There’s a simple way you can make your ancestor’s timeline more interesting and more useful.  Add hyperlinks!

If you’re like me, your timelines probably include dates when your ancestor appeared on a census, when he showed up in a city directory, when he was naturalized, in addition to when he was born, married and died.  I also like to throw in every newspaper article I can find about my ancestor.

I try to save images of these documents to my computer, either in a jpg or a pdf file.  Then when I create a timeline in Excel I can link to the image of the document.

 I’ll admit, I’ve looked at these documents many times, but once in a while something pops out that I hadn’t noticed before or that I hadn’t really focused on.  And I find that the organization of a timeline gets my brain processing information in a different way than if I’m looking at a stack of papers in a file/  Looking at these images in the context of a timeline might just help me make new discoveries in the old documents.
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Here’s how:
Right click on a cell where you want to link to a document image.  A dropdown menu of options including “Hyperlink” will appear.

​Select a file from your computer and click “OK.”  That’s all there is to it.  Next time you hover over that cell, click when the pointing finger icon appears and you’ll see the document.  Easy peasy.

​This makes a simple way to share information about an ancestor with your family.  Send them a timeline and the image files and they can see what their ancestor was up to.

Whose timeline will you hype up first?

I’ve been working on a timeline of a potential relative, Anthony Graham.  He’s not a direct ancestor, and he may or may not be a relative, but I’m hopeful that tracing him will help me learn more about my great-great grandmother, Jane Graham Ahern. (Long story about why I think he might be related.  I’ll save that for another blog post.) 

I’ve been trying for years to come up with a specific birthplace for Anthony.  I have some census records that have a mix of “Ireland” and “Scotland” as a birthplace.  I can find him on the 1850,[1] 1860[2] and 1880[3] US Federal census and all of them show he hails from Ireland, but on the 1880, 1900 and 1910 censuses, most of his children report that their father was born in Scotland.[4]  And one daughter, Jennie, can’t seem to make up her mind – in 1880 her father is born in Scotland and her mother is born in Ireland,[5] while in 1900 Da’s from Ireland and Ma’s the Scot.[6]  Anthony’s death notice in the San Francisco paper indicates he was a native of Scotland,[7] but obviously he didn’t write that, and due to the 1906 earthquake and fire, no death certificate exists to provide additional information.
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And then I found it!  Another obituary, from the Los Angeles Herald.  “Death of a Pioneer… Mr. Graham was a native of Glasgow, Scotland.” [8] A city!  There were more details.  He “… landed in New York when quite young.  He afterward became engaged in the construction of the railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, and finally came to California in 1850.” 

Now it was time for me to enter these items on his timeline.  And that’s when the whole thing fell apart. 

Anthony’s timeline shows four children born in New York - Francis in 1846,[9] Ann Eliza on 23 November 1847,[10] Jennie on 18 February 1850[11] and Anthony Daniel in 1853.[12]  The sentence construction in the obituary infers he was engaged in the construction of the Panama Railroad prior to his arrival in California in 1850.  If that is true, it is unlikely that he could have fathered Jennie in 1850 and Anthony Daniel three years later if they were born in New York. 
 
When I looked at the timeline of the Panama Railroad, even more inconsistencies arose.  Construction of the railroad did not effectively begin until May 1850 and the railroad was not completed until 27 January 1855.[13]  It would have been difficult for Anthony to become engaged in the construction of this railroad if he were in California by 1850.

Integrating the Los Angeles Herald obituary details into the existing timeline I had for Anthony points out some problems with the information provided.  Since the dates seem “off” I have to question the other details in the obituary.  I don’t know who provided the details to the Herald, but it was likely his son Frank who is mentioned in the article.  Based on his census records, Frank seems clear that his father was born in Scotland, but if Frank is wrong on the dates of Anthony’s movements, could he be wrong on the birth place as well?

Try using a timeline in your own research.  It might help you to see some inconsistencies in your data for your own ancestors as well.   How have timelines helped you?  Please leave a comment below.
 


[1] 1850 U.S. census, Orange County, New York, population schedule, Newburgh, p. 106 (stamped), dwelling 1402, family 1584, Anthony Graham; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 September 2016); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 573, page 106A, image 218.

[2] 1860 U.S. census, San Francisco County, California, population schedule, San Francisco, p. 218 (penned), dwelling 1851, family 1876, Anthony Graham; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 September 2016); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 67, page 383, image 383.

