Family History Information
There are two links below to information about writing a
family history.
You need to write at least a ten page, typewritten history that covers the events of your parents’ and grandparents’ lives [you can go back further if you have the information and inclination].
· As a historian, you need to be impartial, and factual. It is not your role to be scandalmonger and air all of your relatives’ dirty linen, or to be an apologist and avoid an honest assessment of your family's history.
· Try to link your family’s history to larger events that were occurring in American or world history, e.g., economic depressions, going off to war, moving because of unemployment, and so forth.
Turn in a copy of the family history you write and of the family survey form. If you have any questions, be sure and contact me.
Rex
rmorrell@mscok.edu
(580)
371-2371 ext. 253
The possibilities of family history range anywhere from a 10-page essay
to a 200-page Master’s Thesis. A
decision will rest on the scope of particular assignments as well as available
time and source materials.
·
For
example, students have written family histories as term papers in introductory
level survey courses. Typically,
this has been suggested as one of several alternatives so that students who for
any reason find such an assignment undesirable are free to do other things. At this level a student may be expected
to interview family members of two or three generations, determine family size,
activities, and socio-economic data for a period stretching back at least 40
years. They may also discover
patterns of identity and motivation within the family, lines of discipline
coherence. Usually students are
able to make some kind of generalization about the presence or absence of
mobility and coherence within their family and furnish some explanation for
their findings. Essays in this
category rely heavily on oral history for data and rarely employ more than two
or three secondary publications such as a local or ethnic history.
·
A more
ambitious type of family study emerges from undergraduate seminars and
independent study projects. Here
papers may range from 25 to 50 pages, go back 75 or 100 years, and include
documentary sources as well as oral history. Students at this stage may be expected
to familiarize themselves with secondary materials pertaining to subjects
relating to their own family, as well as some of the recent studies in the field
of family history. Within this
format students should feel free to follow the family history wherever it leads
and to develop whatever themes are most interesting or accessible. Judgments of this sort will often be
made in conjunction with the supervising instructor.
·
The most
complete and fully developed histories are those written in graduate seminars
and as Master’s Theses. Here the
student may be expected to tell the story of the family with a completeness and
sophistication that make it a genuine contribution to social history. The student will not necessarily cast a
wider net or probe farther than three generations, but whatever boundaries are
set, the story should be complete in its own right, should exhaust available
oral and documentary sources, and demonstrate awareness of the existing
secondary literature.
Listed below are examples of
questions students might ask family members they interview. This list is not exhaustive.
Questions pertaining to
family life
I.
Dwelling
and organization of family life:
1.
Did
family members other than the parents and their children live in the same
apartment or house, in the same building, along the same street or in the same
neighborhood?
2.
Did
married daughters or sons continue to live in their parents’ household? Did aging parents live in their
children’s households, in their own dwellings, in retirement communities, or in
old age homes?
3.
How did
the family organize its living space?
Who slept in what room? How
was the work and living space divided?
How crowded was the household?
4.
Were
there servants and boarders living with the family?
II.
Social
organization and family activities:
1.
What were the daily schedules of family members? How did they spend
their time at home and their holidays?
2.
Who
visited whom, how frequently and over what periods of time?
3.
What
kinds of family celebrations were held?
Were there family reunions held?
How were weddings, baptisms, funerals and other ceremonies held? Who attended? Where were they held?
III.
Decision-making and status
in the family.
1.
How were
key decisions made on moving, schooling, occupational choice, and approval of
marriage?
2.
How were
decisions on daily family business made? (Budget, housekeeping, etc.)
3.
Who
disciplined the children and by what means?
4.
Aside
from parents, what other adults participated in disciplining the children? Did grandparents participate in rearing
their grandchildren?
5.
What
types of conflict occurred in the family and what were the responses?
6.
Were
there persons treated as “ Black Sheep”?
How did this affect their relationship to family member?
7.
How were
family members ranked (sex, age,
ability, occupation, and success) in terms of their privileges and
obligations?
8.
What
were the sitting arrangements during meals?
IV.
Aid and
Responsibility.
1.
Did
parents help their children in college, or business? Did mature sons and daughters support
their aging parents?
2.
Who
cared for sick or dependent family members?
3.
How did
well-to-do members of the family relate to those of lesser means?
