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Pedigree
Pedigree refers to a person's direct ancestors.
The word is derived from the old French name for a genealogical chart which, in turn, comes from pied de grue, literally "foot of a crane." That's because of what the chart looked like. Most early genealogists were French. Standard practice back in the 1400s was to indicate lines of descent with three prongs. The clawlike, three-branched marks used to show succession.
A modern pedigree chart shows a person's pedigree in a graphical format and typically uses lines and/or the relative position of names to make the relationships clear.
Example Pedigree Chart
| George Bezanson b. 16 May 1781 d. after 7 Jun 1821 |
Jean Jacques Jacob Bezanson b. 1754 d. 1806 |
Jean G. Bezanson b. circa 1708 d. 1755 |
| Catherine Boutilier b. 7 Jan 1723/24 d. 26 Oct 1796 |
||
| Anna Maria Ley b. 27 Aug 1758 d. circa 1835 |
Joseph Ley b. 1703 d. 27 Aug 1758 |
|
| Anna B. E. (?) b. circa Jun 1726 d. 26 Apr 1803 |
You can download an attractive free Pedigree Chart that you can fill out by hand yourself at http://misbach.org/pdfcharts