Do You Have a Family Timeline?
The history of Belle-Hampton goes back to when William Hoge came to America in 1682 on the Caledonia. Although the farm's founding didn’t occur until James Mayo Hoge arrived in 1767, eighty-five years later, the family members' adventures have been recorded for their descendant's knowledge and enjoyment. But the stories are even more crucial than just information. It provides a connection to the ancestors and inspiration for the future. It offers children a sense of grounding. To know who you are and where you fit into the world, you must know where you came from. We decided to visually chronicle the Hoge Family Story to understand the pioneer's heroics' vastness. However, to capture over three hundred years became an enormous task. We needed to break it down into decades for a manageable and organized project to record historical events.
To begin with, we collected basic information on each family member. When and where were they born? When and where did they go to school? When and where was their first job? If they got married, when and where did that happen? We recorded the births of all the children and where they happened. And, of course, the eventual deaths of the family members. Some were tragic, while others showed a life well lived to a ripe old age.
We then mapped out the essential information into a timeline by decade. As we put our most recent family history together, we realized one decade consisted of weddings followed by kids while others sadly were consumed by deaths. But we wanted a more complete picture of the family story, so we added valuable information such as somebody serving in the military and fighting in various wars. Did someone serve in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, or World War II? We designed our questions with key details on black swan events that happened during that decade. Were they involved in the Great Titanic Sinking, the Great Depression, or, more recently, 911? Were there other significant events, such as moving to a new house? In our case, moving happened almost every year from 1990-2000. Did they buy or start a new company? Belle-Hampton had a coal mine in 1870, which was recorded in that decade. The questionnaire was designed to ask for key information to understand which ancestor was involved, how, and when.
Although this painted a sizeable picture of family happenings, we decided to include historical events that may have affected them, but specific members were not directly involved, only influenced. For instance, we would record for posterity that there was a Global Pandemic in both 1918 and 2020. Governor James Hoge Tyler wrote in his diary that he and his wife were celebrating their Golden Anniversary at Belle-Hampton. Still, the family couldn't come from Northern Virginia because of the Pandemic. The JFK and Martin Luther King assassination directly impacted our family even though members weren’t there. The items that were influencers of that generation should be included. However, if something happened in history that had no bearing on the family or their future, it should be left off of the timeline. For instance, Watergate or The Monica Lewinsky Affair may have impacted the nation, but it isn’t worth noting for the family. We do have to remember that we are listing what is impactful for that generation, which might require some assumptions unless documented by ancestors.
Although meaningful, we clarify by having specific events that shaped a family's values and beliefs. The images of significant life events are put together in a thoughtful, eloquent visual. What is your story, and how does it impact your family's future generations?
