How to make a well illustrated family tree

A family tree can be described best as  a genealogical diagram which outlines  the decent and ancestry of a family’s lineage.  Family trees are  used for showing  the relationships and family bonds shared  by ancestors and descendants of a specific lineage.  It’s worth noting that  a family tree  plays  a critical role in  understanding the development and spread of a lineage  from its descendants to its present generations. This is because family trees  detail all the records of the family  from its ancestors right down to its  descendants. 

When you want to make a family tree, you need  to ensure that you have all the necessary information about the lineage for which you are drawing the tree for. When embarking on how to make a family tree of your family’s descendantcy, there are a few things you need to put to consideration. 

These include:

Gather factual family information : 

A family tree should be very accurate  in terms of the details and people to be included in the tree. As such,  you should gather  as much information about your family line when you want to make a family tree.  It’s worth noting that  these trees  are mainly drafted for  future reference by the present and  future generations  in the family. Therefore, only accurate and  factual information that can be  backed by solid evidence should be included in the tree.  When looking forward on how to make a family tree,  you  should search for all the reliable sources of information on your lineage.  This is so that  your tree  can  be  based on facts rather than assumptions.

Best methods of creating your family tree:

There are a number of methods and approaches that you can use in  creating family trees.  The method of choice that you will use in creating your family tree is mainly dependent  on the  size of the tree that you want to create. For instance, if your lineage has many  branches and sub-branches your tree will particularly be large in size and  quite long so as to accommodate each and every family member in the lineage.  There are different methods that you can use when  working on  how to make a family tree. These methods are such as long chain methods among others.  You should only make  a family tree that’s clear  in that it provides  detailed information about your family without any confusions whatever.

Creativity:

When you want to make a family tree, it’s important that you should be as creative as possible.  This is so that you are able to make a unique and outstanding family tree. For starters, when creating family trees it is advisable  to start from scratch  all the way  till the trees are complete.  Your creativity is very important when working on how to make  a family tree.  This is so that you are able to design the tree appropriately such that all family members  in the lineage are  included in the  tree. It’s important to  note that any  omissions of  family members can  have a great impact on the tree and can at times derail the course of the whole tree.  You  can use a few photos in the tree (for family heads) to spice up your tree.

Sources of information:

When working  on how to make  a family tree, it’s important that you identify the various sources of information you will use to gather information on your family.  This is so that  you can gather as much information on your family’s history as possible.  Double check all the information you gather before including it in your family tree.  There are various sources of information that can  be used  for gathering information and details to be included in family trees.  These sources include word of mouth from elders, official documents like  birth and death certificates, obituaries and  employment documents of previous generations. If you want to make a family tree accurately, then you should rely  more on  information that can be backed by documents as opposed to word of mouth. This is because of the likelihood of biasness and inaccuracies in the information sourced through word of mouth.

Who will you work with?

Building a family tree from scratch  is not only very tiring but can also be very time consuming. This is particularly  because  you will have to gather all the facts about your  lineage and double check  each of these  facts for accuracy purposes.  Due to this, it’s important to involve other family members from your extended family  to help you when strategizing  on  how to make a family tree for your family. Family trees can be a perfect  way of bringing families together  through collective responsibility  towards creating the tree. You should use combined  effort from all family members when you want to make a family tree.

What’s the importance of a family tree?

There are a number of reasons that may  necessitate the need  to make a family tree.  The main reason  of creating family trees is  for  educational purposes for  present and future  generations on the family’s history.  You  should always keep this  in mind when  working on how to make a family tree.  This is so that you can make a tree that’s bound  to be reliable in providing  detailed information about  the family.  A family tree can also be
made  so as to bring family members together. This is specifically the case  in families whose ancestors relocated to different geographical locations across the globe.

When preparing on how to make a family tree, it’s important that you should  be able  focus on how  to find answers on specific issues in your lineage. For instance,  if there is a genetic  condition/ disease that’s passed from one generation to the other in the family tree you should find the source of that condition. Such a finding can  be very useful in getting  cure and treatment  for genetic conditions in families.  Credibility of the sources of information in family trees should be a top priority when  you want to make a family tree. Any uncomfirmed/ unbacked information ( that which seems  not true ) should not be included in the tree.  This is so as to avoid causing contradictions and confusions in the tree.