of the sheets at the binding edge which holds them firmly in place. It is advised in starting the project to fill the binder to its minimum capacity that firm binding may be secured, even though a large portion of the sheets at first are blank.

A binder should be selected which can be opened for the insertion of new leaves at any place in the book without an undue amount of work in caring for the leaves of the two sections between the opening and the covers.

All binders and papers should be selected of the stock sizes. There is no point in having odd sizes which require special binders or filing arrangement. Only added cost will result.

The Paper

Strong paper should be used for genealogy charts as it will be handled a great deal and must be selected to withstand many years of wear. It is well not to select too thick a paper stock as the book will be large if any considerable amount of work is done on it, and care should be exercised to choose a paper which will retain its color without fading or growing yellow or dingy. If a tinted paper, such as cream or primrose, is selected there is less likely to be noticeable any change than if pure white is used.

Typing

It is strongly advised to have the finished work typed, even if someone has to be paid for doing it. Handwritten genealogy charts never present the neat appearance and legibility of typed manuscript. It will be found advantageous many times while work is in progress on certain families if their record is hand­written, using one of the forms for a work sheet, but after all the data have been secured, the record should be typed and the work sheet discarded.

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