When doing ancestry research there should be an adequate index by which means the story of an ancestor may be easily found. This index may be very con­cise. A sheet should be allowed for each family name, and the entire index bound into the front or back of the book, as the genealogist prefers, in alphabetical order. On the sheet as­signed to a particular family line should be entered the names and numbers of the persons entering as ancestors, for example:

Rogers,

Mary 3-7 Joseph 4-14 Samuel 5-28

If it is desired to index the names of the children of an­cestors, which is not at all necessary unless one wishes to keep account of them for some future use, the names of an­cestors may be indexed as above in a left-hand column and the names of children in a right-hand column of the same sheet, picking up again for the next in the left-hand column the child who was an ancestor, thus

Rogers,

Mary 3-7 Joseph 4-14 Samuel Mary Sarah Joseph 4-14

If separate sheets are devoted to each family name there will be no difficulty encountered as additions are made to the line and new names are added from time to time. The list will be so short as to render unnecessary any alphabetical arrangement.

Order of Filing

Either of two methods may be recommended for filing the finished work of your ancestry research. If relatively few lines are worked out, the sheets may be filed numerically. If this method is followed the sheet of the individual whose ancestry is being examined, being numbered I-O, will become the first page in the book, unless the index is put in the front of the book. Then will follow in order 2-0 and 2-1, the father and mother; 3-0 and 3-1, the father's father and mother; 3-2 and 3-3, the mother's father and mother, and so on to the end of the book and the highest number used. There will be many breaks in the progression. Later work will fill these gradually as ancestors and lines are found who will fit into these broken places in the chain. The book will grow from all points of breaks in numbers.

The only paging necessary is the unit pages of each an­cestor where more than one sheet of paper has been used to complete either children, second marriages or biography. The numbers of the ancestors is the index, and will form all the paging necessary. Each generation will form a completed unit or section of the history.

If, however, the book is to contain many lines of ancestry and become a bulky history, it is better to file by family alphabetically, using a division sheet between the families which may also serve as an index of the book and a chart of the family. This method will enable the reader to find any given line in its entirety without jumping from section to section in the book.

In compiling your ancestry research, it will be found that all families excepting the one line carrying the same family name as that of the pivotal person whose ancestry is being worked out, will of necessity begin with a female name, the change of name and the introduction of a new family line coming by way of marriage, the dropping of the family name of the wife and the assuming of the family name of the husband. For example, Jeremiah Hall married Susan Green. Therefore, the Green line will begin with Susan who brought her family blood into the Hall family. This will be true with every line except that of the father of the subject whose an­cestry is being recorded.

Therefore, in beginning the history of any family for its final form in the book, the first or parental information page of the husband's family should be copied for the beginning of the history of the wife's family, i.e.: To begin the Green line the parental page of Jeremiah Hall should be copied, showing the proper index numbers, names of Jeremiah's parents, his place and date of birth, death and marriage to Susan, the names of her parents and the place and date of her birth and death. Then under Biography should be written, For the children of Susan (Green) Hall see the record of her husband under Jeremiah Hall.

Then may follow in order the units covering Susan's parents, her grandparents, and thus as far back as the line is worked out.

While the history of Jeremiah Hall will be filed in its proper place under the H's, Susan's sheet will be the first of her family and will be filed in its order under the G's.

It will be found advantageous for future reference if the name of the wife, Susan in this instance, is typed in red, thus showing that it is the duplicate sheet beginning her family, and not the sheet properly belonging to her husband and his family which is filed in his family line.

The Division Sheet

In the method last described it is advisable to insert a sheet dividing each family. This is both index and chart of the family in your ancestry research. It may be cut from ledger paper of a different color from the regular record sheets and should be % inch wider for indexing purposes. On the outer edge should be typed the family name (Green) and on the sheet should be charted the family in order beginning with the ancestress who carried the relationship into that particular family name. The number of the generation and index should appear; the date of birth and death, and the person to whom married. This while not necessary to the record, will be found of great convenience for future reference. This division sheet should precede the family record and will appear when properly made out, in this order:

	Green:
		8-107 Susan		1714-1797
			m. Jeremiah Hall
		9-214 Richard		1666-1724
			m. Elizabeth Barton
		10-428 Thomas		1628-1717
			m. Mary Cushman

Working Papers

The compiler of his ancestry research will wish his finished work to be neat and clean; a record which may be handed down with pride to future generations. In order to accom­plish this, some method must be employed for getting data from various sources, from which the final compilation may be made. Family records, public records, cemeteries, are some of the many and varied sources from which the searcher will draw material. To carry about into all these places of in­formation what is to be the final draft of the history would only result in a soiled and sorry looking accumulation of papers.

Therefore it is necessary to have some form of working papers.

