How do I list divorces on family tree charts?
It depends whether you’re putting together a family tree for research purposes or for another reason, such as a decorative display.
For genealogy research, you’d record all this information, but not on one chart. On your five-generation ancestor chart, you record only your biological ancestors—parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. No aunts, uncles, cousins or siblings. Do no list spouses or partners who aren’t your ancestors.
That means you’d put your mom’s biological parents on a five-generation chart even if they divorced and remarried other people. Also, because no siblings are listed on a five-generation chart, you don’t have to worry about any half- or step siblings your mom may have.
You’ll record siblings and other spouses on a family group sheet for each family. Here, you write the parents and children of a nuclear family; this form also has spaces to name each parent’s previous or subsequent spouses. If your grandmother was widowed before she met your grandfather, you’d make two family group sheets for her: One for your grandmother with her first husband and their children, and another for your grandmother with your grandfather and their children.
You may be thinking that five-generation charts aren’t very adaptable to blended, adoptive and other nontraditional families. In a purely genealogical sense, ancestors are biological parents, grandparents, etc., whether or not they lived with their children. But if you want to trace your adoptive or stepfamily, you can find charts designed for nontraditional families.
If you’re filling out a decorative family tree for display or a baby book, rather than one for your personal research, how you handle relationships is really up to you. It is recommended that to prevent confusion for future family historians, you indicate relationships clearly and/or also keep a five-generation pedigree chart with biological relationships.
If you’re designing your own tree, you can use dashed or colored lines (similar to those on a type of family map called a genogram) to indicate various types of relationships.
How do I list remarriages on family tree charts?
Most family tree charts show facts about people, with no unfairness. Let’s call your much-married person Adam Jones. Here’s how two types of charts would handle his spouses:
A pedigree chart shows one person’s ancestors.
A family group sheet shows one married couple and their shared children, with space to list other spouses. Create one family group sheet for Adam and his first wife, and another for Adam and his second wife. If they had no children, you can still make a family group sheet showing their marriage information.
Most genealogy computer programs and online family tree builders allow you to enter all of a person’s spouses and children, and attach the children to the proper parents. Most programs will also print out charts.
Don’t forget to document it by citing sources — in this case, marriage records, divorce records and birth records.
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