Genealogy Forms

Genealogy forms can make your research a lot easier. They compile your information, letting you easily see where the holes are so you know which avenue you need to take to fill in your family tree. A lot of people will try to sell you forms, but there are loads of free ones available that work great. Keep in mind that you will need a copy of Acrobat Reader to view the forms. Download it for free from the Adobe website.

Census Extraction Forms-These forms follow the format of each year's census, allowing you to easily transcribe the information and refer back to it as needed.

Family Record Sheets-These are one way to keep families together while researching. Forms have space for information on both the parents and their children. For large families, which you often find in earlier years, it will be necessary to print more than one form. Likewise, if one of the parents died and the other remarried, having more children, it will be necessary to have a separate form.

Research Logs-These are an invaluable tool in genealogy which can help prevent accidentally backtracking. When you've been researching a while, it is easy to forget which sources you've already checked. With a research log for each ancestor, you can check to see where you have been so far.

Immigration Forms-Most of us have an ancestor that came from another country at some point. Immigration records can be helpful in filling in blanks about where they came from and, in some case, who they left behind. Use these forms to document information from passenger and other immigration-related records.

Correspondence Log-In some cases, it may be necessary to call or write relatives for more information on your family's genealogy. You may even find yourself contacting potential relatives. A correspondence log will help you track who you have contacted, why you contacted them, and what, if any, response you got.