Annual Favorites 2020: Unique Favorites

When we advertise that we can create any kind of chart, we get unique requests.  We love it when a client has a specific vision for their chart.  Our designers put their extensive talent and experience to work creating unique masterpieces that really tell the family story.  And with our online preview system for custom charts, each designer works closely with the client to realize their vision.  It is so satisfying for the client and the designer when they come up with unique masterpieces such as these.  

Be sure to click on any of the charts to see a larger version with all of the details.  And join us at any conference this year to see the actual prints.

One of our favorites this year.  These cousins found each other through DNA and celebrated their kinship with a beautiful chart showing their unique relationship.  

An amazing chart showing the lifespan of a couple and their families'  origins.  It includes documents, gravestones, stories, and a timeline fore each of their lives, and it encompasses the whole story in a captivating chart.

A simply beautiful chart with the focus on an elegant background photo and the clean ancestral lines.

The dark background makes the color coding on this chart pop off the page.  A tribute to the popularity of the Finding Your Roots TV show.

This brilliant client created two matching charts (above and below).  She hung her family and her husband's family side by side in her home.  But then she gifted her husband's family copies of their chart and her family copies of her chart.  Each of the charts work as a stand alone piece, but together they unite her heritage with her husband's.

 

This beautiful chart shows off a direct line that splits and then comes back together.  Showing all of the family on the bottom was tricky, but we fit them all in.  

Our designers can also come up with an amazing, unique display of your family history.  Anything you can dream up, they can do, and they'll work with you until it is perfect.  Just send your information in for a free consultation at www.familychartmasters.com/consult and they'll get started on your family masterpiece.

Annual Favorites 2020: Family Reunions

We've been honored to help many family history researchers share their family history with their families this year.  Summers are always busy with family reunion season but really a family gathering can be anytime of the year.  There is no better way to share the history with the non-genealogists in your family.  Creating an impressive display of the family history will always engage the whole family in learning about where they came from.  We would love to help you share your history at a family reunion.

Be sure to click on any of the charts to see a larger version with all of the details.  And join us at any conference this year to see the actual prints.

This amazing all in one chart includes ALL of the family with extended cousins, distant ancestor lines, icons for soldiers, links to US presidents and Supreme Court Justices, and other important historical figures.

The photos of the grandparents and each of their five children with their spouses bring this family's origins to life.  The group photo, house, and maps really tell the story of the family in an engaging way.  

The amazing couple on top raised this beautiful family of fifteen children.  The soft image of their home in the back shows the background of the family and where they were raised.  This chart is wrapped to keep to a more frameable size but still has room for all of the grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great great grandchildren.

So let our designers give your family tree a try.  You can send your information to us at http://www.familychartmasters.com/consult.  There's no obligation until we go to print because we are confident we can come up with something you will love. Just wait until your family sees all of the work you've done.  They'll be so impressed.  We'll make sure your chart is just as breathtaking as these are.

Annual Favorites 2020: Immigrant Ancestors

We've had a lot of requests this last year to show unique immigrant stories and the paths these immigrants took to get to the United States.  With the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower coming up in 2020 I would suspect that there will be many more to come.  It is great to honor those who made amazing sacrifices and surmounted huge challenges in our family history.  Knowing that you have strong genes gives one courage to face the small day to day challenges that come up in life.  These charts celebrate those amazing ancestor stories and give us that strength.

Be sure to click on any of the charts to see a larger version with all of the details.  And join us at any conference this year to see the actual prints.

A beautiful representation of this immigrant family from New York.

This client showed off his Irish heritage with the map, flag and Celtic border.  

This beautiful family included the couple's wedding photos, their two beautiful children and even their dogs.  Love it!

One of our absolute favorite charts.  The pedigree chart on the bottom is referenced above with the trips each ancestor actually took from Europe to North America and their dates of immigration

This chart celebrates the client's heritage from Italy, England, Ireland and Russia.  Even though this research so far is asymmetrical, the chart worked out beautifully.

An all in one tree of this Swedish family shows both sides of the family with cousins, aunts and uncles, and blended family members.  

