Besides fitting events in your ancestor’s life into national and regional historical events, consider fitting them into other events in their immediate family as well. Had a parent just died when a child decided to move? Did a parent’s marriage to a new spouse take place a few years before the child left home? Always consider what was going on within your ancestor’s family when certain things were happening in their life.

© Michael John Neill, “Genealogy Tip of the Day,” http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com, 27 Jul 2012.