Interested in genealogy? Researching family history? I made this template you can print out to help work on your family tree. Five full generations on one page!
One cool thing about family trees laid out this way is that they're fractal. That means you can use this template to go back as far into your genetic history as you want to. For example, if you put yourself in the box at the bottom, the 16 people along the top will be your great x2 grandparents, and you'll have a 5 generation family tree.
But if you want to go further back, you can print out 4 of these - 1 for each of your grandparents. Then your top line will be your 64 great x4 grandparents, giving you a 7 generation family tree! (That's what I'm working on for myself.)
New to genealogy?
Start small! Just fill in the name, year of birth, and year of death for your biological parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Start at the bottom (yourself) and work upward (back in time). If you don't know, don't guess! Just leave it blank, and don't go any further up that branch for now.
Researching available documents (like birth/death certificates, marriage licenses, baptisms, gravestones, etc) can help find answers. These documents can be accessed in person, or on the internet. I recently posted a complete genealogical workup, using my great-grandfather as an example.
Another great source of information is physical items in the possession of living family members. Letters, wills, photos, official documents, even mementos can be used to gather information. Living people themselves can be a wealth of knowledge about your family, and they're often quite happy to be asked to share what they know. You may even already have another genealogist in your family, who might be interested in sharing notes.
However you get the information about your ancestors, a family tree like this is a good way to summarize and display it.
Download
I think this template will be useful to experienced genealogists and newbies alike.
Here's the full-sized template, on its side so the blockchain won't reduce it:
Your printer will add a blank area (border) around the image, so the ink won't go right to the edge of the page as it appears. I needed to use all the space to get 16 people on one line.
And this is an alternative version, suitable for people with neat small printing and good eyesight. The main difference is the writing areas in the boxes are slightly narrower:
Even if you aren't going to fill it out right away, grab a copy for later, or bookmark this page. But I highly recommend you put a few minutes into this important and rewarding endeavor. I guarantee you'll learn about yourself as you learn about where you came from. And you can pass your research on to your descendants.
If you want help, leave me a comment below, or email [email protected] : )
DRutter
Seems like a good foundation, I've been dying to do a family tree for my family.
I'm one of the few males in my family that still carry the family name. In some respects, simply by being my father's son, there is an implicit level of respect that is given to me and not to my other cousins. I find it interesting, but I've always been curious about my family beyond my great grandparents.
I know what you're talking about, and it's very common. A lot of people believe their last name is special, superior, better, etc. Boys get special status because they don't have to change their family name upon getting married. "The family name will live on!" To me, genetics are the underlying, and far more important, part of a person where the family legacy is carried. We are the way we are because of the variations in our DNA, not the names (labels) we use. After all, it takes no more than filling out a form and paying a fee, and anyone can change their name to anything they desire. I could be named "Tom Hanks"... but that doesn't make me a famous actor. At one time, we used last names to keep track of genetics (who begat who), but today we have things like proper documentation, and DNA testing, to keep track of it. We still find value in our last names, and yes, some people get very possessive and egotistical about theirs.
My wife never changed her last name to mine, and is treated differently by my family because of it (even though her decision had nothing to do with them). I have cousins who are like the people you mentioned, believing their name is special and exclusive, and their cousins are somehow not in the same league. It makes zero sense logically or scientifically, but the idea has prime status in their heads, and will always take precedence over reality.
That aside, we should work on your tree. Would you rather discuss it and send links/info by email, or on the blockchain? Most of the information is available to the public, which is the main reason I've been putting all my genealogy stuff on here. Anyone can look up my ancestors and fill out my family tree, so I wouldn't be hiding anything by trying to keep it off the internet. But totally up to you. All we need to get started is some names and/or dates and/or locations.
Nice template, good to have the information in one place. This would go back a long way for me, my family seems to marry late, then have a lot of kids, LOL. The further back you go the more difficult the records are to find.
Interesting that families seem to get smaller as we get more modern. I was one of six, but I have two (all I could afford).
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Weee free printables on the blockchain ready for download. Thanks for uploading! Very meticulous - better than a computer.
Oh nice! This is interesting. I have not think of this before. I only knew until my grandparents, not my great grandparents. Nice idea! thanks..
If you know some things about your grandparents, you can probably use documents to find who their parents were, and so on. If they are alive, or any other close family members, you could ask for some info: names, birth dates, death dates, marriages, and locations.
oh I will try to trace. This is interesting. Thanks for the advice.
This is nice, printables are one of the hot product selling out fast on esty store.
It will be interesting to know my family tree. In Venezuela, something complicated, because some 200 years ago, we were still a Spanish colony, and you can imagine all the barbarities that were committed during the conquest and colonization. In my case, I only know that my great-grandfather was Spanish, but I don't even remember his name.
Now I wonder... why in Hive is your reward crossed out?
You bring up a good point, Ray - some people aren't able to, or don't want to, find information about their family's history. Wars, immigration, poverty, cultural practices, crime, adoption... there are many potential reasons.
I post some of my content to Hive, but because of the downvoting whales there, I can't allow payouts on my posts. By declining payout, it stops their tactics. Of course, it means I can never make another cent on Hive... which is very sad because after many years I finally worked my way up to $20+ posts, and was close to realizing my goal of being a paid content-creator. The leader of my tormentors on Hive is Markymark, who is now complaining that the same tactic is being used against him - bigger whales are downvoting all his content and removing his rewards. I am glad Blurt doesn't allow this.
It disgusts me that people can't leave others alone on the blogs! That one thing may kill the blog platform that allows it. I was stomped on by a whale that doesn't even post anymore, because another whale liked my post!
Down voting should be reserved for truly bad content, and used sparingly! It should also be limited to once a week, and cost significant crypto to use. This one weakness has cut my posting down from daily to weekly (at best); and since content generation is the strength of the blog chain, continued attacks could destroy blurt just like it did steemit!
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