Lesson 2 Articles

A Non-Traditional Family Tree

Genealogybeginner.com is set to tackle same sex marriage, test tube babies and strong opinions.

Last week genealogybeginner.com received a post on our forums that brought up a very timely and relevant issue. The subject of this thought provoking post… how to record non-traditional relationships in your family tree.

This significant topic tends to bring up far more questions than answers. It has also sparked more than a few passionate debates among genealogists.

A Blended Family Tree

The definition of family has certainly shifted. From the narrow boundaries of the nuclear family common in our great grandparent’s day, to our current culture of:

–          Blended families

–          Common law unions

–          Same-sex marriages

Add to this the further complications of test tube babies and children conceived by surrogate mothers; then try to decide how to document and record these events.

Genealogy Purist or Genealogy Radical

In the genealogy world, there are definitely some strong opinions on the subject with two main schools of thought.

One school of thought comes from a purest view that insists; only direct genetic relationships have a place in your family tree. This view is the same one that states aunts, uncles, cousins and even siblings have no place in the genealogical record.

The second school of thought makes a case for recording all information about a family group. The argument on this side of the fence states that if there is an existing record then the information should be included.

No matter what your personal view, genealogy has yet to come up with a software program equipped to deal with it all.

Ask a Genealogist

See this post on the Ask a Genealogist forum. Let us know if you would like more information on how to record non-traditional relationships. We welcome questions dealing with the documentation of complicated offspring.

 

How To Do A Family Tree – 4 Critical Public Resources

I thought it would be helpful to review the public resources available to you when trying to figure out how to do a family tree. We cover each of these in detail in The Genealogy Guide so I won’t go overboard here. Sometimes knowing the list of resources available is half the battle.

 

 

 

How To Do A Family Tree – Four Must Know Resources

• First of all, you need to know that much of the Social Security database can be accessed as a part of public record in the United States. This is a great place to start

• Other Government resources include the Office for Vital Records and the Department of Veteran Affairs

• Don’t overlook your local courthouse or other public records like those kept by the Knights of Columbus

• Finally, local records from the main ports of call in the US are a great source for immigration records

This is just the basics. What do you think? Am I missing a fundamental public resource? Use the comments area below to add your favorite basic public source for genealogy record hunting.