How to create a Fan Chart but first—Missing someone in your family tree?

First of all go to new.familysearch.org and register if you have not already.  If you are registered, sign in.

Click “See Me and My Ancestors”and you will see a screen like this:  (I have blacked out names to keep things semi-private)

This view is called “Family Pedigree with details”.  There is also the “Family Tree” view.  To change views click “change view”:

Under “Change View” a menu will appear, click “Family Tree” to see your tree like this:

This view requires Adobe Flash so you cannot see it on the iPad.  This view is really nice because you can click and drag to see different parts of your tree, yet you can still view each individual’s personal information by clicking “View: Details” in the sidebar.

I prefer the Family Pedigree with Details view so I will go back to that view to continue this tutorial.

Look at your family tree and you will see your name (and your spouse’s name if you are married) in italics in the first spot:

All of your living ancestors will be in italics and all the deceased will be in regular print as you can see below.  You will not be able to see any personal information of any living relative unless you add it (it’s a privacy protection issue).

If you do not see your spouse, children, parents or grandparents and they are living click the blank (“Add child/spouse/mother/father”) where they should be and you will get a screen that looks like this:

Click “Add New Individual” at the very top of this screen and enter in that person’s information.  This is just for your tree, no one else will be able to see this information because the person is still living.  Once you have entered your living relatives (your spouse, parents, grandparents) you will then be linked up with the rest of your deceased relatives.  When adding deceased ancestors ALWAYS click “Find Existing Individual By Name” (the second tab in the picture above).  Always search for them first, because they may already be in the familysearch database.  If you just add them, you will be creating a duplicate.  If you do not find them on the familysearch database, then go ahead and add them and do their work!!

Now you can create your fan chart!

Go to createfan.com and click “Login”:

Enter in your username and password for new.familysearch.org and click “Sign In”:

You will then be taken back to the CreateFan website.  Click “Create”:

The CreateFan website will access your family tree using your username and password to create the fan chart for you.

Click “Save File” then click “OK”.

A PDF of your fan chart will then be downloaded onto your computer and this download queue should pop-up:

Double-click on the fan chart to see it.  And there it is!  Now you can easily see 9 generations of your ancestors. See any blanks??  Start searching for those missing names!

Find a grave

Recently I learned about a wonderful site called Find A Grave.com.  It is a huge database of graves that was created by volunteers who go to cemeteries, take pictures of headstones and enter the information into the database.  You can create memorials for people who have passed with pictures, stories and information that can be accessed by others.  Most importantly you can search the database for your loved one’s final resting place and hopefully find a missing clue in your family history.  Here are a couple of examples from their feedback page:

“June 30, 2011
Find A Grave is such a wonderful site and I am continuing to add memorials from our local cemetery.  Just this week I heard from a woman who thanked me for adding her mother to findagrave.  Her mother died at age 31 and the daughter was only five at the time of her mother’s death.  She did not know where her mother was buried.  I love hearing these stories and hearing from relatives of other memorials I have added.”

“Feb 13, 2007
Dear Find A Grave,
Sometime back my wife and I added some photos of various graves to Find A Grave, and last week we received a note from a viewer asking why we added one particular grave of a person in a national cemetery. We told her about our respect for our country’s deceased and our desire to honor them. Her response, which is why I share this with you, says it all. She replied:

As his daughter, which he never knew, may I say thank you for your kindness? Back in November, I was able to visit the cemetery!!!! I found it comforting to view, in person, what I had seen online….Thanks to you and your efforts!!!!!!!! Your ‘hobby’ as well as your desire to honor others….brought deep emotion as well as assisted with closer on my part! Again I THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

This is why I think Find A Grave is one of the best web sites on the internet. Thank you all for the work you do.
Best wishes,
[name witheld]“

For some it is a hobby to go to their local cemeteries, photograph the graves and then enter the information on the website so that their relatives will be able to find them.  Anyone can become a member of the site and search the database for free.  You can also request photos and volunteers in that area will go to the cemetery and search for your loved one among the graves.  People are able to find their loved ones and then in turn help others by contributing to the database.  It is so awesome!

All you have to do is click “Join Now” to become a member and then start searching.  You can search by name, date and place or you can search a specific cemetery if you know it.  It is such a great resource so I just had to share it with you!

If I’d Only Known!

Family Search is so amazing.  If you go to the homepage of family search and then click “Learn”, there is an abundance of online courses, articles, and tools to help you in your search for your ancestors.  Yesterday I watched a presentation called “If I’d Only Known”.  It was really insightful.  The biggest thing I learned was to take detailed notes and keep them organized by using pedigree charts, spread sheets and outlines.  Another big thing was to document sources.  When you find something interesting write down the source, the date and its significance.  It is important to keep a running record of your research with detailed notes.  These notes will help you keep everything straight and remind you of past discoveries so you don’t just go in circles.  Happy Researching!!

PS  Evernote would be very useful for family history.  It is an online note taking tool.  You have an account and you can save websites, photos, notes, any images or audio to your account and then that account can be accessed from anywhere–phone, pc, laptop, library, anything that can connect to the internet.  You can tag everything you save to your evernote and then search it to easily find info.  Check it out.