keeping good research notes

[kencwalker]

To avoid hijacking another topic (again), I'm starting a new thread from a previous post...

As I wrap up my research, I want to give my sister and my sons the results of the research I’ve done our family.

You know, you are never done....there's always another generation to research.

Considering how our ancestors were named, there are so many Giovannas, Giuseppes, and Marias sprinkled in the family tree, it is very hard NOT to get confused.

and Battistas and Giovanni Battistas and Giovanni Marias....and Pedroncellis that marry Pilattis, and Pilattis that marry Pedroncellis and Cantoias that marry Cantoias....and birth, marriage and death records scattered across 3 or 4 towns...what's so confusing about that?!?

Here’s my idea:
- Overview of entire Family Tree – add a poster that is inclusive of the whole gang.
- Binder
--Divider with Surname
-- Family tree with key individuals for one line (ex, paternal surname)
-- Family Group Sheets (via genealogy software, or online form)
-- Source Usage (Citation details)
--An option is to include information on the Communes which are important to your family.

Seriously, I like your binder idea. I take a lot of notes, but not always organized by family. So far it's worked - I have a pretty good memory and not too many Italians to track. We'll see how well my memory works when I return to the Swedes and Scots. LOL @ me.

I'm curious about the "Divider with Surname". As noted above, I have surnames that weave in and out of my family as brides and grooms. How many surnames/ancestral lines are you tracking (since the number doubles with every generation)?

Grazie!!
--Ken

[peonygirl]

Ken – it is true, we are never done. But at some point, you have to have a cut-off date. I’ve gone back to 1700s with my Italian ancestors. I went to the local Family History Center, eager to delve into Parish records, but was told that while I might find some anecdotal information, there was little more to find. They were wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but that told me it was time to stop.

My Family Tree Maker software has great forms – the publication function pulls all the information into the forms for you. So I’ve printed out a bow-tie family chart of all the key people, paternal and maternal lines. It breaks up into 4 sheets, each with a family line. I see what you mean, there are so many offshoots. But what I did was go backwards. I started with my grandparents – paternal and maternal. The blood line is direct from them. In this case, Giustino Iezzi (Section 1) married Annina Colangelo (Section 2), my father was one of the results. Ditto for my maternal grandparents; Diego Gagliano (Section 3) married Maria Pitruzzella (Section 4), resulting in my mother. Since my parents came from these couples, it is a direct line. They have first importance. I may add adjunct families – which are of interest but not integral.

BTW, the One Name Study by the U. of Toronto turned out to be focused totally on the UK as it is run by a One Name Study Guild there – so it does not apply to my Italian ancestors. I will keep their information (books, course) to see if I can apply the principles of the study to Italy at some point.

Peonygirl

[kencwalker]

at some point, you have to have a cut-off date. I’ve gone back to 1700s with my Italian ancestors.

PG, you are way beyond me. I'm stuck at 1866, trying to bend a mirror around a corner -- using marriage and death records to deduce birth years and parents prior to that. Now I'm emailing the comunes for earlier records. No response yet. Next is snail mail. Then I'll try the local parishes. Progress is painstakingly slow.

My Family Tree Maker software has great forms – the publication function pulls all the information into the forms for you.

I'm still using online tools for my record keeping (primarily FamilySearch).
Which FTM are you using? The MacKiev version? How do you like it?
Do you synch it with your online records? How well does that work?

So I’ve printed out a bow-tie family chart of all the key people, paternal and maternal lines. It breaks up into 4 sheets, each with a family line. ... I started with my grandparents – paternal and maternal.

Seems I always learn something from your posts. This time it's "bow-tie family chart". I've seen other formats, but not this. Good to know. So, you have one bow-tie sheet starting with each grandparent? Also, how are you printing it? (how many generations? what size? at home or a commercial printer?)

Your binder Sections 1 thru 4 are the same? Each starts with a grandparent, and includes all of their ancestors (paternal and maternal)? Are you including any siblings in the family group sheets?

