Demonstration of Crafting a Chronicle from a Set of Dull Facts
Writing about my ancestor was boring until I created images to show what happened in his life.
As I’ve written before, showing family history is more powerful than telling family history.
I believe that the stories of our ancestors are more engaging and thrilling for our families when we include images and keep the writing short. I call this style of family history chronicles.
Here’s an example from my own family history of how I went from my research notes to chronicling family history.
The Geiger family of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania appeared in town after the Civil War. The family lore is George Geiger was a water boy for the Confederate Army and then moved north to live with two maiden aunts (This has yet to be proven.). I am descended from George’s son, Charles.
Most of the information I have on Charles is very basic - census, draft cards, and a baptism:
In reviewing the records, what jumped out was the number of locations Charles lived over his adult life. I began writing about the places he lived and quickly bored myself:
What if instead of making a list of locations, I showed it on a map?
I popped open Google MyMaps and placed a pin on each location I had. Now I can easily see where Charles lived:
Many of the place Charles lived have been paved over by shopping centers or highways, but his childhood still exists and GoogleMaps Streetview has an image of it. Zillow tells me the home is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1,236 square feet.
Here’s my chronicle about him:
Charles Geiger was born in 1895 and lived with his parents and six siblings at 228 East 5th Avenue, Conshohocken, a modest two story, 1,236 square foot home with three bedrooms.
When he moved out of his childhood home, he never stayed in one place for more than a few years. With his wife Pearl, he rented homes in Conshohocken, East Norriton, and Barren Hill. The UCC church he attended was in Conshohocken and he is buried in their cemetery on Matsonford Road.
The next part of Charles’ life I plan to chronicle is the homes he built and sold. While researching the deed of his son, Charles Jr., I discovered over three dozen real estate transactions where he bought or sold property in Conshohocken. It would be interesting to locate each home and create a collage of ones he built.
Rather than write the facts of Charles’ life, I chronicled what was most interesting to me. Hopefully I’ve made the research interesting and immediately understandable for my family. They’ll get to see it next week.
P.S. The Chronicles Writing Challenge is on hiatus for the summer. Stay tuned for more news on it in August.
Oh, I just love the weaving of stories in and out of maps, timelines, and documents. What fun.
I love the map showing where he lived. Thanks for the tip. Writing about the houses he bought and sold sounds interesting.