I love maps!! I REALLY love maps. I don’t remember liking geography in school, but I need to know where things are now. If I hear of a place, any place, just talking to people I run into and finding out where they’re from, and I don’t know where it is, I look it up as soon as I can. I have an

Does that tell you anything? Thankfully, this is a very convenient thing for doing Family History. When you research a relative you start with what you know, where you know they lived. If, for instance, they lived in a particular area for work, or because they parents lived there for work, they may move if the work is unavailable there.They may move for another reason, like for religious freedom, a common reason people came to the United States. Sometimes they moved, but not far at all, like to the next town or hamlet. It may be only a few miles down the road. When all the places the family has lived are located on a map it is easy to see the overall area or areas the family spent their lives. It gives you a visual of how the family migrated from place to place. When you have a map like this in front of you, you can see new research possibilities come to light. You can see the surrounding cities, counties, parishes, provinces or even countries. Try it! It’s really fun! Happy Family History Friday. Love, Joy