The William Mortensen Vaughan Genealogical Spreadsheet Numbering System (W.M.V.G.S.N.S., pronounced "whim-va-JISS-in-us")
[NOTE: I have updated and made significant changes to this system, as of July 25, 2025!]
To identify my forebears and relatives, I have developed my own code, using characters which are used in URLs. It is also based on a spreadsheet, with numbered rows, and columns represented by letters of the alphabet. Each letter or combination of letters representing the columns represents a generation. Each forebear is listed in the order that it would appear on a horizontal pedigree chart, starting with the home person's father on top. The home person's parents are A1 and A2, A1 being their father; A2, their mother. Their paternal grandfather is B1; their paternal grandmother, B2; their maternal grandfather, B3; and their maternal grandmother, B4; and so on.
I use other symbols as follows:
[nothing] or ' = a spouse, in order of marriage. For example, 1 is my first wife, María del Lourdes Bentos Balkon; and 2, my second wife, Libertad Green. A2'2 is my mother's second husband, Ralph Lavene Allen, Sr. (Her first husband is my father, A1.) Ralph's first wife is A2'2'1.
, = a legitimate child. For examples, my step-siblings are A2'2'1,1 (Ralph Lavene Allen, Jr.) and A2'2'1,2 (Carol (Allen) Koegler).
+ = an extramarital mate. For examples, 1~A2+1, 1~A2+2, and 1~A2+3 would be, hypothetically, the first, second, and third people with whom my first wife's mother had an extramarital affair.
.
= an illegitimate child. For examples, A2'2.1 and A2'2.2 would be,
hypothetically, the first and second illegitimate children of my
mother's second husband.
~ = "upstream". For example, A2'2~A1 is the father of the second husband of my mother.
! = Exclamation points highlight relationships which are in doubt. For example, H1! is perhaps my sixth great-grandfather, but it's doubtful.
@ = adopted/adoptive child or parent. For examples:
@1 would be the first child I adopted, if I adopted a child (I didn't); 2@A1 would be my second wife's adoptive father; @E15 and @E16, my great-great-grandmother, Lizzie Lambert's adoptive father and mother; A1A2@1, a sibling adopted by my mother and father, if I were to have one (I didn't);
$ = a slave. For examples, G5$Jean is a slave named "Jean," owned by my 5Xs great-grandfather, John Foley O'Bannon-338, Sr. Names are used, if known; numbers are assigned - odd for males, even for females, in order of age (or listing, if names or ages are unavailable); e.g., G5$1 would, hypothetically, be the oldest male slave of my 3Xs great grandfather, or the first male slave listed, if his age were unknown.
& = a polygamous spouse, numbered in order of marriage. For example, C5&1 is the first wife of my great-grandfather, who was in a polygamous relationship with him; C6 is his second wife, but, more importantly, my great-grandmother. (Yes, one of my great-grandfathers was a Mormon polygamist, named Morten Peder Andersen, a.k.a. Morten Peter Mortensen.)
_ = Underscores are used as place holders. For example, A_1 is the same as A1.
() = Characters in parentheses indicate approximate years B.C. (Before Christ), A.D. (Anno Domini), or Y.A. (Years Ago). Underscores (placeholders) are used, followed by a 1 or 2, to indicate that a forebear (rather than a spouse) is referred to; 1 is for males; 2, for females. For examples:
_1(20BC-100AD) would indicate a man who was born circa 20 B.C., and died circa 100 A.D.
_2(250BC-100BC) would indicate a woman who was born circa 250 B.C., and died circa 100 B.C.
_1(10,000YA) would indicate a man who lived approximately ten thousand years ago, circa 8000 B.C.
- = a divorcé or divorcée. For example, 1~A2-1 would, hypothetically, be the first husband of my first wife's mother, whom she divorced.
[] = Characters in brackets represent people in an unknown
relationship with the person represented by the preceding characters.
For example, E4[Mary Jonston] is Mary Jonston, whose relationship with
my 3Xs great grandmother is uncertain.
U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N ! ! ! ! ! !
