If you have watched the Oprah show recently, you know she has done a show about celebrities finding their ancestors. This came from her doing her own with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. She also had Lisa Kudrow, who had hers done, on the show Who Do You Think You Are?.
If either of these shows have made you interested in starting your genealogy, the free printable genealogy charts listed at the end of this article can help you get started on your journey. I have worked on my family’s genealogy off and on for the past 10 years. I have found quite a few interesting things like the celebrities have on Who Do You Think You Are?
I have used genealogy software in the past which I have downloaded to a PC. The one thing I had issues with Family Tree Maker, is it would crash and I would loose my work quite often. After the last crash, I quit using it and started using a paper trail to trace my roots. I do realize the amount of space Family Tree Maker uses on a computer. I suspect the computer I was using may have not had the amount of disk space and other things needed to run this software. However, don’t let my own issues prevent you from using software like Family Tree Maker.
I did find one thing while using the genealogy software and the paper trail at the same time on occasion, it was handy to have the paper in hand when visiting the genealogy area of the Wichita Public Library in downtown Wichita, Kansas. At the time I was doing that, I didn’t have a laptop to take with me to the library to check their records. Even if you have a laptop, you may not feel like dragging it with you to places like the library to do further research on your family history when you can’t find what you are looking for online. You may not have the money to use the online genealogy sites as well, so this is another reason to use the paper trees and other forms when researching your family ancestry.
Even if you are using a genealogy software and searching online, you may find you have the same issues I had because of disk space. If this is the case, you can use the forms to write down what you find online. You can then transfer the information to the software when you don’t have the other windows open on your computer.
Even if the genealogy websites have a downloadable form you can put on your computer to upload to your software, this can take up disk space as well on your computer. You could download those to your computer, print them out, and remove them from your computer to put into your software.
However, if you are a person who would rather have this in paper form not on your computer, you can use these sheets to create a handwritten genealogy of your family’s history. I know my father-in-law preferred the handwritten genealogy over the computer printed genealogy. My mother-in-law was just the opposite.
List of Free Printable Genealogy Forms
Some of the forms can be found multiple times with the links below. There are some genealogy forms on some of the links not found on the other links listed below.
Wakefield Family History Sharing
On the website above, there are forms sheets for analysis, research checklist, research journal, census summary, correspondence log, family group sheet – 2 of these, inquiry form, fan pedigree chart, relationship chart, and family tree/ siblings. Each of the previously mentioned sheets will download to your computer. This will happen when you click on the link for any of the items.
Free Family Charts
There are three family tree charts listed on the website above. Click on ‘enter gallery’ to begin accessing the charts. On each page, you will need to use the download chart now link to have them download to your computer.
Free Family Tree Templates to help organize your research
There is a family tree chart, research calender, family tree research extract form, correspondence record, family group sheet, and source summary. When clicking on any of the links for the genealogy sheets, they will download to your computer.
Source
Who Do You Think You Are?; NBC.com
OAD; The Oprah Show: Celebs Dig Up Their Family Secrets; Oprah.com
