What I Seek

Over the years of working on many genealogy projects I often shared information similar to that found in the following paragraphs as I encouraged people I corresponded with to share more information with me. It's been sometime since I posted "What I Seek" on the Internet. I've made some revisions and additions.

Try to record information on 5 life events:

1. birth
2. christening
3. marriage
4. death
5. burial

It is easiest to read dates when they are written in this format: 7 May 1901.

For each life event try to obtain:

• the date of the event
• the city/town
• county
• state

It's important to record the county names because some states have several places with the same city/town names.

In the case of burials, also record the name of the cemetery.

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

Newspaper clippings about weddings, anniversaries, deaths, and other events in people's lives, along with short stories and recollections written by family members are good sources for genealogy information and the text of these articles can be entered in the note field for each person.

Consider writing a few paragraphs about yourself, your spouse, your parents, and grandparents to 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, what rank did they hold
• where, when did they met their spouse
• what did they do for a living
• what was their religious affiliation
• what organizations did they belong to
• did they receive any awards or citations
• did they ever serve in public office
• what significant events occurred in their lives

Adding textual information to your genealogy will transform your published genealogy from a list of Biblical-like begats into a book that others will enjoy reading.