BTW, the One Name Study by the U. of Toronto turned out to be focused totally on the UK as it is run by a One Name Study Guild there – so it does not apply to my Italian ancestors.

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear that. I'm curious; how is a One Name Study different in the UK vs Italy? (besides that Italians have better food and a cooler accent.) My ancestors' comunes are so small, sometimes it feels like I'm doing a Two Name Study. LOL
Once you do this for Italy, you can write the book and give the webinar!

Mille Grazie!
-Ken

[VotM]

Ken – it is true, we are never done. But at some point, you have to have a cut-off date.

Or a cut-off ancestor. I've run into three foundlings in the course of my family research which have closed off further pursuit.

I’ve gone back to 1700s with my Italian ancestors. I went to the local Family History Center, eager to delve into Parish records, but was told that while I might find some anecdotal information, there was little more to find. They were wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but that told me it was time to stop.

In the brief few weeks that the Sicilian Riveli were available via online access at my local FHC, I was able to push two lines into the 1600's. The findings for one line were of sufficient interest (and left sufficient doubt as to whether or not there was a missing generation) that I finally reached out to contact researchers in Sicily; no word back yet there on the availability of the records they'd need to verify what I suspect.

[peonygirl]

PG, you are way beyond me. I'm stuck at 1866, trying to bend a mirror around a corner -- using marriage and death records to deduce birth years and parents prior to that. Now I'm emailing the comunes for earlier records. No response yet. Next is snail mail. Then I'll try the local parishes. Progress is painstakingly slow.

Very true. I am retired, so I can devote an obscene amount of time to it. It's really a matter of detail and a lot of luck...

I'm still using online tools for my record keeping (primarily FamilySearch).
Which FTM are you using? The MacKiev version? How do you like it?
Do you synch it with your online records? How well does that work?

I went from Family Historian (which is UK based - I obviously have an affinity for things English....) to Family Tree Maker 2014 by MacKiev version. I love it. It works seamlessly with the Ancestry tree; I usually update the Ancestry tree and then synch it with FTM. It synchs beautifully - including media you put into Ancestry. So it solved the problem of entering information into many different sources. I love the forms they provide for you - which you can print out using the usual home printer. I feel better knowing that no matter what Ancestry decides with their tree, I will always have a solidly built tree offline. Their customer service is great too.

Seems I always learn something from your posts. This time it's "bow-tie family chart". I've seen other formats, but not this. Good to know. So, you have one bow-tie sheet starting with each grandparent? Also, how are you printing it? (how many generations? what size? at home or a commercial printer?)

Thank you!! I'm glad I can give back a tiny bit to how much this Forum has helped me. Here is a link to the bow tie chart idea - http://www.ancestryprinting.com/bowtiechart.html You can get one off of the Ancestry site (do a search there on forms as it is not apparent in the main links). It depends where you start as to how many generations will be in it. I started with my father and it built up - I think the limit is 9 generations (we wish!!!). For me, it prints out on my trusty HP printer (one of those all-in-one things) in 4 8x10 pages - so it breaks up into the line of each family.

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear that. I'm curious; how is a One Name Study different in the UK vs Italy? (besides that Italians have better food and a cooler accent.) My ancestors' comunes are so small, sometimes it feels like I'm doing a Two Name Study. LOL

Well, their resources which we have to build on are all from UK - and to be honest, it is too much work for something I am not going to use. Tests, submitting reports, exams.....no thanks! I'd rather spend my time on the binder. I'm also taking a Calligraphy course in October and have created a lovely template of concentric circles that flows for one line that is much prettier than the bow tie chart but we shall see how it goes from inspiration to paper!

Once you do this for Italy, you can write the book and give the webinar!
That would be so fun! But I'll be happy just to have a lovely binder full of great information my grandkids can build on....

Peonygirl

[peonygirl]

Votm - nice work. Going back to the 1600's is like a dream! The nice thing about the binder is that if new information comes up and you have a brainstorm of how the puzzle fits together, the pages can be swapped out.
I did find one person whose mother did not claim him, but his father did, so he had a family but it was not his biological mother. I guess we are imperfect, so our trees represent that!

