Timelines are very helpful when tracing your ancestor. By including local, national and even world events, you can grasp a better understanding of your ancestor’s life and the influences outside events may have played. For example, my 4 th great grandmother, Margaret Still had my 3 rd great grandfather, George David Still, out of wedlock and no where is there a mention of his biological father. My 2 nd great aunt (George’s granddaughter) suggested to me once that perhaps a soldier was passing through and Margaret got pregnant by him. That is a very romantic idea. I think the more likely answer is that Margaret was loose. I think this for a couple reasons. First, she had another son later named David. George was born in 1808. David was born in 1822. A court record from 1827 shows Margaret charging a David Phillips for fornication resulting in a bastard male child. The record only mentions one child and is dated five years after her younger son by the same nam...
by Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman