Most of the time people don't have all of their family info ready so they decide to wait until it is all ready (but that day never comes). Please just send the data that you do have now. When you find or receive additional information in the future (e.g. more births, marriages, etc.), or get more time to work on your family tree data later, then send the additional data at that time.

There is a variety of family tree data that would be useful. Some of the data is more important that other data, as follows:

1. Priority 1: Names of all people
2. Priority 2: Dates & Locations of Births, Marriages, Deaths
3. Priority 3: Picture of each person (makes wall chart look great)
4. Priority 4: Any notes about the person (e.g. hobbies, where they worked, what they liked)

You will probably not know all of this info. That's ok. Please send us whatever info you do know now, so we can update our database and produce a more complete wall chart for the reunion. More info can be added later, as it becomes known. Just email the data to doug.braun@pobox.com (also tell him where your data fits into the family tree, e.g. who your Rutherford-related ancestors where, if you know).

NAMES

Please include each person's full name, or as much of it as you happen to know, including any known middle names or initials. Everyone's surname should be their surname at birth (e.g. maiden name). Please do not assume that I will know or can figure out what each person's surname will be, please specify the surname (the full name) for each person.

For each "family unit" please specify: Father, Mother, Child 1, Child 2, etc.

DATES

If you only know the year, that's ok. If you only know the month & year, that's fine. If you are unsure, then write "abt" or "about" in front of the date. Whatever you happen to know.

LOCATIONS

Please include the place or location that the Birth, Marriage or Death took place. This includes the City and Province/State. If you don't know the city, then just include the Province/State or the Country, whatever you know.

MULTIPLE MARRIAGES / DIVORCE

Please include all marriages (spouse name, spouse birthdate, marriage date, marriage location, if known). It is sometimes unpleasant to think about past marriages, but from a family tree perspective we need to include all marriages.

Please ensure that any children are associated with the appropriate birth father and birth mother (the right marriage pair or couple). If a couple was not marriage at the time of a child's birth, both of them are still recorded as the child's parents. If you are unsure, just make a short note about the circumstance.

If you know that a given couple in your branch is now divorced, feel free to make a note of it in the info.

FAMILY GROUP SHEETS

Three things:

(1) Doug will gladly provide you with a chart or extract of the existing data in the database for your family, you just have to send him an email and ask for it: doug.braun@pobox.com   Please tell him what area of the family tree you are from.

(2) The following sample Family Group Sheet might help you organize your data before emailing it to Doug. However, you can send the data in any reasonable manner, layout or format:

• Sample Family Group Sheet (PDF)

(3) Although we prefer to receive the family data electronically (by email), if you want to print off some data sheets and handwrite the family info onto paper and postal mail the information to Doug, you are welcome to do so. You may print off a blank set of Family Group sheets here:

• Blank Family Group Sheet (PDF)

PICTURES

It would be nice, but not necessary, to add a picture (a headshot) of each person. The pictures make the Wall Chart look so much better and interesting.

If you happen to have a digital picture of some of the people in your branch of the family, for example, your family, your siblings' families, parents, grandparents, etc., please email them to doug.braun@pobox.com   Even if you just have group photos, then email them along with the names of each person in the photo so that the proper headshot gets put with the right person (*grin*). We'll cut/crop the headshots out of the group photo.

Please include the FULL name of the person(s) in each picture you send (in the ORDER they are in the picture). Do not specify just first names or relative terms like "uncle bob" since I won't know who you mean (with certainty, and I don't want to guess).

DATA EXAMPLES

Let's say that John and Jane had 1 child (Henry), then John married Sarah and they had 2 children (Mary & George). This will be TWO family units that should be reported separately. The data can be provided in any format that makes sense. Here's just one way:

Family Unit 1
Position	Name	Birthdate & location	Marriage & location	Death & location
Father:	John William Smith	Jan 1 1950 in Toronto, Ontario
Mother:	Jane Elizabeth Jones	Jul 20 1952 in Pike Bay, Ontario	Aug 30 1977 in Kitchener, Ontario
Child 1:	Henry John Smith	Feb 22 1979 in Toronto, Ontario

Family Unit 2
Position	Name	Birthdate & location	Marriage & location	Death & location
Father:	John William Smith	Jan 1 1950 in Toronto, Ontario
Mother:	Sarah Alice McKnight	Jul 20 1955 in Dallas, Texas, USA	Aug 30 1983 in Vancouver, BC
Child 1:	Mary Dawn Smith	Apr 17 1985 in Vancouver, BC
Child 2:	George Douglas Smith	Nov 29 1987 in Victoria, BC

Thank you!

Please send the family data and any questions to doug.braun@pobox.com (Doug Braun)