V.
Family
and property.
1.
Who
owned property in the family and how did they manage it?
2.
Did the
women receive dories?
3.
Who
inherited what?
VI.
Careers
and opportunity.
1.
At what
age did sons and daughters leave home to embark on their careers? Did women leave earlier than men?
2.
Did sons
follow their father’ occupations?
3.
What was
the family’s attitude towards the work of women?
4.
What
influence did parents and grandparents have on the occupational choices of their
grandchildren?
5.
What
criteria and priorities did family members get for “success”? (Financial,
occupational, residential, scholarly, ‘good marriages”.)
VII.
Questions pertaining to the
life cycle:
1.
How were
babies treated in the family?
2.
Up to
what age was a child considered a “child”?
3.
Was
“adolescence” recognized as a special stage?
4.
At what
age was a young person expected to take on adult responsibilities?
5.
What
were attitudes towards aging?
6.
Did
aging parents continue to live with their children?
VIII.
Migration and the
Family.
1.
Who in
the family was first to immigrate to the United States or to move from one
location to another?
2.
What
relatives followed?
3.
Why did
family members decide to migrate and relocate?
4.
What
contact continued with the old country?
5.
How
often did family members return to areas they had moved from?
6.
Did they
remember their places of origin with nostalgia?
When interviewing members of
the family, one should inquire about “historical” events, which may have had an
impact on the history of the family.
Examples of such events or developments may include:
Oral
History Interviewing for Family History
By Ronald
J. Grele
Oral History Project
Ford Foundation
The best interviews, such as
those done by T. Harry Williams for his biography of Huey Long, are those that
are the best researched. Oral
history is not a replacement of the written record; it is rather a supplement,
or complement, to the kinds of records usually used in doing research.
·
Before
even discussing an interview with a potential informant (unless, of course, he is on his
deathbed) a good interviewer will do his homework. All available family documents—Bibles,
old letters, diaries, photo albums, tax and property records, citizenship papers
etc. should be collected and examined.
Not only will these serve as general documentation of your family’s
history but they will also serve as beginning archives for this project.
·
From
these documents the student should attempt to compile his family’s chronology
and history and compare and contrast it to the more general history of the
culture, society, tow, group, class, race, etc. to which the various members of
his family belong. This should
provide the student with a wider vision of his family’s history and also permit
him to identify the particular personal and social relationships upon which to
focus the interview.
·
After
having completed the research on his family and its social context the student
should then frame his questions, the most difficult aspect of any
interview. Many students, and some
very practiced interviewers, believe they can frame a set of questions in some
tightly categorical order without reference to a larger historical or social
context. We are all familiar with
marketing surveys, public opinion polls or census collections which use such
questionnaires For a number of reasons this may not be the best method of
questioning.
·
In oral
history interviews we usually gather information from people who are
statistically unrepresentative.
Death, senility, the vagaries of memory, social movement and other
factors have all reduced our sample in a most random an unrepresentative
manner. Our informants, however,
while not “representative” men’ may be typical of millions of others who
experienced particular historical processes. Thus my German-American grandfather who
was shop foreman in a small New England town and who does not represent a very
large statistical sample of the population at large does however, typify many
immigrants to this country who participated in a particular phase of the
mechanization of American industry and the industrialization of American
society. Accordingly, an interview
structured around historical processes rather than a logical categorization
would result in a more useful document.
·
The
interviewer should also take care not to become trapped by questions. Most oral history interviewers have
found open questioning a much better technique than a questionnaire because of
the tendency of questionnaires to limit responses to “yes” or “no”. Questionnaires also have a subtle
influence on the interview because of the close relationship between membership
in the middle class and paper work.
They can also become destructive instruments because they distort the
reality of the oral history interview.
·
Theoretically the interviews
which you will record are conversational narratives in which you participate not
only to encourage responses, but also as a medium through which your informant
speaks to his community and its history because you represent that community and
history. You, the interviewer, will
therefore play a crucial role in conducting the interview despite the fact that
you will actually say very little.
Your major role will be to direct and guide the form that the final
narrative will take and to insure that it contains as much of the informant’s
past and his views of the past as possible.