The form shown and described heretofore as recommended for the finished history may be used, but it has several seri­ous disadvantages as a working sheet. It is too large and cumbersome for use out-of-doors and in cemeteries where the worker is at the mercy of wind and weather; it cannot be conveniently carried from place to place without folding unless the worker carried a brief case, and it will have to be carried about a great deal; it cannot be mailed, as is fre­quently necessary without folding, and it cannot be as con­veniently filed for reference.

The form shown herewith is the same as that used for work­ing sheets in the compilation of genealogical matter and fully described under that section in this work. It is admirably adapted for the collecting of data of family history. Under Index is written the generation number followed by a dash and   the   index   number,   as   explained   heretofore   [4-12 (4-13)]. The remainder of the form so closely resembles the arrangement of the larger form as to need no specific detailed description. The same rules of putting only one marriage on a sheet, and of carrying more than six children to a second sheet should be followed. It will be found useful in future reference to work already done if the name of the ancestor or ancestress in line among the children listed on the back of the sheet is either written in red or has its individual index num­ber marked against the name in red. Thus the eye will catch the wanted name without reading the entire page, when it is needed for reference.

Great convenience also will be experienced if either a separate sheet, which is preferable, is used for information from each individual source, or different colors of pencils or ink are used. If the latter plan is employed, care should be taken to list at the bottom of the page under Authority the source of the information, and see that the information from that source is written in the body of the blank in the same color of pencil or ink.

Filing the Work Sheet

In ancestry research, the work sheets will have to be constantly used and should be filed in such a manner that they may be readily accessible. They should also be filed in such a manner that they may be protected against soiling and wear if carried about in a hand bag or pocket. To accomplish this result it is advisable that each family line should be separately filed, using the heavy craft manilla envelope number 10 which will withstand much wear and tear and is stiff enough to keep the papers contained in it from being crumpled and rendered difficult to use. Only one family should be filed in an envelope, even though the same family name occurs more than once in the search. Thus ease may be attained in reference to work already done, and no more papers need be carried about than are actually needed for the family under examination.

Form No. 1 Genealogy Work Sheet Front Side		NO.	INDEX
		NAME
		FATHER’S NAME
		MOTHER’S NAME
		BORN AT	ON
		DIED AT	ON
		MARRIED AT	ON
		TO
		FATHER’S NAME
		MOTHER’S NAME
		BORN AT	ON
		DIED AT	ON
		RESIDENCE
		OCCUPATION
		BIOGRAPHY
		AUTHORITY

	CHILDREN				Form No. 1 Genealogy Work Sheet Back Side
	(1) NAME
	BORN AT	ON
	DIED AT	ON
	MARRIED AT	ON
	TO
	(2) NAME
	BORN AT	ON
	DIED AT	ON
	MARRIED AT	ON
	TO
	(3) NAME
	BORN AT	ON
	DIED AT	ON
	MARRIED AT	ON
	TO
	(4) NAME
	BORN AT	ON
	DIED AT	ON
	MARRIED AT	ON
	TO
	(5) NAME
	BORN AT	ON
	DIED AT	ON
	MARRIED AT	ON
	TO
	(6) NAME
	BORN AT	ON
	DIED AT	ON
	MARRIED AT	ON
	TO

It will be found useful if the face of the envelope shows not only the name of the family contained therein, but also a skeleton of the family worked out, and should resemble the division sheet already described under the subject of final filing of the finished work.

On the reverse side of the envelope may be shown listed at the top the names of books, records and persons consulted with reference to the family data contained in the envelope. It is by no means an uncommon happening for a searcher to forget what he has searched regarding a certain family, es­pecially after weeks or perhaps months have elapsed and he has been busy on other lines and finally drifts back to lines long ago laid aside.

At the bottom of the back of the envelope it will be found useful if there is listed the names of places where the family has resided.

Briefly, it will be found advantageous to have on the out­side of the cover of the papers contained therein, any infor­mation which will save opening the envelope and going through the contents.

The outside of the envelope would then somewhat re­semble the following:

	CUSH.ING
	4-5 Mary Cushing			1819-1891
	m.		William Alexander
	5-10 Peleg			1792-1831
	m.		Thankful Smith
	6-20 Solomon			1762-1857
	m.		Eunice Wilbur
	7—40 George			1733-1819
	m.		Martha Howe
	8-80 Thomas			1708-
	m.		Catherine Niles
	9-160 John			1682-1732
	m.		Elizabeth Holmes
	10-320 John			1657-1752
	m.		Sarah Gray
	11-640 John
	m.		Mary Rigby
	12-1282 John
	m.		Ann

	Windham Co., Vt. Gazeteer Stonington, Conn. Hist. Bond's Watertown Stonington, Conn. Town Rec. Denison Cemetery, Stonington Mrs. J. B. Smith Letter (Piled)
	Halifax, Vt. Stonington, Conn. Watertown, Mass.

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