Individuals & Families

Among the many kinds of information that you can find at Our Family, there are two kinds that are the most common and the most basic: information about individuals and information about families. Imagine a large Rolodex for each: Every person has a unique card in the Rolodex of individuals and also has a unique ID that starts with the letter I. So for example, Roscoe Bolar Stephenson, Sr, is individual I187. Likewise, every family has a unique card in the Rolodex of families and also has a unique ID number starts with the letter F. So for example, Roscoe Bolar Stephenson, Sr, and Elizabeth Dillard Jackson are the husband and wife in family F47.

Individuals and families have separate Rolodexes, but of course they are linked together, because individuals are members of families and families include individuals. Roscoe Bolar Stephenson, Sr, is a member of three families: in addition to being the husband in family F47, he is also a child in family F48 and the husband in family F384 (because he married twice). You'll see links to all three families, as well as links to the other members of those families, when you look at Roscoe Bolar Stephenson, Sr's page. That way, it's easy to step from individual to individual, seeing how everyone is related.

Likewise family F47 has more members than just Roscoe Bolar Stephenson, Sr. It includes his wife, Elizabeth Dillard Jackson and his children, Charlotte Revercomb Stephenson, Roscoe Bolar Stephenson, Jr, and Mabel Dillard Stephenson.

Naturally, the two kinds of Rolodexes contain different sorts of facts. Information like full name, as well as dates and places of birth, death, and burial, go with individuals. Information like dates and places of marriage and divorce go with families.

Usually you can browse through Our Family by looking at individuals only. When you are adding people (see Adding an Individual) or families (see Adding a Family) instead of just browsing, however, it's important to remember the two kinds of Rolodexes!