[3] 1880 U.S. census, Tulare County, California, population schedule, Visalia, p. 21 (penned), dwelling 226, family 230, Anthony Graham; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 September 2016); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 85, page 48A, ED 098, image 482.

[4] 1880 U.S. census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Angeles, p. 10 (penned), dwelling 92, family 95, Frank Graham; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 September 2016); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 67, page 224B, ED 025, image 151

[5] 1880 U.S. census, Merced County, California, population schedule, Merced, p. 11 (penned), dwelling 110, family 113, Edward Tobin; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 September 2016); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 68, page 345C, ED 043, image 711.

[6] 1900 U.S. census, San Francisco County, California, population schedule, San Francisco, p. 5 (penned), dwelling 72, family 79, John O’Gara; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 September 2016); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 105, page 5A, ED 0204.

[7] “Died (Graham),” (San Francisco.) Daily Alta California, 4 August 1888, p. 7, col. 6.

[8] “Death of a Pioneer,” Los Angeles (California) Herald, 4 August 1888, p. 2, col. 3.

[9] 1850 U.S. census, Orange Co., New York, pop. sch., p. 106, dwell. 1482, fam. 1584, Anthony Graham; 1860 U.S. census, San Francisco Co., California, pop. sch., p. 218, dwell. 1851, fam. 1876, Anthony Graham

[10] Baptismal record for Ann Eliza Graham, St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Newburgh, Orange, New York

[11] Baptismal record for Jane Graham, St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Newburgh, Orange, New York

[12] 1850 U.S. census, Orange Co., New York, pop. sch., p. 106, dwell. 1482, fam. 1584, Anthony Graham; 1860 U.S. census, San Francisco Co., California, pop. sch., p. 218, dwell. 1851, fam. 1876, Anthony Graham

[13] “Panama Canal Railway,” Wikipedia.org (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_Railway : accessed 28 September 2016).

This morning, genealogist Lisa Talbot Lisson presented a Facebook Live talk about using timelines.  She had some great points about this helpful tool and inspired me to blog about timelines today.

Timelines have been helpful in my research over the years.  For instance I could not find my great-great grandparents, James and Jane Ahern on the 1870 census.  I had an idea that they were either in San Francisco or Sonoma County, but no amount of searching would turn them up.  But then I created a timeline and noticed that they had daughters baptized at St. Vincent’s Catholic Church in Petaluma, Sonoma County in 1869 and 1871.[1]  The timeline showed me quite clearly I should definitely be looking for them in the Petaluma area in 1870. 

Armed with this new insight, I did a search for every man named James who was born in Ireland sometime between 1825 and 1835 and lived in Sonoma County.  I probably had 50 men or so who fit this broad description, and as I scrolled through the list, I could easily eliminate some just by the surname – Biggins and Craddock were not likely misrepresentations of the surname I sought.  But once I got down to the H’s, there I found James Hern,[2] exactly the man I was looking for!  His naturalization records, voter registrations and other documents refer to him as “Ahern” but I suppose the census enumerator just misheard the name and called him Hern.  And Jane?  She’s Mary J on the census. 

Timelines can help with research in so many ways.  James and Jane Ahern didn’t were hiding from me in 1870, but once I narrowed down their hiding places with a timeline, I didn’t have to look too long to find them.  Try making a timeline of your ancestor’s life.  It might help you to find some missing records. 

I’ll be presenting “Using Timelines to Understand Your Ancestors” at the Kelowna and District’s Harvest Your Family Tree Conference, September 23-25, 2016.  If you’d like to learn more about timelines and how they can help in your research, come join me!
 


[1] Ahern, Sarah A, baptismal record, 22 May 1869, St. Vincent de Paul Church, Petaluma, Sonoma, California.  Photocopy of page from unidentified register. 
Ahern, J.I,, baptismal record 20 Oct 1871, St. Vincent de Paul Church, Petaluma, Sonoma, California.  Photocopy of page 128 from unidentified register.  Note: Additional writing in margin which appear to have been written later in a different pen and by a different person  indicates “John” but John Cornelius Ahern was born in 1873, and Jane Isabella/Isabel “Belle” Ahern was born in 1871.  It is my opinion the notation of "John" in the register is incorrect.
[2] Hern, James, 1870 U.S. Census population schedule, Year: 1870; Census Place: Vallejo, Sonoma, California; Roll: M593_91; Page: 456A; Image: 87186; Family History Library Film: 545590