I Seek

Comments about what I strive to obtain for my genealogy file.Updated: 13 Apr 2009

We try to record the full name (including middle name) of each person and information on 5 life events: birth, christening, marriage, death, and burial.

It is easiest to read dates when they are written in this format: 7 May 1939.

We try to obtain the date for each event, and the city/town, county, and state where the event occured.

It is very important to record the name of the county where events took place. In many states there are multiple places with the same place name so knowing the county name is important.
In the case of burials, we also record the name of the cemetery.

When someone marries into the line, we record the name of their parents (maiden name for the mother).

We like to get newspaper clippings about weddings, anniversaries, deaths, and other events that took place in family member's lives, along with short stories and recollections written by family members. This textual information is entered in the note field for each person. This information is what makes reading a genealogy interesting.

This material can be shared in the form of clippings, scanned images, or typed text. Getting the information already typed is a big help.

You also might want to consider writing a few paragraphs about yourself, your spouse, your children, your parents, and grandparents which I could include in the "Note" field for each person.

Things that I think might be of interest are: where did they grow up, where did they live, what schools did they attend, did they have military service and if so, with what units and where, when did they met their spouse, what did they do for a living, did they receive any awards or citations, did they ever serve in public office or do public service, in what organizations did they hold membership, what was their religious affiliation, and what significant events occurred in their lives?

File: !alliwan.txt