Converting TMG Journal Reports to NGSQ Style
By Susan Goss Johnston
Although TMG’s Journal reports provide options that attempt to
reproduce styles in use by major journals, the final output is only
an approximation. It is possible to achieve a better report if that
report is imported into a Word template designed with styles that
match, as closely as possible, those of the desired journal.
T
he National Genealogical Society Quarterly begins the introductory paragraph
with a dropped cap that lines up with the margin, not the indent. Although you can
see that initial dropped cap here, I’m not really sure how to incorporate it into the
style. Since this is the only paragraph in the document that uses this, it should really be
created as its own style, but I’m too lazy. Please note that the styles in this document are
my approximation of NGSQ styles, since I was unable to find an official version.
This area introduces the problem or places your family in historical context. It can be
created in TMG by adding a JournalIntro tag to the focus person. Both the initial drop
cap and the bold font used in the tag name have been added to the paragraphs and are not
part of the template style. With the exception of the abstract style, all paragraphs in this
document are left-aligned. In a published journal, these would be justified.
HEADING
Subheading
A long document might contain several divisions before and after the genealogical
summary. In NGSQ style, those are left-aligned, unlike the headings used in the
genealogical summary, which are centered. Headings are not just formatting
conveniences. Look at this document in Word’s outline view to see their other function.
GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY
Generation One
1. Constance Violet1 Parsnip was born 19 January 1863 in Danville, Caledonia Co.,
Vermont.1 She died 22 August 1913 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont2 and was
buried on 24 August 1913 in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co.,
1. Bureau of Pensions questionnaire, 15 Jan 1898, William Henry Parsnip (4th Vermont Infantry,
pension 108,072, Pension Application Files Based upon Service in the Civil War and Spanish American
War, 1861-1934; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
2. Obituary, "Recent Deaths - Lovage," clipping from unidentified newspaper, date written above the
clipping, Radish Scrapbook.
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Creating a NGSQ-Style Report
Vermont.3 She married Luther H. Lovage, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Lovage of
Peacham, 7 June 1887 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont.4 Luther was born 10
June 1847 in Peacham, Caledonia Co., Vermont.5 He had married (1) Mary (Weekend)
Fortnight 19 January 1878 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont.6 Luther died 28
December 1922 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont7 and was buried on 30
December 1922 in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont.8
Children of Constance Violet1 Parsnip and Luther H. Lovage were as follows:
+
2
i.
MARY E.2 LOVAGE was born 28 December 1889 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia
Co., Vermont. She died 8 May 1956 in Springfield, Hampden Co.,
Massachusetts and was buried in Passumpsic Cemetery in Waterford,
Caledonia Co., Vermont. She married Duke Charles Parsley 29 October 1913 in
St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont.
3
ii.
[—?—] LOVAGE was born 13 February 1897 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co.,
Vermont.9 She died 18 February 1897 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co.,
Vermont.10
4
iii.
WILLIAM H. LOVAGE was born 31 January 1898 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia
Co., Vermont.11 He died 16 March 1898 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co.,
Vermont.12
3. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (St. Johnsbury, Caledonia County, Vermont), Constance V. Parsnip
tombstone; transcribed by Susan Goss Johnston, visit of 8 August 1980.
4. "Old-Time Hack Driver is Dead," Luther H. Lovage obituary, The Caledonian Record (St.
Johnsbury, Vermont), 29 December 1922, p. 1, col. 5, married Miss Constance Parsnip of Danville about
35 years ago.
5. United States Bureau of the Census, 1900 U.S. census, Caledonia Co., VT, Luther H. Lovage
household, St. Johnsbury Village, ED 54, p. 207B [sh. no. 20], dw. 397, fa. 499, b. June 1847; United
States Bureau of the Census, 1920 U.S. census, Caledonia County, Vermont, population schedule., CDROM T625-1690 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Heritage Quest, 2000), Luke Lovage household, St. Johnsbury, ED
17, p. 224A [sh. no. 20A], dw. 311, fa. 508, age 72.
6. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954," database and images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ : accessed 22 August 2012), Luther N. Lovage - Mrs. Mary (Weekend)
Fortnight marriage (1878); citing Vital Records, Vermont State Archives and Records Administration,
Middlesex, Vermont.; specifically citing FHL microfilm 540599; card cites St. Johnsbury town records, p.
311[?].
7. "Old-Time Hack Driver is Dead," Luther H. Lovage obituary, The Caledonian Record, 29 December
1922, p. 1, col. 5.
8. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery (St. Johnsbury, Vt.), Luther H. Lovage tombstone; "Old-Time Hack Driver is
Dead," Luther H. Lovage obituary, Friday, 29 December 1922, p. 1, col. 5, The Caledonian Record.
9. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", "No name" Lovage (female) birth (1897); Descendants of
William Henry Parsnip, Constance V. Parsnip - Luther H. Lovage record.
10. Descendants of William Henry Parsnip, Constance V. Parsnip - Luther H. Lovage record; "Vermont
Vital Records, 1760-1954", "No name" Lovage (female) death (1897).
11. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", "No name" Lovage (male) birth (1898); Descendants of
William Henry Parsnip, Constance V. Parsnip - Luther H. Lovage record.
12. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", William H. Lovage death (1898).
Creating a NGSQ-Style Report
3
Generation Two
2. Mary E.2 Lovage (Constance1 Parsnip) was born 28 December 1889 in St.
Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont.13 She died 8 May 1956 at the 233 Tinkham Rd. in
Springfield, Hampden Co., Massachusetts14 and was buried in Passumpsic Cemetery in
Waterford, Caledonia Co., Vermont.15 She married Duke Charles Parsley, son of Luther
A. and Ida M. (Borage) Parsley, 29 October 1913 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co.,
Vermont.16 He was born circa 1894 in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont.17 He died
11 January 1979 at the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Hampden Co.,
Massachusetts18 and was buried in Passumpsic Cemetery in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia
Co., Vermont.19
Children of Mary E.2 Lovage and Duke Charles Parsley, both born St. Johnsbury,
Caledonia Co., Vermont, were as follows:
5
i.
IVY PEARL3 PARSLEY was born 11 June 1914.20 She died 19 January 2001
in Quarry Hill, Hampden Co., Massachusetts21 and was buried in Pine Hill
Cemetery in Westfield, Hampden Co., Massachusetts.22 She married William P.
Thyme say 1935.23 William P. Thyme was born circa 1912 in Holyoke,
Hampden Co., Massachusetts.24 He died 27 September 1983 at the Baystate
13. United States Bureau of the Census, 1900 U.S. census, Caledonia Co., VT, Luther H. Lovage
household; Mrs. Duke C. Parsley obituary, Springfield (Massachusetts) Union, 10 May 1956, p. 2, col. 2;
digital images, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ : accessed 28 August 2012).
14. Mrs. Duke C. Parsley obituary, Springfield Union, 10 May 1956, p. 2, col. 2; "... died at the home of
her daughter, ... 233 Tinkham Rd., Tuesday night." [8 May].
15. Mrs. Duke C. Parsley obituary, Springfield Union, 10 May 1956, p. 2, col. 2.
16. "Old-Time Hack Driver is Dead," Luther H. Lovage obituary, The Caledonian Record, 29 December
1922, p. 1, col. 5; "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", Duke Charles Parsley - Mary Elizabeth Lovage
marriage (1913).
17. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", Duke Charles Parsley - Mary Elizabeth Lovage marriage
(1913); Duke C. Parsley obituary, The (Springfield, Massachusetts) Morning Union, 13 January 1979, p.
14, col. 2; digital images, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ : accessed 25
August 2012).
18. Duke C. Parsley obituary, The Morning Union, 13 January 1979, p. 14, col. 2; "... died Thursday" [11
January].
19. Duke C. Parsley obituary, The Morning Union, 13 January 1979, p. 14, col. 2.
20. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", Ivy Pearl Parsley birth (1914); Duke C. [indexed as M. Duke
C.] Parsley household; 1920 U.S. census, Hampden County, Massachusetts, population schedule,
Springfield, precinct D, ward 4, ED 133, p. 369 (stamped), sheet 6A, dw. 63, fa. 112; digital image,
Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com/ : accessed 28 August 2012); citing National Archives microfilm
publication T625, roll 702; age 5.
