Mapping timelines in a family's history

 

                                               Some maps and timelines from my collection

Timelines, I have quite an assortment throughout my family history collection. I often draw one up when about to embark on a research trip, especially one to the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. The list reminds me of the family lines I want to concentrate on during that trip. But it does more than that. Not only does it pinpoint an ancestor or ancestral family in time but it also shows gaps that need more research. Timelines also serve as an excellent backbone when piecing together a family history story. A case in point is the story of my 3x great uncle, Alexander Matheson. I was able to weave together a timeline of his movements from his letters and military records. Those movements showed the important events in his life which underpin the framework of his story.

I'm looking forward to adding the data from his timeline to my Family Historian software so that I can use their mapping technology to follow his movements. That should prove interesting. Unfortunately, the places are just pinned on the map of the world, there appears to be no line that indicates the person going from point A to point B. Not that I've gotten far with my inputting. I'm still working on the first person I've entered, which is me. I'm one individual whose timeline would benefit from lines going from one place to the other to show how many times I've moved back and forth from place to place. Still, showing where a person has been, adds a sense of whether they lived their life in one community or many. If they put down firm roots or drifted from place to place. 

Even better than maps, of course, is on the ground research; actually visiting the places where ancestors lived. It gives a better idea of the lay of the land and how long it presently takes to get from one place to another. If you know when your family made the move and you do a bit of digging into the available transport at the time, that should give you a better idea of the effort to get from the initial spot to the next. Having a timeline with the date, might also be able to give you a head start when looking for a reason to up stakes when you plug the family's dates in to the history of the locality. Timelines and maps really complement each other when you add in the history they were living through.