The Power of Chronologies and Timelines in Family History Research
2010
WHY?
Nothing is more helpful to me that the use of chronologies and time lines. Not commercial time lines, but those I create myself as I find each piece of information about an ancestor. While the process of gathering information about our ancestors may last a lifetime, in the beginning we may find that when we try to put an ancestor in “place and time” we can’t keep all of the information we have found in our minds. By creating our ancestor’s life chronologically and keeping that chronology handy, we can see what information we have and what we are missing. Chronologies or time lines help us to document migrations, the births and deaths of family members, professional careers and second marriages. A chronology, beginning with a birth is the easiest way to eventually compile a history of a person. When we combine the individual chronologies of family members we can more easily put together the history of a family group.
HOW?
You can create a chronology many different ways. You can begin by simply writing your ancestor’s name at the top of a piece of paper and adding dates and places as you find them. List the dates on the left side of the paper and the information you have found on the right. If you are comfortable using a computer it is very effective to use a simple spread sheet program to do this because then you can re-sort the dates/entries as you add a new one so that the computer does the work. Since you may find that several things happened in the life of your ancestor in the same year, the computer approach which allows for easy sorting will make that fact easier.
In the beginning, the chronology can be brief. Start by writing your own time line or chronology to see what types of information you might want in each of your ancestors’ chronologies.
WHAT?
Here is an easy way to start:
- Buy a three ring standard- size binder
- Buy a set of alphabet dividers
- Buy a package of lined paper
- At the top of each page, write the name of the ancestor you are researching
- As you find a piece of information, such as birth, death, education etc. write the date on the left and the information on the right
EXAMPLES OF WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A TIME LINE:
- birth date, place, hospital
- unusual life events such as illnesses
- schooling: grade school, middle school, high school, college
- professional career
- marriage date and place
- birth of each child: name, date and place
- deaths in the family
- homes where you/ your ancestor lived
- organizations to which you/your ancestor belonged
- milestones in your or your ancestor’s religious life such as ordinations, baptism etc.
- military service
- census entries which show who lived in a family home during particular years, their vocations, education level and the language they speak etc.
REMEMBER:
Chronologies/Time Lines can correct mistakes in your records. They can also help to correct oral history that may be colored by time, bad feelings or lack of information.
Chronologies/Time Lines are the easiest way to keep track of what you have found and what you are missing.