As genealogists, we are accustomed to charting relationships and drawing inferences, and we frequently compare the effort to solving puzzles or pursuing a treasure hunt. What if we wanted to construct a genealogical map for a particular person or community? Published maps can literally be a treasure trove of information about a community's residents, and can provide a basis for sorting through relationships and movements. This talk will show how to index old map data onto geographic coordinates using Google My Maps, correlate residents with FamilySearch IDs, and incorporate other data of interest into a shareable visual format. Several case studies of building custom Google Maps will be presented.

Joseph's natural interest in maps, statistics, and history leads him to lose himself frequently in exploration of old gazetteers and atlases. He is an Eagle Scout with an Orienteering Merit Badge, and has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from BYU, where his thesis focused on building maps from panoramic video sensors aboard small flying drones. He is a hiker, a Geocaching enthusiast, and a consumer of stories about local history. In his professional life, he helps Unmanned Aerial Vehicles solve navigation and control problems. In his home life, he lives in Wilmington, Massachusetts with his wife Jennifer, and their four boys.