Basic Family Example

A foundational GENEALOGIX archive demonstrating a two-parent household with two children, life events tied to dated places, and a minimal evidence chain from repository to assertion.

This is the second example in the learning path. It builds on Minimal by adding events, dates, places, and a single source-citation-assertion chain. Complete Family takes the same pattern further with multiple sources, repositories, and assertions.

Structure

basic-family/
├── persons/
│   ├── person-mary-thompson.glx
│   ├── person-robert-thompson.glx
│   ├── person-alice-thompson.glx
│   └── person-robert-thompson-jr.glx
├── relationships/
│   ├── rel-marriage.glx
│   ├── rel-parent-alice.glx
│   └── rel-parent-robert-jr.glx
├── events/
│   ├── event-births.glx
│   └── event-marriage.glx
├── places/
│   ├── place-united-states.glx
│   ├── place-illinois.glx
│   └── place-springfield.glx
├── repositories/
│   └── repository-sangamon-county-courthouse.glx
├── sources/
│   └── source-sangamon-births.glx
├── citations/
│   └── citation-robert-birth.glx
├── assertions/
│   └── assertion-robert-birth-date.glx
├── vocabularies/           # Symlinks to standard vocabularies
└── README.md

Family Overview

• Robert Thompson (born April 12, 1850, Springfield, IL)
• Mary Thompson (born August 30, 1852, Springfield, IL)
• Robert and Mary marry on June 15, 1875, in Springfield.
• Alice Thompson (born March 22, 1878, Springfield, IL)
• Robert Thompson Jr. (born November 5, 1881, Springfield, IL)

Robert's birth date is backed by a citation to the Sangamon County civil birth register, demonstrating the full evidence chain.

Persons

# persons/person-robert-thompson.glx
persons:
  person-robert-thompson:
    properties:
      name:
        value: "Robert Thompson"
        fields:
          given: "Robert"
          surname: "Thompson"
      sex: "male"

The other three person files follow the same pattern. Dates and places are recorded on events, not directly on persons.

Relationships

# relationships/rel-marriage.glx
relationships:
  rel-marriage:
    type: marriage
    participants:
      - person: person-mary-thompson
        role: spouse
      - person: person-robert-thompson
        role: spouse
    start_event: event-marriage-1875

The two parent-child relationships connect each child to both parents.

Events

# events/event-marriage.glx
events:
  event-marriage-1875:
    title: "Thompson Wedding"
    type: marriage
    date: "1875-06-15"
    place: place-springfield
    participants:
      - person: person-robert-thompson
        role: groom
      - person: person-mary-thompson
        role: bride
    properties:
      description: "Marriage of Robert Thompson and Mary Thompson in Springfield, Illinois"

events/event-births.glx contains four type: birth events — one for each family member — each referencing place-springfield.

Places

Places nest hierarchically via the parent field, so a single change to place-illinois propagates to every entity that references it.

# places/place-springfield.glx
places:
  place-springfield:
    name: "Springfield"
    type: city
    parent: place-illinois
    latitude: 39.7817
    longitude: -89.6501
    notes: "Capital of Illinois, seat of Sangamon County"

place-illinois has parent: place-united-states. place-united-states has no parent — it sits at the top of the hierarchy.

Evidence Chain

This example demonstrates the four-entity evidence chain for a single fact — Robert Thompson's birth date:

Repository → Source → Citation → Assertion

# repositories/repository-sangamon-county-courthouse.glx
repositories:
  repository-sangamon-county-courthouse:
    name: "Sangamon County Courthouse - County Clerk"
    type: registry
    address: "200 South Ninth Street, Springfield, IL 62701"
    website: "https://www.sangamonil.gov/Departments/County-Clerk"
    notes: "Civil records repository for Sangamon County, Illinois, including birth and marriage registers"

# sources/source-sangamon-births.glx
sources:
  source-sangamon-births:
    title: "Sangamon County, Illinois - Register of Births"
    type: vital_record
    repository: repository-sangamon-county-courthouse
    date: "FROM 1850 TO 1900"
    properties:
      description: "Civil birth register maintained by the Sangamon County Clerk"

# citations/citation-robert-birth.glx
citations:
  citation-robert-birth:
    source: source-sangamon-births
    properties:
      locator: "Volume 1, Page 47, Entry 312"
      text_from_source: "Robert Thompson, male, born April 12, 1850, Springfield"
    notes: "Primary source - civil birth register"

# assertions/assertion-robert-birth-date.glx
assertions:
  assertion-robert-birth-date:
    subject:
      event: event-birth-robert
    property: date
    value: "1850-04-12"
    citations:
      - citation-robert-birth
    confidence: high
    status: proven
    notes: "Birth date confirmed by the Sangamon County civil birth register"

The other birth dates and the marriage date are recorded directly on their events without supporting assertions — a common pattern when only one fact in an archive has been formally evidenced yet. See Complete Family for an example with multiple assertions, multiple sources, and conflicting evidence.

Validation

glx validate
# ✓ All files valid

What This Demonstrates

• Persons and relationships in a nuclear family
• Events with dates, places, and typed participant roles
• Hierarchical places via parent references (city → state → country)
• The full evidence chain — repository, source, citation, assertion — for one fact
• Direct properties vs. assertions — most dates here are direct on events; one is backed by an assertion
• Cross-references between entities resolved at validation time
• Standard vocabularies for event types, place types, source types, etc.

Next Steps

• See Complete Family for multiple assertions per subject, multiple sources, and a richer evidence web.
• See Assertion Workflow for direct properties vs. assertion-backed properties and how to iteratively raise confidence.