·
In
general the two most common forms of oral history narrative are
autobiographical and topical. The student will have to decide for
himself, which form best suits his own needs and abilities and the needs and
abilities of his informant.
·
In
creating an autobiographical narrative one begins at the beginning-birth- and
then moves on to childhood and beyond.
Great care must be taken in questioning, for memory may be very
selective. You may find it useful
to keep in mind various theories of growth with which you are familiar, such as
Erikson and Piaget. It is also good
practice to provide your informants with and documents, photos or bits of
information, which will trigger their memory. To aid them in such a manner is
perfectly correct – you are not interviewing to test memory but to record
narratives and you need all the help available.
·
If you
choose to cover only specific topics, such as a strike or a family crisis, or to
concentrate upon one facet of a person’s life, such as spatial arrangements,
outline your plan of questioning before you begin. It will serve as a guide, but remember a
good guide is only that. Do not
move too rapidly to you next question because this is a signal to your informant
that you believe that topic under discussion has been adequately covered. He will oblige you and you may miss just
the nugget that would have illuminated his history. What you want is his narrative. You must follow what he believes to be
the logic of his life not what you believe that logic to be. The logic of your life will be recorded
when you grandson or granddaughter interviews you.
·
During
the interview, be it autobiographical or topical, listen carefully. This is difficult. Linguists estimate that 50% of
modern language is redundant in the sense that we constantly repeat
ourselves. Thus most of us find it
possible to follow a conversation without listening to every bit of it. In oral interviewing one should try to
catch everything because our aim is to pursue in detail. A minor variation to a story may
lead to a new and unanticipated question that in turn will lead to a whole new
realm of discourse. Also, if you
listen carefully you will find the natural points at which the narrative can be
broken to allow you to ask more specific questions or question particular usages
of languages, i.e.: “You
stated that your father was a tyrant (or gentleman).” “What do you mean by that?” “Any examples?” After such a break, the narrative can be
continued quite easily in a manner that is rational to both interviewer and
interviewee.
·
Most of
you will find interviewing a pleasant experience for yourselves and for your
informants, but it can become very tiring after an hour or two. Most oral historians agree that, except
with especially verbose people, two hours is just about the limit for a single
interview session. Do not worry
about this. Simply make another
appointment and go home to listen to your tapes for missed questions and
unexplained gaps in the testimony.
You can begin your next session by filling in on the previous
session. The shortness of the
interview makes correction that much easier.
·
Let me
close by urging upon you some basic points to be considered in framing
questions.
o Don’t bias you questions. Not only should you avoid key words and
phrases that will taint the response, you should also assume nothing. There are many questions such as the
degree of family stability or instability, which are still open.
o Don’t foreclose any
possibilities. The same phenomena
in one situation, such as the existence of boarders or lodgers in a home may
mean something entirely different in another.
o Don’t overload your
questions. Keep them short, clear,
and to the point.
o Remember; relationships
change, phenomena don’t. A rose is
a rose is a rose … and its smells.
Its place in the family Bible however carries a much different meaning if
it was put there after a funeral or after a dinner dance. In your interviewing concentrate upon
the relationships not the objects.
o Avoid middle class
biases. Keep your usage of “choose”
to a minimum. Don’t assume a deep
commitment to individualism and individual satisfaction. In many cases you may find that family,
community, class or ethnic sentiments were far more that reality of life than
self-gratification or individual rights.
Don’t assume that everyone has or has had the same aims in life as you
do. Don not divorce the internal
experience of the family from the larger society except in discussing those
aspects of family life that you have good evidence to assume had little to do
with the society.
o Beware of abstracted
historicism – the belief that basic human conditions exist outside of time and
place or structure. Certain
experiences, processes and even psychological states only occur within specific
historical epochs. Put your
informants firmly in their own times and the events of their lives and
generalize from these specifics.
Good historians make good oral history. Your families deserve the best and if
you are careful in your research, aware of you biases and assumptions, and alert
to the limits and possibilities of history, you should do well. Good luck.
Primary Sources For
Researching
The Family History
1.
Materials in the possession of the family: picture albums, family
letters, home ownership papers, family business records, marriage and birth
certificates, diaries, autobiographies, and family heirlooms.
2. Vital
records---birth, marriage and death records are found in local churches, town
halls and courthouses. They are indexed alphabetically in most places. Entry passes of immigrants to the United
States are deposited in the records of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service in the National Archives.
