A second dilemma: While I do enter every child from a direct-ancestor family, I don't enter every spouse and child of that person. For example, John and Mary Jones have three children: Tom, Dick, and Harry. I'm descended from Tom, so while I did enter birth/death details for Dick and Harry, I don't enter their spouses and children and certainly not the spouses and children of their children's children, etc. Is this the way most people do it? I can see where it could/would be helpful to have as many persons with as much detail as possible, but at this stage it seems unnecessary (and not a little overwhelming).
I think the limit you set is reasonable, and on the first pass through that's what I tend to limit myself to. However, where I have time my goal is to get the family environment for each ancestor, which means including (in your example) Dick's spouse, parents-in-law, siblings-in-law, and children. I would ultimately like to get those children's and siblings' spouses, but that's reserved for a third pass, unless the data is in front of my nose. Tom's the direct ancestor, so this means getting Tom's nieces and nephews and their spouses, and Tom's sibling's immediate family, including in-laws. These are all people that Tom would have been likely to know directly.
Mike -- Athens Group Experience. Technology. Results. ----------------------------------------------- Mike Christie Athens Group Inc. 4201 Southwest Freeway, Suite 220 Houston, TX 77027 Voice: 713.960.5094, ext. 112 Cell: 713.504.6455 Fax: 713.960.5061 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.athensgroup.com Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp
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