Timelines put lives in context

One of the pitfalls of researching family history is getting so bogged down in collecting all the little details about your ancestors that you never take the time to step back and look at the big picture.

It's true for those who record the family data they collect on family group sheets and pedigree charts by hand. And it's true for those who use computer programs such as Family Tree Maker or Legacy to ensure easy access to their genealogical information.

One way to get a good look at your ancestors' lives and to understand why they developed as they did is to view them within the context of their times. You can look at an individual, nuclear family or larger group. You can look at entire lives or parts of lives.

Genealogists who want a better view of their ancestors' lives use timelines, chronologies of events.

To find the events, visit a Web site such as Wikipedia http://tinyurl.com/5f5ne8 to view United States timelines. Try worldatlas.com at http://tinyurl.com/5h835w or another site to view a South Carolina timeline. Consult a librarian in your county library's South Carolina Room to find good local timelines.

Of course, if you want to know why your ancestors might have immigrated to the United States, find a timeline in their previous country and study what was happening there around the time they left.

Review the people on your family tree in relation to important events in their nation, state, county or city as well as in their institutions such as churches. Don't just study the war, disaster, urbanization or invention of a tool that dramatically changed farming. Instead, think about the ways these things might have affected your ancestors' lives.

Finding information in birth census, marriage, school and other records is essential. But taking a good look at your ancestors' lives within the context of their times is very important. It will help you to understand many of the choices they made and to answer some questions about your own life.

If you decide to review the lives of many ancestors using timelines, think about getting computer software designed to make the job manageable. Begin by exploring ones such as Genelines from Progeny Software, http://tinyurl.com/5u726k, and http://ourtimelines.com.

Reach Wevonneda Minis at 937-5705 or wminis@postandcourier.com.