3.
Genealogies and Local Histories (county or town) are generally available
in local historical societies or libraries. They are especially important for Native
American families.
4. The
U.S Federal Census Manuscript Schedules are available for the period 1850-80 for
most states. For the period
following 1890 the State Census are available for certain states (for ex., New
York and Rhode Island).
5. City
Directories can be used to trace individuals, their residences and occupations,
from about 1830 on.
6.
Artifacts---Surviving family homes, where accessible; furniture, clothes,
and family heirlooms can often be more revealing than written accounts.
[The information provided in
this handout is from documents provided by the Anonymous Family History
Project]
Family History Survey Information
Dear Contributor to the Murray State College Family History Collection:
So that your family history can be made more useful to historians and other studying American families, we are asking you to fill out the forms below. This will take you only a few minutes, and will be easily made over into an index that will permit archive users ready access to just those kinds of family histories needed. Please use ink when filling out a printed copy of the form. Please attach a copy of this survey to your family
history.
I. Survey General Information.
1. Your name_______________________________.
Date of form_____________________________.
2. Your college: Murray State College
Tishomingo, Ok, 73460
3. Check the earliest date for which you have been able to say things about your
family in your paper.
___Before 1750
___1750-1800
___1800-1850
___1850-1900
___1900 or later
4. Please check all regions of the United Sates in which members of your family have lived whom you have discussed in you paper.
___New England (Mass., Conn., RI)
___Middle Atlantic (N.Y., Penna., NJ, Va.)
___South Atlantic (Ga., Fla., N.C., S.C.)
___East South Central (La., Miss., Ala., Tenn.)
___West South Central (Ark., N.M., Tex., Ok.)
___East North Central (Mich., Ohio, Ind.)
___Pacific (Cal., Wash.)
___(Hawaii, Alaska)
5. Please check all occupational categories in which members of your family
whom you have discussed in this paper have found themselves.
___Farming
___Mining
___Shop keeping or small business
___Transportation
___Big Business
___Manufacturing
___Professions
___Industrial labor
___Other ________________________________________________________
6. Please check all religious groups to which members of your family whom you
have discussed in this paper have belonged.
___Roman Catholic
___Jewish
___Presbyterian
___Methodist
___Baptist
___Episcopalian
___Congregational
___Lutheran
___Quaker
___Mormon
___Other Protestant_________________________
___Other faiths_____________________________
7. What ethnic and social groups are discussed in your paper?
___Blacks
___Native Americans
___Mexicans
___Puerto Ricans
___Other Latinos____________________________
___Jews
___Irish
___English
___Italian
___Germans
___Slavic
___African
___Chinese
___Japanese
___Filipino
___Indians (India)
___Pacific Islanders
___Other______________________________________
8. What sources did you use in compiling your family history?
Interviews with other family members
____Bibles
____Family Genealogies
____Vital Records
____Land Record
____The U.S. Census
____Photographs
____Maps
____Other__________________________________
II. Family Data
A. Grandfather (your father’s side) _______________________
Name Current Residence . __________________________________
If dead, date of death____________
Place of birth_____________________________ Date of Birth.__________________
Education (number of years):_________________
Grad school____ College____ High school____ Vocational____
Occupation(s)
1st______________________Dates___________________________
2nd______________________Dates___________________________
3rd______________________Dates___________________________
4th______________________Dates___________________________
Places of Residence (after leaving home)
1st______________________Dates___________________________
2nd______________________Dates___________________________
3rd______________________Dates___________________________
4th______________________Dates___________________________
Religion_______________________
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc. __________________________________________________________________________
Place of Marriage to your grandmother____________________ Date__________
Note: If your father was raised (to age 18) by a stepfather or another relative,
you can give that data on the page provided for step-grandfather (father’s side).
B. Grandmother (your father’s side)
Name Current Residence .
If dead, date of death______________
Place of birth _________________Date of Birth_____________.
Education (number of years): ______
Grad school______ College ____ High school____ Vocational school _________
Occupation(s)
1st__________________ Dates _________________________
2nd _________________Dates__________________________
3rd _________________Dates__________________________
4th _________________Dates _________________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st_____________________________
2nd____________________________
3rd____________________________
4th____________________________
Religion _____________________________
Political parties, civil or social clubs, sororities, etc.
