Identification Code System – by Clarence McDaniel Jan 2003
The purpose of the Identification Code (ID) is to allow systematic listing and identification of persons of common lineal descent. Unlike past schemes a system understandable to both people and computers is desired. A tag (capital letter) has been used previously to identify the main lines of the Paschal(l) family. This tag is suffixed to the given name. Years ago the following convention was adopted and is in use by the Paschall Genealogical Committee (Johnston’s of Texas):
| A Line ………. | England |
| B Line ………. | Thomas of Pennsylvania |
| C Line ………. | William of Woodbridge, NJ; known as William Paschal of the NC Land Grants |
| T Line ………. | Jeremiah/John/Benjamin, Phila. |
William’s children (son’s by order of his will) by rights these should be designated, C1—, but the letters D-P have a long, previous, usage and so are left.
| D Line ………. | Samuel |
| E Line ………. | John |
| F Line ………. | Isaiah |
| G Line ………. | William |
| H Line ………. | Elisha |
| I Line ………. | James |
| J Line ………. | Dennis |
| K Line ………. | Thomas |
| L Line ………. | Sarah |
| M Line ………. | Dianna |
| N Line ………. | Rachel |
| O Line ………. | Ruth |
| P Line ………. | Reliance |
| U Line ………. | Unknown Persons |
In this work, the author retains the above convention but suffixes an additional character to each letter for each succeeding generation of the particular line. In second and subsequent generations the numbers 1-9 are used for the first nine children, then the small letters a, b, c, for child numbers 10, 11, 12 and so forth. This is a modification of the paragraph referencing in use by corporations and the military for contracts. In the modified version no period between generations are necessary and only one digit per generation is used. For example: Standard paragraphing = 1.11.2.14. Modified paragraphing = 1b2e
| Standard paragraphing | Modified paragraphing |
| 1.11.2.14 | 1b2e |
The modified version is highly useful in computer listing as the computer sorting function will put all the descendants in family order automatically which is a boon to the overworked compiler. The generation listing may not always be in the exact order of birth as the birth information often follows after the listing or is later modified by new data. The small letters v, w, x, y, z are sometimes used to signify generations where some doubt as to parentage exists. This usually occurs when there are two or more brothers present and no records to indicate to which brother the children belong. This usage does not indicate illegitimate births. These are generally indicated by a line descended from only a mother.
Examples of ID Code Assignments
| ID Code | Line | ||||
| I | James(1739-1792): the 6th son of William(c1704-1774) | ||||
| 1. Samuel | |||||
| 2. Robert | |||||
| 3. John | |||||
| I4 | 4. James(1776-1861) | ||||
| 1. Henry J | |||||
| 2. George W | |||||
| 3. Eliza | |||||
| 4. James | |||||
| I45 | 5. David L | ||||
| I451 | 1. George M Dallas | ||||
| 1. Nora M | |||||
| 2. Ida Ann | |||||
| I4513 | 3. Ivory Grace(the author’s mother) | ||||
| 6. Margaret | |||||
| I451a | a. – 10th child | ||||
| b. – 11th child, etc | |||||
| I5 | 5. Joshua | ||||
| 1. | |||||
| 2. | |||||
| 3. | |||||
| I5z | z.ch of Joshua-name unk | ||||
| 1. ch of unk | |||||
Notes on above:
- The number of digits in code is the generation; i.e. 5 digits equals the 5th generation; it is also the level of identification or tabbing.
- In correspondence the following convention is Used: James, I4 and George M, I451. This avoids the awkward naming of parents, wife, etc. to identify a particular person with a common given name.
- The author has put the ID code in the 1st line of the notes for each Paschal(l) in the file. Thus all Paschall’s in this work are ID uniquely.