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Learn About Ancestors From Topos

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By SHARON TATE MOODY

Tribune correspondent

Published: June 8, 2008

Genealogists rely on official records when gathering the details of their ancestors' lives, but that only tells part of the story. Studying the land of ancestors - such as how mountains and lakes were barriers or how roads crossed their properties - will help you get to know them.

It's not difficult to get a bird's-eye view of the site where a farm once was or a family migrated. You can use topographic maps and satellite imagery, which is easily accessible online.

By viewing the actual terrain, you can imagine what it was like to travel by foot, horse or wagon. You can look for the old roads crossing rivers. What might have happened when heavy rains caused the rivers to flood their banks? A farming ancestor would have planted his crops in the rich soil of a river or creek's bottom land. When those lands flooded, did he lose his crops?

Your first step on this journey will be pinpointing the location you want to see. Look at the deeds of your ancestors' lands. They may mention creeks, roads or communities, which you can look for on a map. Then turn to an online service such as Google Earth or Google Maps to view the land.

Also, make notes of the names of places in your research of other records. For instance, keep a list of all churches your ancestors attended and the cemeteries in which they are buried.

Meanwhile, here's what you'll find on topographic maps, or "topos" as they're often called. Topos will show natural and man-made features including roads, boundaries, buildings, mountains, valleys, rivers and vegetation.

The colors on topo maps designate land features. Areas of vegetation are marked in green; blues show waterways; and grays or reds indicate densely populated areas.

It's also possible to determine the height of mountains, depth of oceans and steepness of slopes through contour lines on the maps. Brown curving lines indicate contours of the land, and dark blue curving lines signify contours of water. The distance between the lines shows whether the terrain is hilly or level. Closely drawn lines indicate steeper slopes; the farther apart the lines, the more level the land.

Every fifth line will be marked with a number that indicates the height above or below sea level. You also will see different symbols all over topo maps, plus a legend explaining the symbols. To learn more about map symbols, go to erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/symbols.

For details about how these maps are made, go to the U.S. Geological Survey's site at erg .usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/topo/topo.html. The agency began mapping the country in 1879 after Congress charged it with "classifying all the public lands." About 2 million land features can be found on the agency's topo maps.

Another federal agency created to add more precision to maps is the U.S. Board of Geographic Names. It was established in 1890 to deal with conflicting names on maps. Its Web site, geonames.usgs.gov/links/index.html, is a good resource for finding links to sites with the history and description of the names of cities, towns, etc.

One link, www.thecajuns .com/oldnew.htm, will take you to a site that compares old and new names in Louisiana and gives a bit of background on their origins.

Go to geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic to be directed to a page that allows you to search for the name of a specific feature like "Pocket Cemetery." When your query yields results, you will be directed to a page with a number of options for finding an online mapping service. Clicking your choice will take you to that mapping service Web site, where you can search for views of locations.

One of the mapping services is "GNIS in Google Map," where you can call up options for road maps to views of terrain. This is what you'll find on the site:

Map: a simple road map.

Satellite: a photographic bird's-eye view of the location.

Hybrid: a combination of the map and satellite view in one presentation.

Topo: a topographical map.

Terrain: an excellent view of the land with mountains in relief.

Another valuable service is Google Earth. Those unfamiliar with this site can go to earth .google.com and download the free software. As the site says, you will be able to "fly" to any place on Earth. It can pinpoint a creek, mountain range or the road on which your ancestor lived. Of course, current buildings and roads will appear on the imagery, and it will be necessary to picture what the land looked like without them. It helps to compare the images to other sources, such as old historical maps.

Sharon Tate Moody is a certified genealogist by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Send genealogy questions and event announcements to her in care of The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa FL 33606; or stmoody0720@mac.com.

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