Genealogists don't do it like this anymore. By “this",” I am referring to the practice of regularly handwriting out massive charts of family tree information.
While at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City during RootsTech this year I took a tour of the building and was absolutely mesmerized when I was in the map collection room. It was in here where I came across a book that captivated my fancy.
It was a book full of large format family tree pedigree charts, and the form being used was a 15 generation chart. Do you know how big that is! I was truly taken.
This is how genealogy was done back in the day after all. Before we had the convenience of computers that we do now.
However, let me tell you three reasons why I was enamored with these charts:
1) are all the names in these pedigrees now represented an online family trees? FamilySearch maintains fabulous online databases of family tree charts; did someone take the time “back in the day” to convert these once computers started to become ubiquitous? I kept looking at the charts hoping so! If these have not been converted, oh the potential!
2) I couldn't help but think what a pain it would be to work on these back in the 1970s and 1980s when you had to do it on paper and constantly have to make changes. While we do have paper forms now, I bet not many do 15 generation charts! Imagine finding a mistake and then having to redo the whole thing? 😱
3) should I write out my family tree and put it on a physical chart like this and send it into the library? I regularly contribute to the FamilySearch Family Tree, but there’s something so appealing about “depositing” my family chart with the mecca of genealogy, the FamilySearch Library. I am not able to go back 15 generations, but I can do 10 generations if I start with my daughter. Something to think about 🤣.
What do you think?