Now that the timeline of personal information such as births, marriages, deaths,military service, job history and family moves has been created, it is time to look for external events to add to the timeline. Wars, major historical events at both the national and local level, and disasters and epidemics are all examples of external events.

Let’s start with historical events.There are several websites you can use that will help generate this list. Also use your own knowledge to add historical events to the timeline. This is one website that I like: http://www.ourtimelines.com/index.shtml. Let’s look what was going on during Levi’s lifetime (1820-1910). The generated list is very long. You can go here to see the entire list. Timeline for Levi Savage for historical events

Below I have listed the events that may have either directly or indirectly affected Levi or his family. As with any information pulled from the internet, the dates listed below need to be backed up by other sources.

1817-1823: cholera epidemic
1824: Erie canal completed
1828: 1st railroad in US
1829-1851: cholera pandemic
1830: Mormon church founded
1837: Michigan enters the Union
1837: Depression and panic-inflation & speculation
1846-1848: Mexican-American War
1850: Utah organized as a territory
1852-1859: cholera epidemic
1861-1865: Civil War
1862: US Homestead Act
1869: Trans-continental railroad completed
1873: Color photographs invented
1885: Automobile invented
1893-1897: Financial panic & depression
1893: Movies invented
1896: Utah admitted to Union as a state
1903: Airplane invented

Other interesting tidbits
1821: US population reaches 9.2 million
1828: 1st Webster’s dictionary
1850: US population reaches 23 million

Whenever you are thinking about your ancestor, you should be asking yourself questions. Did anyone in Levi’s family contract cholera? Do any color photographs exist of Levi and his family? Did he own a car, or did he ride in one that may have been owned by his children? How was he affected by the financial crises? I hope to be able to answer some of these questions in my research.

Let’s look briefly at some important events during Thomas Sumner’s life. The full list can be found here. Timeline for Thomas Sumner of historical events

1231-1808: Papal inquisition
1736: English statutes against witchcraft repealed
1752: Britain and its colonies adopt Gregorian calendar
1754-1763: French and Indian War
1770: Boston Massacre
1773: Boston Tea Party
1774: 1st Continental Congress meets
1775-1783: Revolutionary War
1786: The dollar is adopted
1788: US Constitution goes into effect
1812-1814: War of 1812
1824: Erie Canal complete

This timeline seems to focus more on the US and selected European events. Since he was living in Canada for about the last 50 years of his life (I think), I should find a timeline for Canada and add that.

Notice that during his lifetime the Inquisition was ongoing. It was starting to abate during the 18th century, but was not abolished until 1808. Also note that convictions for witchcraft were still possible until shortly after his birth. This is a reminder that he was born in a time when more enlightened and progressive ideals were coming about, but that much superstition still existed.

See here for more information about the history of the Inquisition.

Once you select an ancestor that you want to learn more about, one of the first steps is to build a timeline of that ancestor’s life. Start with the basics such as birth, marriage and death. Add other information such as moving to a new location, war(s) that the ancestor either fought in or lived through, births and deaths of her children, and other significant events. This information may come from documents or family legends. Either is OK to start, although you will eventually want to back up everything on this timeline with the appropriate documentation. The important thing is just to get it on paper, with dates if possible. Set it aside for a couple of days and then come back and see if you can add anything else.

Here are two examples of the same timeline. I did one in Excel and one in Word. The format doesn’t matter–just use whichever you are most comfortable with. Pen and paper work well too.

It’s clear that I know a lot about Levi Savage. I could have included even more. Most of this is knowledge that I already have in my head from family stories and his diary, but as I start writing up his story, I need to cite sources such as diaries, vital records and census records.

Usually, however, we know much less about the ancestor that has been chosen. Let’s look at the Loyalist I mentioned in my first post. I know much less about him. What does his timeline look like?

Clearly, there is a lot more work to be done on this timeline.

But, whether you are starting with an ancestor about whom much is known, like Levi, or an ancestor like Thomas where much less is known, the process of fleshing out their lives through historical and social research is the same.

This week, create a timeline for the ancestor you have chosen. I’d love to hear feedback about what interesting things appear on your timeline.

A future post will discuss expanding these personal timelines by including external information on historical events, disasters and epidemics, wars and other important events.