How to create a timeline of your family history

How to create a timeline of your family history -

From researching your family and trace your family history can be a daunting task, especially if you have information pile or documents and no idea what to do with them. Fortunately we live in a world where technology has made this time much simpler and less consuming than ever before. Create a time line is the key to organizing your research and has many benefits. It can help give an idea of ​​what was going on in the world at times when your ancestors were alive, expand the knowledge of the history of your family and reveal gaps in your research, you did not know before . Here are three things to keep in mind when creating a calendar of family history.

1. Keep it simple

Before you start creating your actual timeline, you want to choose an ancestor to start. Try to do your whole family or a family name at once is too complicated and you will often look over the important dates and events. So, once you select an ancestor to begin, choose a time. You can focus on a year or a decade of their lives. It's yours. Once you have decided on these two things, you can start to compile as much information as possible about that person.

2. Organize your information

You can do this manually or by creating a simple Word or Excel document to organize information. Create different categories to make it even simpler step as vital for births, deaths, marriages; Highlights of life for jobs, places of residence, military affiliations; and worldwide and regional events for things like political and historical events. You can also add categories for more personal things, such as family stories or traditions that parents have passed on to you. Be sure to keep track of citations to every detail, whether to interview a family member, a photograph or an official document, such as the US Census register.

3. Draw your information

After organizing your information, you can begin to draw on a calendar. Genealogy services like Ancestry.com have excellent tools for this with step by step guide to help to make this process as easy as possible. After adding life events in the ancestor you create the calendar, you can add members of the immediate family, such as parents, children and spouses, so that you can continue to expand and learn more about your family. Having all this information in an organized calendar where everything can be seen at a glance can even help you discover new clues or raise new issues for you to research on your family.

What's next after creating a family calendar? Put this information in a family tree. For tips on how to start with a tree or pedigree chart online, check out our guide to building a family tree. And if you still can not decide what genealogy service to join, we detailed the best choices in our comments.