I feel the need to have a better sense of the geography of my ancestors. In my research so far, which goes back as far as 10 generations, all ancestors but one were born in the U.S. The fact that I’m dealing with just one country makes me feel like I can get my arms around this.

I decided that I wanted to be able to see where my ancestors lived on a map. I’m sure I could probably map them online and create something to look at on my computer screen. But that’s not what I want. I want a big map, on my wall, with pins on it. I want to sit back in my chair and gaze at that map. And I want the satisfaction of putting in a new pin when I identify a new person.

So I bought a large map of  the U.S. on Amazon. I need to mount it on some foam core and hang it on the wall and start sticking pins into it.

I’m still pondering what to pin. Birth places? Burial places? Both? I’m figuring I’ll color code by branch of the family using one color for each of the branches starting with each grandparent. It might be the kind of thing I have to try before making a final decision.

I find myself itching to get this project done. Just today I was looking at information on an Iowa Genealogy Crash Course webinar being offered by Family Tree University. I do have Iowa ancestors, but off the top of my head, I don’t know who they are (or which branch of the family they’re from), nor what part of Iowa. I want to just glance at the wall and get that information. That will be satisfying.

I’ll post again (with a photo) after I finish this project and let you know how I decided to use the pins!