Genealogy Friday: Creating a Timeline for a Major Event

I’ve shared in the past about creating a timeline and mapping ancestors.  But, what if you need to go a step further?

What if you’re like me and need to figure out when a specific event occurred?

Create a timeline of the events in your ancestors life
Create a timeline of the events in your ancestors life

Below is a case study of how I used a time line and sources to narrow down when an event occurred.

My McKee ancestors traveled by wagon train from SC to MO in the early 1800s.

However, there was a differing of opinions in when he went.

Family lore said he went around 1815-1818.

However, a researcher discovered he was on the 1820 census in SC.

Then we found a land grant for MO in 1824.

So I began to question all of the information.

I’ve shared about making a timeline of a life, but this time I made a timeline of an event.

I went back to the beginning and resources we had.

Map where your ancestor lived
Map where your ancestor lived
  • In 1810 he is in SC.
  • In 1811 his brother is in MO.  We believe this is a scouting expedition.
  • In 1812 he serves in the War of 1812 from SC.
  • In 1813 he receives a land grant in SC.
  • In 1816 two of his children are married in SC.
  • In 1817 his first grandchild is born in SC.  We know this son did not travel with the family because his wife was expecting their first child.
  • In 1818, we have a land grant in MO.
  • In 1819, his oldest daughter has her first child in MO.
  • In 1820, his brother dies in SC.  He is present for the estate auction.
  • The 1820 census is taken during the time he is in SC.   MO is not yet a state and no census taken in that location at this time.
  • In 1824, we have the MO land grant.

So by creating a timeline of all of this information, we’re able to narrow down when the family migrated.

By creating a timeline, I was able to determine the approximate time my ancestors moved west on the wagon train.
By creating a timeline, I was able to determine the approximate time my ancestors moved west on the wagon train.

From this information we can conclude:

Sometime between 1816-1818 the family migrated to MO.

Primary ancestor returned to SC in 1820 for the estate sell of his brother.

He’d returned to MO by 1824.

 

We may not have exact dates but by creating an event timeline we can narrow the information down and have a better idea of when he left and his traveling habits.

I also included other events such as MO became a state in 1821.

How have you created a timeline to discern when an event took place?

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