21. Ivey P. Thyme obituary, Union-News, 21 January 2001; online archives, Genealogy Bank
(http://tinyurl.com/abgldtf : accessed 28 August 2012), Newspaper Obituary and Death Notices, citing
original Springfield edition, p. A18.
22. Ivey P. Thyme obituary, Union-News, 21 January 2001.
23. Mrs. Duke C. Parsley obituary, Springfield Union, 10 May 1956, p. 2, col. 2; Ivey P. Thyme
obituary, 21 January 2001.
24. "William Thyme, was supervisor", Springfield Union, 29 September 1983, p. 6, col. 2; age 71.
4
Creating a NGSQ-Style Report
Medical Center in Springfield, Hampden Co., Massachusetts25 and was buried
on 30 September 1983 in Pine Hill Cemetery in Westfield, Hampden Co.,
Massachusetts.26
6
ii.
ISAAC L. A. PARSLEY was born 3 November 1915.27 He died 19 May 1999
at the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Hampden Co., Massachusetts.28
CONCLUSION
If you would like to write your conclusion in TMG, add a JournalConclusion tag to
your focus person. It will appear after the genealogical summary in your report. In this
document, the conclusion will describe the procedure used to generate a Journal report in
NGSQ style. Note that the numbered list style below is not part of this template style. I
don’t have journal examples for that style, so I didn’t create anything special.
Record (NGSQ) Report Options in TMG
1. Select Journal Report and add a new report called “Journal Descent NGSQ.” Check
“Use the Current Focus Person” and save the report to Microsoft Word. Call it what
you choose. I use a default name, overwrite it each time I run the report, and
immediately save the result with a new name.
2. In Report Options, General tab, select “Record (NGSQ)” and “Descendants,” then
save the report definition. Next, reopen the report and make the following changes in
the Report Options.
 Change “Record (NGSQ)” to “Custom format.”
 In the Fonts and Colors tab, use Times New Roman, 12-point, for most of the
fonts. Make sure the Memos font matches this and the Exponents font is 10-point.
 In the Names tab, the “Empty name text” should be [—?—]. That’s an em-dash,
by the way. Check “Include surname” under “Child names.” I remove formatting
from both “Parent names” and “Child names” and add formatting with character
styles in Word.
 In the Miscellaneous tab, check “Include spouse events.”
Now, you will run your report with the number of generations you want. While
practicing with this technique, run it with only two generations.
Add Word Styles to the TMG Report
1. Open a new document in Word and select the “ngsq_template.dot.” This new
document contains all this verbiage. Select all and erase it! Switch to your TMG
25. "William Thyme, was supervisor", Springfield Union, 29 September 1983, p. 6, col. 2; " ... died
Tuesday" [September 27].
26. "William Thyme, was supervisor", Springfield Union, 29 September 1983, p. 6, col. 2; "The funeral
will be Friday ..." [September 30].
27. "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", Isaac Parsley birth (1915); 1920 U.S. census, Hampden Co.,
Mass., pop. sch., Springfield, precinct D, ward 4, ED 133, p. 369 (stamped), sheet 6A, dw. 63, fa. 112,
Duke C. [indexed as M. Duke C.] Parsley household; age 4.
28. Isaac A. Parsley obituary, Union-News, 22 May 1999; online archives, Genealogy Bank
(http://tinyurl.com/bcjh37e : accessed 28 August 2012), Newspaper Obituary and Death Notices, citing
original Metro East edition, p. A08.
Creating a NGSQ-Style Report
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
report, select all, and paste it into the new document. Then, close your TMG report
and save the new document with an appropriate name.
Click the paragraph mark in the toolbar and prepare to remove all the report’s
extraneous punctuation.
 Remove the paragraph mark at the top of the page.
 Using Word’s “ Find and Replace” dialogue, convert all double paragraph to
single paragraphs. This will probably require two passes through the document.
 Next, strip the document of all tabs using Find and Replace.
