Building A Timeline of Our Ancestor’s Life

Over the forty years that I have been involved with genealogical research, I have added new procedures and done away with others. Developing a timeline of an ancestor’s life has proven to be very beneficial. The more detailed a timeline the better. Starting with birth on one end, death on the other, marriage in the middle(ish), I add residential locations and occupations for every decade they were reported alive during a census. If they are not listed on a census, or there is no census during all or parts of their lives, then the use of city directories plays a critical role in developing the timeline

A search in newspapers may reveal pertinent information. Sometimes they are mentioned in a relative’s obituary. This sometimes reveals their residential city. Land records can reveal a lot about an ancestor’s whereabouts and financial status. Passport applications are a goldmine as they are “self-reports” documented on an official form. Some passport applications provide a photo of a never before seen relative. Military records, often found on Fold3, may give some insight into your relative’s whereabouts, height, weight, and hair color.

Timeline

I draw out my timeline so that I can see where the huge gaps are. The gaps often encourage me to start asking the right questions. I start looking at the timeline of one relative in relation to the timeline of another close family member. This process allows me to break assumptions about where I think someone was living/working and search for the answer. I have found that my assumption made too early can limit my search.

Once your timeline is completed, using different colored highlighters, mark certain events with a specific color. This is useful when you compare your subject to one or more people in their lives. You can see where their milestones intersect. This process generates new questions about the individual’s life. For example, if your relative, and others you are comparing them to, were both in the same town during a certain time, how close in proximity did they live to one another? Did they attend the same church? Did their occupations generate the possibility of intersecting lives? The timeline prompts more detailed, less officially documented clues.

The timeline also lets us see our ancestors’ life in connection to world events simultaneously occurring. For example, if I see that a male boy was born in 1750 Virginia Colony, I search databases to see if this person served in the American Revolution in the 1770s.

I create and use the timeline for any relative who is hard to track. No detail is too trivial for the timeline. If it is a relative who was recently alive, I try to get as many details from friends and family who knew them. Google their name and location, for you never know what information is available if you only look for it! Enjoy the research journey.