What Details Should I Save to My Family Tree? | Genealogy Basics

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

🌳 5 Charts to Visualize Your Family Trees 👉🏼kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHbIm3Wgg7SrmNk

[@KateAnneNYC]

Adding more color makes a name come alive. Thanks for the info!

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

You're so welcome. I'm always happy to be of service.

[@AnnetteKapple]

I think the timeline format is very helpful when adding facts.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Agreed! That's one of my favorite tools that genealogy programs do automatically for us.

[@treeclimber2]

Looking forward to the rootsmagic tutorial

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Awesome. Next week.

[@lizagervais8621]

I’ve been adding facts to profiles for decades

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Awesome!

[@teresaeckford5072]

I did at first add very specific kinds of facts, like "newspaper article", etc, but after switching to using Family Historian, I changed to using the articles etc as evidence to support more standard facts such as occupation, residence, etc.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

That's definitely something to consider. I think you can also do both. For instance, the stabbing is nice to appear in the timeline as a new article. But an obituary could be evidence to support, birth, marriage, death, and relationships. So, we could actually do multiple strategies in genealogy software, which I love.

[@teresaeckford5072]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics yep - there are no official rules (other than always cite your sources) - we can do as we like with our tree :)

[@Raydarnsky]

Yes please, adding and editing facts in Roots Magic 8 would be spectacular. I have tried to no avail. Thanks for the video and keep on doing what you do so well.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Thanks for the support. Next week, RM 8 Facts

[@bekgilbert6562]

I add "Memberships" like historical societies, Freemasons, DAR/SAR, etc.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Ohh!!! That's a great one. I can't believe I failed to mention that one.

[@theropesofrenovation9352]

Thank you!

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

You bet. Anytime.

[@prye1]

Very useful information as I use all of these platforms.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Glad it was helpful!

[@suzannemcclendon]

Cool! I had never noticed the Custom Event choice in Ancestry's Fact field menu. This will come in handy as there are often facts that I have no idea where I should put them. Thanks! I have another category idea that, unfortunately, has been a common occurrence in my family - Murder Victim or Crime Victim or maybe just Victim of Tragedy, which would cover the two previously mentioned categories, as well as things like natural disasters, drowning, fires, animal attacks, etc.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Great idea for another category idea. I just added that to the Fact Types Master List..

[@suzannemcclendon]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics Thank you!

[@gameboyguy13]

One small correction at 8:44 - the specific event type Fortify Your Family Tree mentioned is not "interment" as in burial, but rather "internment", the relocation and imprisonment during World War 2 of Japanese people descent into camps on the west coast. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Hey, that makes it even more important, does it not. Forgive me for misreading that. I think it's easy to do. That makes a huge different. I might need to get my prescriptions checked again. Yikes!

[@gigantor56]

Legal name change done through the courts and department of health if they went so far as to get a new birth certificate. Is this a custom event type or just an event to be added to their lifestory?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Great question. Legal name change through the courts would have it's own date. You would then put the note about issuing a new birth certificate in the notes field associated with the name change. You can link the new birth certificate to the birth facts if it retains the birth date, place, and parents names. But you wouldn't create a separate fact for the birth. And you would also leave a note when attaching the name changed source to the birth event as to why they refer to the same person. And reference that note to the legal name change date. In short, you have a birth fact and a name change fact. Both can have sources linked to each fact. Each fact should also use the note fields to point to the reasons the sources support the fact. Does that make sense?

[@joancresimore2194]

I have a question. I did a single parent adoption. I was married previously and was divorced. I have the most trouble entering her in Ancestry, or family search, or Family tree maker. They want a father for her. As she being an adoptee I did it without a husband. I do not have birth parent info from the country she came from. Am I missing how to do a single parent adoption info on these platforms?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

In most cases, you can link a child to one parent (single parent adoption), but you HAVE to write notes about that fact so folks will know not to look for an adoptive father. The family tree always looks for a partner, which is why you like to one and write lots of notes. But you don't have to add another parental unit even though there is space for one. If you're every able to add details about the biological parents, you would add those to her and identify them as the biological parents. Does this make sense?

[@joancresimore2194]

@FamilyHistoryFanatics Yes that's kind of what I've done. In one place I put S. P. A. In the father place and listed that as Single Parent Adoption. I've documented her story too. And we are planning to do ancestry DNA next month to see what nationalities show up and to see if there's any connections but not expecting much. She's from Bulgaria and a poor area so doubting many test there. But if we were told the right information she may have a sister in the US and one in Belgium. So will be interesting to see if she gets any connections.