________________________________________________________________________
Place of Marriage to your grandfather.________________________ Date_______________
Note: If your father was raised (to age 18) by a stepmother or another relative
give that data on the page provided for step-grandmother (father’s side).
A-1 Step-grandfather (your father’s side)
Name______________________ Current Residence ___________________
If dead, date of death __________________
Place of birth ______________________Date of Birth _______________.
Education (number of years):
Grad school_____ College_____ High school______Vocational school______
Occupation (s)
1st____________________Dates_________
2nd __________________Dates_________
3rd __________________Dates_________
4th __________________Dates _________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
Religion .
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc.
____________________________________________________________________
Place of Marriage to your grandmother Date__________
A-2 Step-grandmother (your father’s side)
Name___________________________ Current Residence________________________ .
If dead, date of death__________________
Place of birth____________________ Date of Birth _____________________________ .
Education (number of years): ____________
Grad school_____ College______ High school______ Vocational school______
Occupation (s)
1st_________________________ Dates_________________________________
2nd ________________________ Dates_________________________________
3rd_________________________Dates_________________________________
4th ________________________ Dates_________________________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st____________________________
2nd___________________________
3rd___________________________
4th___________________________
Religion ________________________________________.
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc.
_____________________________________________________________________ .
Place of Marriage to your grandmother____________________ Date_______________
C. Grandfather (your mother’s side)
Name ________________________Current Residence__________________________ .
If dead, date of death ____________________.
Place of birth________________________________ Date of Birth _________________________ .
Education (number of years):
Grad school______ College ______High school ________ Vocational school _______
Occupation (s)
1st___________________________Dates________________
2nd __________________________Dates________________
3rd___________________________Dates________________
4th___________________________Dates________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st_______________________________
2nd______________________________
3rd______________________________
4th______________________________
Religion ____________________________________.
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc.
____________________________________________________________________
Place of Marriage to your grandmother._______________________ Date_____________
Note: If your mother was raised (to age 18) by a stepfather or another relative give that information on the step-grandfather page (mother's side).
D. Grandmother (your mother’s side)
Name_____________________________ Current Residence ___________________________.
If dead, date of death ___________________.
Place of birth ______________________________ Date of Birth___________________________ .
Education (number of years):
Grad school______ College_____ High school______ Vocational school_____
Occupation (s)
1st __________________________Dates_________________
2nd _________________________ Dates_________________
3rd__________________________Dates_________________
4th__________________________Dates_________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st_________________________________________________
2nd________________________________________________
3rd________________________________________________
4th________________________________________________
Religion __________________________________________________.
Political parties, civil or social clubs, sororities, etc.
______________________________________________________________________________
Place of Marriage to your grandfather______________________ Date________________________
Note: If your mother was raised (to age 18) by a stepfather or another relative give that data on the page for step-grandfather (mother’s side).
C-1 Step-grandfather (your mother’s side)
Name __________________________Current Residence ______________________________.
If dead, date of death_________________
Place of birth ____________________________Date of Birth___________________________ .
Education (number of years):
Grad school ______College______ High school______ Vocational school______
Occupation (s)
1st___________________________________Dates______________________
2nd__________________________________Dates______________________
3rd__________________________________Dates______________________
4th__________________________________Dates______________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st__________________________________________________
2nd_________________________________________________
3rd_________________________________________________
4th_________________________________________________
Religion ____________________________________________________.
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc.
________________________________________________________________________
Place of Marriage to your grandmother_______________________________ Date______________
D-2 Step-grandmother (your mother’s side)
Name_____________________________ Current Residence __________________________________.
If dead, date of death______________________
Place of birth_______________________________ Date of Birth____________________________ .
Education (number of years):
Grad school______ College______ High school______ Vocational school _____
Occupation (s)
1st_______________________________ Dates_________________________
2nd_______________________________Dates_________________________
3rd_______________________________Dates_________________________
4th_______________________________ Dates_________________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st____________________________________
2nd___________________________________
3rd___________________________________
4th___________________________________
Religion ____________________________________________________.
Political parties, civil or social clubs, sororities, etc.
