Changed my Thinking

        Genealogy has changed my thinking about history.  It’s important to know what is going on in the region that your ancestors are living whether that is in the United States, the Colonies, or in the “Old Country”.

       Have you looked at historical maps?  Checked out when various States were formed?  What about the counties within each state?  Sometimes you think your ancestor moved when in reality they stayed in the same spot but boundaries changed.

       To help put this all together, I create a timeline for each surname.  Since most of my work is US related, I start with my immigrant ancestor.  I indicate when they were born and where, when they immigrated, where did they land, did they have any children born (if so, when and where), when & where married, and when & where they died.  I also indicate land purchases, census entries (both state/territorial and federal), and directories. Then using a different color, I add historical events like the French & Indian War, the Revolutionary War, famous feuds like the Hatfields & McCoys, hurricanes, earthquakes, and famines.  Then using another color, I add the dates of boundary changes or formations.

       Here’s an example from my Kludt family.  I’ve included the country my immigrant ancestor was born and all the areas the family lived.  I document sources as footnotes, especially births, marriages, deaths, newspaper articles, and land documents.

       Here’s another example of a timeline for an individual using various colors to distinguish between historical events, boundary changes, and other family members.

       By doing these timelines, it helps distinguish between persons with the same name – are they the same age, are they living in the same area, was it boundary changes that caused the location changes, does their age appear to be too young or too old (especially if you are trying to determine if they fought in any wars).