I’m currently working on being a Certified Genealogist (CG). There are 7 parts, and the one I’m currently working on is the KDP or Kinship Determination Project. I can’t publish my work as I go along, but I thought if I did a parallel project and published the process it might help me figure out issues with the one I will turn in.
A KDP can be a narrative lineage (the simplest one!) that traces three generations and has at least two proof statements of parentage as well as a narration of the couple’s lives.
I’m going to being with my great grandmother, Laura Cecile Donald Gillespie.

Granny Laura and her Dog, about 1950. Granny was 73 years old. This looks like it was taken at 108 Houston Street, Lexington, Virginia.
Laura was the youngest living child of James and Elizabeth (Wallace) Donald. She was born in 1877 and lived 87 years.
I’m going to use the format that Connie Leizen, CGSM did in her paper: The Maternal Line of Elizabeth (Niesz) Titus. You can find other samples of BCG’s page Sample Work Product
For certification, you need to trace three couples, and you need to include at least:
- Intro
- General Vital Summary
- Proof/Discussion of Parentage
- Children
- Narrative of Life
Today, let’s look at the General Vital Summary. (There has to be a better name than this, I’m sure.)
1.Laura Cecile Donald was born on 13 February 1877 in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and died 23 August 1864 in Rockbridge County, Virginia.1 On 24 January, 1894 in Rockbridge County, Virginia, Laura married Wyatt Paul Gillespie.2 He was born 15 July 1865 in Amherst County, Virginia, the son of Jeremiah and Mary (Gillespie) Gillespie,3 and died on 19 February 1941 in Rockbridge County, Virginia.4 Laura and Wyatt are buried in Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. 5
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