 Convert all “five-space” entries to no spaces; then convert any “four-space” or
“three-space” entries to no spaces. Convert double spaces to single spaces, if you
choose.
 If you have chosen TMG’s name options in your report definition carefully, you
may be able to get by without adding character styles to them. You will need to
edit the spouse names in the child’s lists, though. I remove all name formatting
and reapply character styles.
Now, add the styles to the document. I usually use this sequence.
 Convert the title.
 Add the author name using the Subtitle style.
 Select all footnotes and convert to to “NGSQ Footnote Text” style. To match the
NGSQ format, you will need to highlight each reference number and run the
NGSQ_note macro (Alt-Q to run or Alt-F8 to open the list of available macros).
This can be done last.
 Convert first subject telegraph paragraph to “Subject” style. Additional subject
text uses “Paragraph Text” style.
 Convert first child introduction line to “Child Intro” style.
 Convert first child list to “Indent Kids” style. Additional child text uses the
“ParagraphKids” style.
 All introduction, discussion, and conclusion paragraphs use “Paragraph Text”
style.
After finishing all paragraph style conversions, enter necessary tabs in the child lists.
 Delete any space at the beginning of each line. Tab after the “+” sign, if present,
or tab at the beginning of the line. (It may look like nothing happens, but don’t
worry.)
 Tab after the Arabic numeral; tab after the period following the Roman numeral.
Repeat through the document.
Apply any necessary name styles throughout the document.
 The first appearance of the subject’s name and his or her spouse(s) should appear
in bold face. Highlight the first name and apply the “Name Subject” style. Then
double-click the format painter and apply through the rest of the document.
 The first appearance of a child’s name in the child list appears in all caps.
Highlight the first name and apply the “Name Kids” style. Then double-click the
format painter and apply through the rest of the document. Note that the spouse’s
name in the child list is not emphasized in any way.
Enter any needed headings and apply the appropriate styles.
 Precede the genealogical summary with the words “Genealogical Summary” and
apply the “Heading 1” style.
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6
Creating a NGSQ-Style Report
The subheadings identifying each generation use the “Heading 2” style.
Any other headings used, such as “Introduction” or “Conclusion” use the
“Heading 1 Left” style. Subheadings in these areas use the “Heading 2 Left” style.
7. This header is already set up in this template, but you will need to enter a shortened
form of the title. Go to an odd-numbered page and select menu View > Header and
Footer. Tab and enter the title in italics. Go to an even-numbered page, tab after the
page number, and enter the title in italics. (You will need to remove the tab after the
title to return the page number to its correct position on the odd-numbered page.)
8. Run the “NGSQ_footnote” macro to finish the footnote style.


NGSQ Styles that Cannot Be Automated
There are NGSQ styles that cannot be changed by simply incorporating Word styles
in a document template, nor are these styles easy to create with TMG report options.
 The order of elements in the telegraph paragraph is birth, death and burial; then
marriage information followed by birth, death and burial of spouse. TMG places
events in sort order, which is usually chronological. Rather than fooling around
with this when entering data, the subject paragraphs will need to be edited.
 In the child list, vital elements are separated by semicolons and complete
sentences are used sparingly.
 Be careful with the footnotes. Although they seem to move and renumber with the
appropriate block of text, this may change the order of the Full footnote and Short
Footnote, making it necessary to edit the footnote contents. Deleting a block of
text referenced by a Full footnote deletes the Full footnote information.
 TMG prints a couple’s names as “John Smith and Mary Doe.” The proper
presentation is usually “John and Mary (Doe) Smith.”
 Child list telegraph paragraphs in NGSQ style are supposed to have footnote
references, whether or not the child is continued as a subject later. I haven’t
figured out any way to recreate this other than by hand.
 For a comparison of NGSQ, Register, and TMG Journal styles, refer to the
comparison chart.
Obviously, this is not a fast or easy process! If you’re creating a 500-page book, you
may want to use your own custom formatting style and forget about converting the
document to match the formats used in either the Register or NGSQ. It’s just nice to
know that the conversion can be done. Of course, we thorough and careful researchers
will always edit the final document, won’t we?
Susan Goss Johnston, January 2013