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Hi, I'm Penny Stratton, Publishing Director at NEHGS. In this video tutorial I'll show
you how to use genealogical numbering in your Register-style publication.
"Register style" refers to the way editors of the New England Historical and Genealogical
Register have presented genealogical and biographical data for more than 100 years.
The style describes a genealogy presented in descendancy format—meaning it begins
in the past, often with the immigrant to America, and comes forward in time.
The basic building block of Register style is the family sketch. The sketch treats a
couple and their children in a standardized way. Numbering systems organize the data and
clarify who is who. There are three distinct numbering systems
within a Register-style work: Sequential Arabic numbers are given to each
person who has his or her own "sketch" within your work. The first or earliest person is
assigned the number 1. This numbering system quickly tells your reader who will be treated
fully in a family sketch and allows him or her to jump ahead to a particular ancestor
of interest. Lower case Roman numerals are used to list
a couple's children in birth order. And superscript Arabic numbers distinguish
generations For example, let's look at a genealogy traced
from the immigrant, Henry Morgan. Here's Henry's family group, or sketch. Because
he is the earliest ancestor treated in the genealogy, he is number 1. He also has a superscript
1 after his name identifying him as the 1st generation in America.
Below is a list of Henry and his wife Winifred's children. Each child is numbered with a lower-case
roman numeral, in chronological order. An Arabic number is also assigned to each child
who will be treated in a full family sketch later in the book. These Arabic numbers continue
sequentially throughout the publication. In this example, children William, John, Joseph,
George, Albert, and Lucinda will have their own sketches and have been assigned numbers
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, respectively. Also William, child number i, has a superscript
2 after his name—signifying that he is generation number 2.
If we turn to the 2nd generation presented in the book, the first person we see is William,
Henry's child, with a number 2 before his name.
His generational number is listed after his name as well as the name of the direct-line
ancestor back to Henry, in this case, Henry himself, with his generational number.
I hope you've found this video helpful. For more information on how to write and publish
your family history, visit our Online Learning Center.