PG

[VotM]

Votm - nice work. Going back to the 1600's is like a dream!

It calls for a good bit of luck, linking a family across the years through the Riveli; especially when you're dealing with a jump from 1747/8 to to 1811. Not everyone is listed. In my case, not only were there links back for two of the lines, both of the adult males listed in the 1747/8 Riveli had established their families late in life. So, I have two ancestors born ~1680-1690, and names for their fathers which places those ancestors back another 20+ years.

I did find one person whose mother did not claim him, but his father did, so he had a family but it was not his biological mother. I guess we are imperfect, so our trees represent that!

This is one reason I enjoy going through the Italian records: for the stories and the connections that would be difficult to find, if not lost entirely, in a simple index database.

In my family, one of my great-grandfather's first cousins claimed two children that the mother did not initially claim on the birth records. (My first reaction on reading those records: "What do you mean, you can't name the mother of this child?!" ) It was only during WWI that this cousin and the mother of those children finally married -- by proxy, presumably while he was away at war. All of the children were acknowledged and legitimized at that time. Sadly, before the close of the war, his new wife died during the Spanish flu pandemic.

[kencwalker]

Here is a link to the bow tie chart idea - http://www.ancestryprinting.com/bowtiechart.html
You can get one off of the Ancestry site (do a search there on forms as it is not apparent in the main links). It depends where you start as to how many generations will be in it. I started with my father and it built up - I think the limit is 9 generations (we wish!!!). For me, it prints out on my trusty HP printer (one of those all-in-one things) in 4 8x10 pages - so it breaks up into the line of each family.

Yeppers, I found the Ancestry Printing website when researching bow tie charts.
Help me (please).....how do you search the Ancestry site for forms?
After a lot of clicking, it's still not apparent to me.
(9 generation limit - yeah I wish - I only need 4 if I start with my mother).

Thanks,
-Ken

[peonygirl]

Well, to be honest, I used the site map which I got to by scrolling down to the bottom of the site. Once there, the list will point you to the right place. Of course, since it's Ancestry, they don't call it forms, its a posh family templates. Here is the link - http://www.ancestry.com/download/charts But I don't see a bow tie chart.

There are other options -
Family Tree Templates - https://www.familytreetemplates.net/category/bowtie
(not sure about the owners of this site, but a form is a form)

Obituary Help - http://obituarieshelp.org/family_charts ... tions.html

Many thanks,
Peonygirl

[peonygirl]

Votm - And after luck, apparently, is patience. It would have been nice if the naming convention also mandated that a unique middle name had to be used for all the same first names. I am glad they wanted to honor their ancestors, but it sure made it impossible for us eons later.

It's very confusing trying to figure out the marriages, I agree. Husbands/Wives died, the partner remarried, and there may or may not be a record of the previous marriage. I really empathize with you about your generational puzzle.

My reaction to the woman not claiming her child was astonishment - how is that possible? How could a mother deny her son - even if she stepped out on the rest of his life, it would be only decent to provide a name. Yours is a story that is bittersweet - the children get recognized, but the wife dies.

Peonygirl

[VotM]

Ken, you started this thread off with a note about not wanting to hijack another thread. So instead, this thread has become a hijackee...

Anyway, PG, with the difference in the era and the culture I'm not sure if an unwed mother might have gained any advantage from not being officially recorded as same. But I do know that in the case of the one cousin in my family, by the third child all pretense had dropped and she was named as the mother on the birth record. This continued for four more children before the marriage took place.

[peonygirl]

well, just goes to show time changes all things. BTW, I spoke with the Institute (NIGS) and they very easily swapped my One Name Study to an Italian course that starts in September, no fee. I'm happy !!! And they have free virtual meetings anyone can attend on genealogy topics (last nights was American Records - anyone can join in and ask questions) led by a genealogist.