Family Wisdom Tree

Family Tree Basics

 

Family history is much more than lifeless dates, records, and research.

 

Preserving living memory and connecting with family members is both enjoyable and educational. Creating and building a family tree can lead to insights about where your family has come from, who your are as individuals, even where you may be headed.

 

 

A family tree is a chart representing branching family relationships in the form of a classic tree.  This usually presents the youngest generations at the base of the tree with the older generations at the top -- even though the illustration at left does the opposite!  The tree records family members’ names and their relationships charted through a series of connections branching from the most recent relative.  Spouses are linked by a solid line and their children by birth either descend to form the ‘roots’ of the tree or ascend to make up the bough (see left).  This is a somewhat archetypal representation of the ongoing vitality of family relationships. Mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, form branches that constantly diverge from roots to crown. Broken lines can denote a link to a relationship that is not clearly established, such as possible second spouse that was unrecorded.

 

 

There are many different ways to chart a family tree. Some use an actual picture of a tree, the leaves of which have become family names. Some use simple line diagrams and others used boxed charts. Some people color-code their family trees to show the different family groups. For example, if your father's surname was Hunt but your mother's maiden name was Irwin you can show all the Irwins in her line and their relations in one color and all the Hunts from your father's side in another.

 

 

 

Family genealogical data can be represented in other formats too. A pedigree chart, for example, is a favorite type of family 'tree' connecting younger generations to older generations branching from left-to-right.  

 

Ancestry.com offers both a pedigree chart and a descendant chart (see below) format in their online family tree environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another poplar option is the fan chart featuring a half circle with concentric rings.  The person of interest is shown at the inner circle with subsequent paternal and maternal generations divided by twos behind them. 

 

Family Tree Maker software offers the fan chart as an optional way to view family relationships.

 

 

 

 

Descendant charts (see below) illustrate the divergence of family lines over time.  Connections descend from a central figure at the top of the chart to subsequent generations and their extended relationships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family trees can also have themes. One tree might encompass all direct descendants of a single figure such as shown in the above descendancy charts.  Another tree might show all known ancestors of a living person.  A third tree might include all members of a certain surname (e.g. male or Y-DNA ancestors).  An increasingly popular option is the matrilineal chart showing maternal ancestors and their spouses beginning with the central figure’s mother.  This chart illustrates the line of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transmitted from an ancestral mother reaching far back into time.

 

 

Family trees are fluid and dynamic records of the past. They are always growing and changing as new connections are found, ancestors are traced and studied, new unions are formed and their children are born.  Family trees keep a record of blood ties and connect people to their personal histories. They may be used to trace cultural and regional origins and to track genetic links – an increasingly important and interesting way to confirm relationships. Together this information serves to educate others and to preserve family and social histories. 

 

The family tree you assemble will be a prized possession for generations to come!

 

 

 As a final note, your family tree is considered to be a ‘casual record’ only, an informal document that can be developed and managed by anyone. It is not a legally binding proof of relationships.

 

While relations may be validated by professional genealogists or historians, the only way to formally confirm the details of a tree is through recognized historical and governmental documents such as birth, marriage, death and divorce certificates, military or baptismal documents and immigration records. 

 

These days many on-line family tree services such as Ancestry.com provide such copies and appropriate references as attachments to a family tree where they may be available and have been converted to electronic formats.