This is the answer that I wrote to Norma Thompson. Decided to share it with all of you. Mary Jean ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Jean Hall" <maryjesse@newwave.net> To: "Norma Thompson" <nthmpsn@concentric.net> Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 11:22 AM Subject: Re: [FO] Modified Register Report > Dear Norma, > > You were correct in your assumption. I have published 5 > books/tomes so far (1 on my family, 2 on my deceased husband's > family and 2 on my daughter-in-law's family). It is too bad that > more families don't have the wonderful relationship our 2 > families have. I want my grandchildren to know their mother's > side of the family also. The cooperation from these families was > terrific. But I digress. > > The reason that I have used and liked the lineage denotation that > you object to is this. The books that I have published were > written with young children in mind. I am an educator. I have had > many, many wonderful comments on my books. Even some from the > teachers in the schools and some even wanting to use the format > that I have used. So many of the teachers have told the children > how very lucky they are to have such a book about their family. > Ancestry is taught in many, many schools across the United States > of America and usually in the 3rd or 4th grades. The children are > thrilled seeing their name in the book and seeing how many > ancestors went before them. It is hard for children of that age > to put a lineage all together and it is also difficult for many > adults. I have many books that were done by my ancestors in the > late 1800's. These were done in the New England area. I have > heard that the New England formats are the best to use. They all > used the lineage notation. Many were exceedingly long books and > mostly just names. If I had not had the notation, I would have > had a hard time finding my direct lineage. Toward the end of the > 1800's it was "the thing to do". Some people even hired > genealogists to prepare a book for them. Of course, if something > was not "up to snuff" it was deleted. I also found that some of > them did not carry on a line that descended from a female. > > The Descendant Report that you mentioned does not use the > notation. It is a listing from the oldest ancestor down to the > youngest. > Example: > 1 xxxxx > 2 xxxxx > 3 xxxxx and so on. The number designates the generation of > the person. > This is good to follow for descendants but does not provide a lot > of verbiage, pictures, etc. about the person. It is often called > a Descendant List. In appearance it is more like a list. > > The Register Report is often used. The first person is number > one, and the children are numbers two, three, four and so on. If > a person does not have children, the person is not given a > number. > > The Modified Register Report gives everyone a number and places a > "+" in front of the name. This indicates that there is more > information to follow on the person. > > On pages 102-105 there are other descriptions of reports for > books. I have had some books that have used the Indented Henry > and Indented D'Aborville formats. I have not used this format > because it is hard to explain to people. Many just start reading > the book as opposed to reading the Forward, Preface or > Introduction. These are difficult to explain to children in the > written form. They would lose patience trying to figure it out. > It was a good suggestion from Allen though and I appreciate it. > > Getting children to read these books early in life, may make them > aware of their ancestry and spark an interest in it to keep it up > to date. After all, our children are our most precious > possession. The object of my genealogy and books is to achieve an > awareness of their ancestors and pride in them . > > The National Archives has this carved above the entrance, "Those > who do not study history, are doomed to repeat it." I may have > this paraphrased but it is close. I cannot believe the history > that I have learned by doing genealogy! > > Mary Jean Hall > maryjesse@newwave.net > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Norma Thompson" <nthmpsn@concentric.net> > To: <FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 4:27 PM > Subject: Re: [FO] re: modified register descendants report (book > type) > > > > I'm not quite sure what you mean by "no lineage associated", > but I assume > > you mean those (in my opinion god-awful) (John2 Doe, John1 Doe, > and so on) > > that follow a persons name. I think you only get those with an > ordinary > > Descendant register, not a modified register. FOW doesn't offer > a Descendant > > Register. > > > > Norma > > > > > > ==== FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS Mailing List ==== > > The "Family Origins® Wish List" > http://formalsoft.com/wishlist.htm > > ??? FAQ ??? -- http://www.graabek.com/fow/fofaq.html > > > > ============================== > > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com > > > > >