It is all the rage – Birthplace Charts

It has become all the rage. Doing a birthplace chart.  I understand that J. Paul Hawthorne started the idea on Facebook of doing a simple pedigree chart indicating where your ancestors came from.  It has been picked up by many others, including Judy Russell, in her blog, The Legal Genealogist.  It was also suggested in Randy Seaver’s Genea-Musings  blog, so I just had to jump on the bandwagon and give it a try.

My Birthplace Chart

 

There are several templates available, both Judy and Randy suggested one at on Google Drives.  I used it and filled in my entries with my own colors.

It is clear, Michigan (light blue), with seven ancestors, is the most common state where my ancestors were born.  Next most common was Illinois (brown), with five ancestors born there.

There is a little bit of the Western Movement showing up in my chart.  New York to Indiana, Ohio to Indiana, but more so, I think, a northern movement shows up with Tennessee to Illinois to Michigan and Kentucky and Michigan to North Dakota. The unknown birth location for my maternal, great-grandfather’s parents jumps out like a sore thumb.  Trying to figure out those ancestors names and birth places is high on my list of tasks for my Brown/Montran research.

Rather than just saying England, I added the flag to show the birthplace of my 2nd great grandmother, my only known immigrant ancestor in four generations.

My wife’s Birthplace Chart

Then I got to thinking, I really couldn’t do one of these charts without doing one for my wife’s family. We went to Easter dinner yesterday at one of niece’s homes. We enjoyed conversation with several family members. Needles-to-say, at some point anytime there is a family get together somehow the conversation turns to genealogy.  Anyway, I just happened to bring a hard copy of my wife’s birthplace chart.  It would be identical for her brother, except for the place of birth. Her brother, “J,” loved the chart and took it with him.

I have really enjoyed the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun activity. Thanks for sharing the idea. Both my wife’s and my Birthplace charts are interesting to look at; they provide a visual representation of family lines and allows me to see things and notice things I might not otherwise notice.  Thank you J. Paul Hawthorn for the idea and thanks to Judy Russell and Randy Seaver for promoting it to be “all the rage.”