______________________________________________________________________________
Place of Marriage to your grandfather____________________________ Date__________________
Children of A & B (or A-1 or B-1) – your father’s name should appear below.
1. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
2. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
3. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
4. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
5. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
6. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
7. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
12
8. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
9. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of
schooling__________________Occupation__________________
Residence______________________Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
10. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
Children of C and D (or C-1 and D-1) –your mother’s name should appear below
1. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
2. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
3. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
4. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
5. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
6. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
7. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
8. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
9. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
10. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
E. Your Father
Name __________________________Current Residence___________________________ .
If dead, date of death__________________
Place of birth_________________________________ Date of Birth___________________ .
Education (number of years):
Grad school_____ College______ High school ______Vocational school______
Occupation (s)
1st _____________________________ Dates_________________________
2nd_____________________________Dates_________________________
3rd_____________________________Dates_________________________
4th_____________________________ Dates_________________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st_______________________________________
2nd______________________________________
3rd______________________________________
4th______________________________________
Religion __________________________________________________.
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc.
_______________________________________________________________________________.
Place of Marriage to your mother_________________________________ Date_________________
Note: If a stepfather or another relative raised you give that data on the page for stepfather.
F. Your Mother
Name _______________________________Current Residence_______________________________ .
If dead, date of death__________________________
Place of birth __________________________ Date of Birth_____________________________ .
Education (number of years):
Grad school_____ College _____High school ______Vocational school______
Occupation (s)
1st______________________________________Dates_________________
2nd_____________________________________Dates__________________
3rd_____________________________________Dates__________________
4th _____________________________________Dates__________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st___________________________________________________
2nd___________________________________________________
3rd___________________________________________________
4th___________________________________________________
Religion_______________________________________________________ .
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc.
________________________________________________________________________________.
Place of Marriage to your father_______________________________ Date______________________ .
Note: If a stepmother or another relative raised you give that data on the page for stepmother.
E-1 Stepfather
Name________________________________ Current Residence_______________________ .
If dead, date of death________________
Place of birth ___________________________Date of Birth ___________________________.
Education (number of years):
Grad school _____College_____ High school_____ Vocational school______
Occupation (s)
1st____________________________________Dates__________________
2nd ___________________________________Dates__________________
3rd ___________________________________Dates__________________
4th ___________________________________Dates__________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st__________________________________________________________
2nd_________________________________________________________
3rd_________________________________________________________
4th_________________________________________________________
Religion _________________________________.
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc.
____________________________________________________________________________.
Place of Marriage to your mother________________________ Date_______________________
F-2 Stepmother
Name_____________________________ Current Residence ____________________________.
If dead, date of death___________________
Place of birth ____________________________Date of Birth_____________________________ .
Education (number of years):
Grad school______ College_____ High school______ Vocational school_____
Occupation (s)
1st ___________________________________Dates___________________
2nd___________________________________ Dates___________________
3rd____________________________________Dates___________________
4th____________________________________Dates___________________
Place of Residence (after leaving home)
1st______________________________________________
2nd_____________________________________________
3rd_____________________________________________
4th_____________________________________________
Religion ____________________________________________________.
Political parties, civil or social clubs, fraternities, etc.
__________________________________________________________________________________.
Place of Marriage to your father________________ Date_____________________
Children of E and F (or E-2 and F-2) – your name should appear below.
1. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
2. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
3. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
4. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
5. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
6. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
7. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________ Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
8. Name_____________________________________.
Place of birth_______________________________ Date____________
Number of years of schooling_________________Occupation__________________
Residence______________________ Marital Status_________________
Number of children______________
III. ASSIGNMENT OF LITERARY RIGHTS (if you and your family are willing)
I hereby donate this family history, along with all literary and administrative rights, to
the Murray State College Family History Collection, deposited in Social Science
Department, Murray State College. Tishomingo, Oklahoma 73460
Signed________________________
Date__________________________
[This survey is based, with some alterations, on information originally obtained from the Anonymous Family History Collection.]
IV. A simple Genealogical Chart can be of assistance in organizing your family history paper. When writing your family’s
history discuss one branch of the family completely before moving on to the other side of the tree.
Your father’s father Your mother’s father
Your father’s mother Your mother’s mother
Your father Your mother
You