Where did Millard Stephens live?

A simple enough question and yet because I wanted to not only answer it but put it all on Google Earth Pro and make a quick movie out of it, it took waaaaayyyyy longer.

This is actually a fun project to do and you can do it for one person or for a family. It is fascinating to see where they lived and how they moved about. This movie is pretty basic but you can add photos of the homes you find and overlay old maps. You can really be creative. I do have one in the works with actual photos but that is not the question I am answering this week. Stay focused and on task!

In the case of my great-grandfather Millard, who lived his entire life in the Wayne, Boone and Kanawha Counties of West Virginia, I took all the census I could find and wrote down where he lived during those years. Nothing was very clear as either his father was a farmer or he was and there was no street location so I just picked an area close to the town noted or general area of the enumeration district. Next, I looked at the birth certificates or records of all his children, or those that had one online, so five out of eleven. I noted the locations and years and fit them between the census. I also looked at the marriage record which only stated Boone Co., not very helpful so when it came time to mark the map I put it somewhere near the birth of the children at that time.

Since I still do not have a death record I had to go by the obituary that said Millard died at home and after lots of digging I found where that home was located. I will detail that in my next post. After gathering all the dates I opened Google Earth Pro and in the My Places panel, I created a folder for Millard Stephens. I located the first place on my list and added a pin and made some notes (which do not show up in the movie). I added all the pins and created a tour. Next, I watched several Youtube videos to see how it was done and tried it out several times. I had to adjust a few places and move place markers etc till I got it where I wanted it. There is still one location that appears off to the left and I cannot figure that one out, not important though, you can still see it.

Here it is, my first ever Google Earth movie