The third linking pattern we will discuss is one of the biggest—chronology. I also like to refer to this as “common sense.” And yet, it surprises me how often this gets thrown out the window for the sake of a convenient match.
I’m a big proponent of using timelines for our ancestors. The idea behind chronological linking is that every life event for our ancestor fits in a lovely timeline. It should be orderly, neat and make logical sense. For example, we shouldn’t have a child born after a mother had already died. A couple could not bear children when they were both 80 years old. Things like this should be eliminated from our family groups. And yet, I find these mistakes on FamilySearch trees ALL THE TIME!
It’s a good rule of thumb to work with the knowledge that the past is a foreign country. Our lifestyle and our values are not the same as those of our ancestors. With that being said, there are a few timeline “rules” that apply to our ancestors.
- A man’s first marriage usually happened when he was about 25 years old.
- A woman’s first marriage usually happened around age 21.
- The first child was born to a marriage within the first year. Also, a first-born illegitimate child was VERY common and not scandalous at all.
- Children were born about every two years. If you have gaps larger than three years, you likely have missed a child, had a still born or had a miscarriage. If you have children closer together than those two years, you may have grabbed a child from another family.
- Men could sire children for a long time. Don’t panic if you see a 70-year-old man with a new-born.
- Maternal and infant death rates were so high. This is one of the most-sad parts of putting together these family groups. It was not uncommon for a man to outlive three wives.
- Dying of old age happened in the 70s. A few people lived into their 80s, but not many lived beyond that.
We do see some life events that might seem crazy to us, but they made sense to our ancestors. One of the biggest of these is when an older (meaning elderly) woman married a young man. This marriage would be in name only. The man would take care of the household and property (which includes the older bride), and when the woman died, he could marry a younger woman and have children with her on the property he inherited from his wife. This didn’t happen every day, but it happened enough that it’s no longer alarming to me to see it.
When you sort through potential ancestors, use your brain and frequently ask yourself, “Does this make chronological sense?” This simple exercise will prove so helpful in gathering and connecting the correct individuals, and it will be helpful in ruling out others who do not belong to your family.