The 12 Labors of a genealogist – #07 – Using events

This month, I’d like to show you how to use events to structure and carry out your research.

So why bother with events at all?

Genealogy is all about collecting diverse and scattered information by no less diverse means. The genealogist is therefore confronted with disparate information that he or she will have to obtain (often in disorder), exploit and archive.

A good practice for structuring both research and information gathering is to think in terms of events in people’s lives.

An event – whatever it may be – provides information on :

• The nature of the event: birth, marriage, but also family celebrations, military service, opening of a will..
• The date on which it took place (or at least the period).
• The place where the event took place.
• Who was present and in what capacity.
• Documents collected (or yet to be collected): deeds, photos and even home movies.

Categorizing events

To help you find your way around, events can be classified by category.

Key events: births, christenings, marriages, deaths and funerals (burials).

In addition to providing the necessary dates, these events are attested by so-called “filiative” records, enabling us to link the individual to his or her ancestors and descendants, as well as to identify spouses and marriages (and any divorces).

Family events: engagement, divorce or separation, adoption or recognition of a child, birth of children.

With the exception of divorces, which are recorded in the margins of the civil register, these events do not necessarily leave any accessible official trace, and it is necessary to have access to personal and family archives in order to discover and exploit them.

For the families concerned, notarial deeds (marriages, gifts, wills) are an interesting source.

Military events: military service, participation in war and death in war.

This information is potentially available in the archives of the armed services. Participation in military campaigns (and their consequences: wounds, decorations, death) may enable you to refine the person’s history. Note that some signs – such as the presence of medals in the person’s home – may indicate that the person had a military past.

Professional events (including education)

These events leave no trace in civil records, and are more rarely researched.

However, knowing the person’s educational background can help you trace any relationships, circles or clubs attended.

Occupation is often indicated on official records (at the time the record was drawn up). Knowing the various professions and the places where the person worked enables us to better locate the person and to know his or her main movements. In addition, it is always interesting to see if the person is known in the registers of chambers of commerce or artisans, as well as in enlistment books for seamen.

Civil and civic events

There are also events to pay attention to: those in which a person has participated or obtained a distinction such as a victory in a sporting event or a work medal.

Don’t overlook a person’s personal involvement in causes (associations), as well as any public (political) action, such as a role as a deputy in a municipality.

Migration events

This is vital information gathered from the traces left by migration or relocation, in particular to search for acts consistent with these migrations (birth of children, naturalization, change of surname…).

Prioritizing events

In view of this panorama of events, it is useful to have a guideline for the research to be carried out, and an interesting approach is to prioritize events.

Obviously, it’s essential to search for events linked to civil status (birth, marriage, death). Then it’s a good idea to select the other events to be researched, according to the person’s profile and life context.

In conclusion: set your priorities and collect information for each event, not forgetting to note the places and people present.