10 



The Journal of Heredity 



can be claimed as a common ancestor 

 by those people. The families of mer- 

 chants married with other merchants, or 

 with persons of less wealth but higher 

 rank perhaps, the families of clergy with 

 sons and daughters of clergymen or 

 their connections, of nobles with nobles, 

 etc. So it might be that the descendants 

 of a swineherd of King Alfred's time 

 never married out of their own circle 

 unless it happened that they were of 

 exceptional ability, or that they moved 

 to some other district or country. It 

 is probable that the blood of the higher 

 class such as nobles is much more widely 

 distrilnUed in the lower classes than is 

 the blood of lower classes among repre- 

 sentative upper class people. There 

 are plenty of exceptions, and the intro- 

 duction of the blood of the more able 

 or attractive of the lower class into that 

 of their superiors in position has 

 undoubtedly been of greater value than 

 the reverse condition, for a descent in 

 the social scale usually indicates loss of 

 some of those traits which enable one 

 group of people to maintain their 

 superiority over another group. 



XLMBERING THE ANCESTORS 



Having noted the ancestors as far as 

 known, in the fashion described above, 

 the next step is to number each one. 

 Begin with the person whose ancestry 

 is to be traced, let his father be No. 2, 

 his mother No. 3, the paternal grand- 

 father No. 4, the paternal grandmother 

 No. 5, and so on, nimibering down to the 

 foot of each column, and giving a num- 

 ber to any blank just as if the names 

 were recorded. Thus each male has an 

 even number, and each female an un- 

 even number. 



Take a sheet of paper, the same size 

 as the charts, and head it with the name 

 and number of an individual. On this 

 sheet in proper order write all the infor- 

 mation known about that person, (jive 

 his life history. Dcscriljc his physical 

 and mental characteristics. On the 

 reverse of the sheet give a list of his 

 children (in the case of women, the 

 names of children by another husband 

 than the ancestor should be given, but 



do not duplicate the names of^,children 

 on her husband's sheet). Nimiber the 

 children, the eldest being No. 1, and 

 record the dates and places of their 

 birth, marriage and death, and the 

 ])laces where they lived; their occupa- 

 tion or profession, and what is known of 

 them, their mental and physical char- 

 acteristics, accomplishments, and what- 

 ever is of interest in them or their 

 descendants. If necessary, add sheets 

 bearing the same nimiber, and lettered 

 in order, as No. lA, No. IB, etc. 



It will be seen that from such a record, 

 however incomplete it may be, can be 

 discovered very much of interest and 

 value. The reading of C. B. Daven- 

 port's book "Heredity in Relation to 

 Eugenics, "2 or M. F. Guyer's "Being 

 Well Born, " will serve to direct one as to 

 the character and detail of the informa- 

 tion which should be preserved, and the 

 use that information can be put to. 

 Other information which should be 

 recorded is whatever pertains to the 

 military, naval, civil, educational, or 

 social activities of the person described. 



Every item recorded should be ac- 

 companied with a reference to the source 

 of information. This is most important. 

 Enclose the reference in parentheses 

 after the statement, thus "Born 10th 

 Oct., 1836 (Family bible in possession 

 of Aunt Mary Smith)," "Served in 

 Jackson's 10th N. H. regiment, Clay's 

 company, June, 1862-Sept., 1864 (Regi- 

 mental History by Jones, page 345) (also 

 enlistment and discharge papers, my 

 possession)." "Black hair and eyes, 

 tall (5 ft. 11 inches), weight about 190 

 pounds (statement of Chas. F., his 

 son)." "Died Jan. 20, 1897 (grave- 

 stone at Lebanon, also Lebanon town 

 record)." 



As it is not likely that the information 

 to be entered on these sheets will be at 

 hand, it is well to consider how it may 

 be obtained. 



THE FIRST STEP 



The first recourse one thinks of is 

 some relative more or less acc}uainted 

 with the family history. Sometimes a 

 personal interview is practicable, but it 



* Evfii more tiscfiil is Bullelin No. 13of the Eiipcni( f Prcorrl rfTrc: "How to Make a Eiigcni 

 cal Family Study," by Ch.i'-les B. Davcni)ort and Harry H. Laughlin.^THE Editor 



