As Rootsmagic has very strong place handling functionality my ambition was to be able to geocode all places used in the facts of the database.
Visualizing a huge amount of data and bring them in a greographical context helps to understand the data much better!
I have prepared a series of interactive maps hosted on ArcGIS Online. The data files are hosted on my website and as soon as I have uploaded modified data to the webserver, the maps will automatically be recalculated every 6 or 12 hours.
The maps represent the current level of information contained in my genealogical database. In respect of emigrants the data is not complete with the exception of my hometown area where all emigrants have been extracted from the church and civil records. However there are still surprises coming up that people have emigrated and it was not recorded in church or civil records.
I have created a youtube video explaining the functionality and some special features of the maps.
Kemmler
Spread of the Kemmler name
The map on the left displays the distribution of the name Kemmler globally. Basis are the records of my anestral database. The map uses the birth place as reference.
The map is also accessible directly on ArcGIS Online under the following link: https://arcg.is/0PS4eq
As you can easily determine there are three bigger sploges in Germany representing the high no. of persons. In this case it’s my hometown area “the Haerten” in the former Kingdom of Württemberg and the cities of Burghaun / Rothenkrichen in Hessen.
The data in the U.S. reprents of about 2/3 of the states, but I still have to work through the East cost states and do some reviews in the Western states.
Distribution of the Kemmler name between 1600 and 1900
The subsequent map is a multi-layer map where each layer represents a time span of 50 years. Each layer shows the data from 1600 to the respective layer date. If you compare two layers check-off all other layers and then turn on the layer you want to compare.
The map can be accessed directly on ArcGis Online using the following link: https://arcg.is/0S0O9m
Emigration
Emigration destinations globally
The displayed locations are filtered. Minimum requirement is that the death place is known and is more detailed than the country.
The map can be accessed directly on ArcGis Online using the following link: https://arcg.is/0vHO5q.The detailed information for all individual persons can be downloaded as Excel file.
Emigration to the USA where the county is known
The displayed locations are filtered. Minimum requirement is that the death place is known and contains as a minimum information the county information. This map doesn’t include the records where city and county is known. They are included in the map below showing the city level.
The map consists of two layers, one (orange) represent the totals per county – the other (black) contains the individuals.
The map can be accessed directly on ArcGis Online using the following link: https://arcg.is/r8fbb. The detailed information for all individual persons can be also downloaded as Excel file.
Emigration to the USA where the city is known
The displayed locations are filtered to US emigrants, whose death place is well known and contains the city information.
The map can be accessed directly on ArcGis Online using the following link: https://arcg.is/0Pre9f . The detailed information for all individual persons can be downloaded as Excel file.
Emigration to European countries
The subsequent map shows the emigration places within Europe and Africa.
The map can be accessed directly on ArcGis Online using the following link: https://arcg.is/1Hm45v. The detailed information for all individual persons can be downloaded as Excel file.
Emigration targets by birth location
This map is a multi-layer map containing the emigration targets based on the death place by birth location using heatmaps. The heatmaps should provide you a quick overview about the hotspots and then you can zoom in to see how these hotspots are resolved.
It is recommended to turn on only the layer of interest otherwisew the map likely get overloaded with information and it’s difficult to see the dimensions.
The cities, states and countries/region have different color set for better identification. The states have two dashes in front of the name and countries or region have two pluses in front.
The underlying data are the indivual records and can be directly accessed via the map using the following link: https://arcg.is/1fuvnm
Burial places
Map of known burial places in the U.S.
The map shows the known burial places in my database.
The map can also be accessed directly at ARCGIS Online: https://arcg.is/1ObXGC2
The map contains two layers. The first one contains just the totals per cemetery (fawn color). The size of the dot indicates the no. of burials compared to other cemeteries.
In the second layer the hotspots have different colors and should match with the lagerr fawn dots. This layer contains all the details of the persons and can be shown clicking on the table symbol.
The data which forms the base of this map can also be downloaded as Excel file
Die Excel file contains the raw data which can be filtered as well as two pivot tables which allows additional filtering and counting.