GMOL Maps

Contents

Introduction
Individual Location Map
Descendancy Map
Ancestry Map
Individual Timeline Map
Infoboxes for each marker
Reliability of locations
Printing maps

What kinds of maps are there? Maps of four different types can be requested from GMOL pages, and examples are provided below. (Click on any image for a larger view.)

In each case, the GPS coordinates come from the GMOL Location-Coordinate (Lo-Co) database that is unique to GMOL. The Lo-Co database contains coordinates for over 30,000 locations that are referenced in the GRanDMA database. Thee coordinates are not uniformly accurate; most are very precise, and a few are just guesses. The reliability is discussed below. The Lo-Co database is separate from the GRanDMA genealogy database, and the GRanDMA Committee is not responsible for it.

The maps that are drawn are Google maps, so you can take advantage of some of the tools built into them. When they are displayed, you can find the "+" and "-" to zoom in and out and drag the borders to expand the size of the map.

The Individual Location map. On the Individual Profile page, most of the event locations (birth, death, burial, baptism) are links to maps. Clicking on these will generate a map of that location including a red marker for the event location.

If the entry for an individual has a FindAGrave Memorial Number, GMOL will look it up and show the cemetery with a link to map the cemetery.

If FindAGrave also has the GPS coordinates for the particular grave, the map marker will be at the gravesite.

* An "InfoBox" can be made to appear by hovering over the marker.

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A Descendancy Map shows a marker for each location of all the known birthplaces in the Descendants List.

* Find the link to the Descendancy Map on the Reports page.

* Markers for each generation are shown in a different color.

* InfoBoxes can be produced for any marker by hovering over the marker.

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The Ancestry Map shows shows a marker for each location of all the known birthplaces in the Ancestry List.

* Find the link to the Ancestry Map on the Reports page.

* Markers for each generation are differentiated by color.

* InfoBoxes can be produced for any marker by hovering over the marker

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The Individual Timeline Map shows shows a marker for each event in the profile of the individual for which a valid location is availble: birthplaces of the parents, birthplace of the individual, baptism, marriage (showing the birthplace of the spouse), birthplace(s) of child/children, immigration, census locations, death, and burial. An example illustrates the capabilities, showing a Timeline Map for Peter T. Harms (#4495).

The father is seen (in green) (

); the mother's marker (

) isn't visible because at first, it is hidden behind other icons. Peter had 3 wives; One is readily visible (

) in blue, and is connected to other markers. The second is initially hidden, and one is shown, but not connected, because the coordinates are not specific. The children are inditially hidden behind other markers as well.
A red line follows the immigration path (

) to New York. The path goes to Nebraska where the second wife is connected. More children were born, some markers are visible. Then it ends in California where we see (

) a grave memorial icon.

Upon zooming in a bit to South Russia, Peter's mother's birthplace is clearer; Peter's father's birthplace is visible behind the icon representing the birthplace of Peter. On the right are more events in a cluster.

Zooming still farther reveals the location of Peter's baptism, the location of his wedding, the birthplace of his first wife, and the birthplace of his first three children, a boy and two girls. (Hovering over any icon will produce the name of the individual.)

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Infoboxes for each marker. Hover over a marker to find information about the event location at that marker. It may include the following:

* the name of the location as found in GRanDMA.

* possibly the current name of that location.

* the coordinates.

* when the coordinates are known to be an estimate, that is noted as well; for example, if the location of a village is not known, the location of a larger region may be provided as an estimate.

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Reliability of locations. Determining the locations of historical places can be uncertain. There are over 30,000 event locations in GRanDMA as of 2022. Many of the coordinates come from people who have studied Mennonite villages in one area or another. The majority of the coordinates come from the Google Geocoding capability which is reasonably good for modern names. Many place names are unknown, and Google just makes a guess. Probably about 85% are quite accurate. Another 5-7% are probably good guesses at the region. Some of the rest can be way off or non-existant. (For example, if Google does not find a village name, it has been known to report the cooredinates of a village of the same name in another country.) So, do not treat all the information as definitive.

Important Note About the Location Database. You may have corrections for the coordinates for some locations, but the procedure for sharing those isn't yet clear. Do NOT send that information to the GRanDMA database managers since this is a separate database.

Volunteers with knowledge of some of these regions are welcome and could work on a region like a colony or a country.

If the coordinates are known with high reliability, Google Geocoding is used to determine the current name for the location.

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Printing Options: The map window can be re-sized as desired using the Google Maps handles to expand (+), contract (-), or move the map. When the desired range, size and magnification are found, click on Print. Details may vary by browser, and trial-and-error might be necessary to size the image for the printed page.

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