A Growing List of Code Names for My Relatives:
__1.................María del Lourdes Bentos Balkon
__2.................Libertad Green
_A1.................William Knowlton Vaughan
_A2.................Merle Mortensen
_A2'2...............Ralph Lavene Allen, Sr.
_A2'2'1.............Johanna Marie Meenderink
_A2'2'1,1...........Ralph Lavene Allen, Jr.
_A2'2'1,2...........Carol Loretta Allen
_A2'2'1,2'1.........John Koegler
_A2'2'1,2'1,1.......Ramona Koegler
_B1.................William Swift Vaughan
_B1'1,2.............Sidney Knowlton Vaughan
_B1'1,2'1...........Charlotte Allaben Vaughan
_B1'1,2'1~A1........Max Fenimore Allaben
_B1'1,2'1~A2........Flora Elizabeth Solfisburg Allaben
_B1'1,2'1.1.........David Sidney Vaughan
_B1'1,2'1.2.........Warren Charles Vaughan
_B2.................Maud Osborn Knowlton
_B3'1...............Hulda Amelia Smith
_B3'1,1.............Amelia LaBlanche "Blanche" Mortensen
_B3'1,1'1...........Wallace Wight Pulsipher
_B3'1,1'1.1.........Ruth Pulsipher
_B3'1,1'1.1'1.......Mick Nelson
_B3'1,1'1.2.........Sylvia Pulsipher
_B3'1,1'1.3.........Marian Pulsipher
_B3'1,1,3'1.........Robert S. Hope, Sr.
_B3'1,1,3'1,1.........Robert S. Hope, Jr.
_B3'1,1,3'1,2.........Trudena Hope
_B3'1.1.3'1,3........Dale Hope
_B3'1.2.............Loyal Roland Mortensen
|B3'1.3.............Sylvia Lavon Mortensen
_B3'1.4.............Hyrum Smith Mortensen
_B3'1.4'1...........Ila Burton
_B3'1.4'1...........Gary Burton Mortensen
_B3'1.5.............Clara Leola Mortensen
_B3'1.5'1...........Arthur Leon Murray, Sr.
_B3'1.5'1.1.........Arthur Leon Murray, Jr.
_B3'1.5'1.2.........James Roland Murray
_B3'1.6.............Hulda Josephine Mortensen
_B3'1.7.............Milton Parker Mortensen
_B3'1.7'1...........Nancy Anastasia Wapensky
_B3'1.7'1.1.........Mary Ann Mortensen
_B3'1.8.............Roland Nels Mortensen
_B3'1.9.............Maynard Lamar Mortensen
_B3'1.10............Marian Christena Mortensen
_C1.................Luther Clay Vaughan-4000
_C2.................Mary Catharine Swift
_C1'1.4.............Rutherford Birchard Vaughan, a.k.a. Dewitt Rutherford Vaughan
_C1'1.4'1...........Mary McDonald Evans
_C1'1.4'1.1.........Virgil Birchard Vaughan (GWVM-S8T)
_C1'1.4'1.1'1.......Virgil Birchard Vaughan's first wife, Elmira Elsie Hamel (MWJP-H3H) married 8 Jun 1921, Cook County, Illinois
_C1'1.4'1.1'1.1.....Elaine Marie Vaughan (GW8M-9CP)
_C1'1.4'1.1'2.......Virgil Birchard Vaughan's second wife, Rose Katherine Kuczborski (GWVM-ZSB) married 27 Aug 1925, Cook County, Illinois
_C1'1.4'1.1'2.1.....Birchard "Bert" George Vaughan (GWVM-3QS)
_C1'1.4'1.1'2.1'1...Birchard "Bert" George Vaughan's wife (GCL9-31C)
_C1'1.4'1.1'2.1'1.1.....Duane Wesley Vaughan (GCLM-FX4)
_C1'1.4'1.1'2.1'1.1'1...Leslie (GCLM-R7F)
_C1'1.4'1.1'2.2.....Catherine Vaughan (GCLM-X7L)
_C1'1.4'1.1'2.3.....Winifred Vaughan (GCLM-23G)
_C5.................Morten Peder Andersen
_C5'2.2.............Amelia Christina Mortensen Jensen