Any of these charts would make a beautiful centerpiece to your home, or an amazing, meaningful gift.  You can send your information in for a free consultation and our designers will work with you, sending previews until it is exactly perfect for your family.  Once you approve your chart, you can place your order and we'll send it right out.  We'll help you really honor those that came before in your family.

Watch for new posts on our Annual Favorites collection over the next two weeks.  We have so much more to show you. 

Twelve-week Research Challenge

As we thought about how to help you all make even more connections with your family history in 2020, we decided to focus on family history research. Whether you're a professional genealogist or a novice who wants to learn more, we have a twelve-week research challenge for all levels. The purpose of the challenge is to help you step-up your genealogy game, discover new people in your tree, or even just get started with your research.

The link below will register you for the challenge. You will then receive one email every week for twelve weeks. Each email will have three levels of suggestions: beginning, intermediate and advanced. If you are just getting started, the beginner ideas will help you start thinking about your ancestors in different ways. Advanced researchers will find new directions to check out in the advanced section of each email. And some researchers may change between the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels to choose whichever level works best for them on any particular week.

At the end of the twelve weeks, we have a special prize for everyone who completes the challenge! Not only will you expand your knowledge of family history research, but you will receive an awesome gift from us.

Sign up here and get started today! 

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Janet Elected to the APG Board of Directors

We received some very exciting news last week! Janet, the backbone of Family ChartMasters, was just elected to the board of directors for the Association of Professional Genealogists! Janet is thrilled, honored, and excited to have this incredible opportunity. 

Here's what the official press release said about Janet:  

Janet Hovorka (Utah), with her husband Kim Hovorka, owns Family ChartMasters, the official printers for every major genealogy software and database company. Janet has been a regular columnist for the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly since 2016 and is the author of the Zap The Grandma Gap book and 9 workbooks to help people connect with their family by connecting them to their family history. Janet received a bachelor's degree. in ancient near eastern history and a master's degree in library and information science from Brigham Young University. She is a past two-term president of the Utah Genealogical Association and teaches business and genealogy courses at Salt Lake Community College. She has presented hundreds of lectures all over the world to help people learn about their family's history.

And here's a little bit more about the APG:

The Association of Professional Genealogists (www.apgen.org), established in 1979, represents more than 2,700 genealogists in various genealogy-related businesses. APG encourages genealogical excellence, ethical practice, mentoring, and education. The organization also supports the preservation and accessibility of records useful to the fields of genealogy and history. Its members come from all fifty U.S. states, Canada, and forty other countries. 

What Will Happen Over the Next Three Generations?

What happens over three generations to the family history records in a family? And what will happen to your records over the next three generations in your family?  

My Great-Grandfather was a prolific genealogist. He did his best to preserve his records for coming generations, but the large collection and methods of preservation have been a challenge in my family.  Likewise you can’t see into the future, but there are measures you can take now to help make sure your Great-Great-Great-Grandchildren can learn about their heritage. 

In four generations we have gone from ledgers, journals and letter writing, to iPads, YouTube and Megadatabases. We can’t predict what the next three generations will bring, but we know it will be vastly different than what we have now.  How can you hedge your bets and make sure that future generations will be able to learn about your family’s history?

Joseph Hatten Carpenter: Genealogist 

My Great Grandfather left us 18 volumes of family group sheets, 33 personal journals, one genealogy chart, and several loose ledgers, letters, a book of poems, and etc. He intended that they be donated to an archive for safekeeping. As far as we can tell, the family didn’t exactly do what he asked, but it has turned out ok. The family group records that would have been discarded by an archive have been kept in the family which is now working to digitize them. The journals have been preserved in an archive where everyone has access to them. Joseph had 5 children,18 grandchildren, and now has great-great-great grandchildren. Different branches of the family have ended up with different heirlooms.

 “One arises from the study of genealogy with a clearer and more charitable conception of the whole brotherhood of man.” –My Great Grandfather, Joseph Hatten Carpenter

I’m sure my Great-Grandfather would be pleased if you were able to better archive and pass on your family history records because of the lessons you learned from his experience.  Good luck.