Free Genealogy Templates – Forms and Charts to Keep You Organized
Once you’ve started making progress in your genealogy research, you will quickly start to notice that you have a growing pile of papers and notes that will need to be organized. Early on in your research, you should locate some free genealogy templates to help you keep track of the families in your tree. Genealogy charts and forms are useful to pencil in names and dates as you come across them to give you a quick visual of how the information fits into the bigger picture. Some people prefer to keep all their research on paper. Others like to transfer it to genealogy software. I personally do a little of both – I like to keep the paper charts as a quick reference if I am going to library. I’m not one to take my laptop with me. I spend too much time in the stacks and don’t want to worry about it walking off! But I do love genealogy software to stay organized overall, especially with hundreds of names.
Here is a run down on the types of forms: pedigree charts are the standard family tree views that show an individual on the left and several generations of ancestors on the right. Family group sheets show details about one couple and their children only. This is where you can record items such as spouses/marriages for each of the siblings which would not go on a pedigree chart. Other types of charts you may want to try out are research logs, census forms, and correspondence logs.
Here are some great charts to fit in a lot of people: click here
Here is a giant list of genealogy forms and charts: click here
I also found this neat Relationship Chart which helps you determine how you are related to other descendants of a common ancestors.
Using genealogy templates will make a huge difference in how you organize your research or present your research to other family members.
