So far I haven't managed to finish making it into a video, but I did get pretty close. Here are maps showing the locations of all the ancestors I could locate from 1850 to 1940. Some of it is inferred, but most comes from census data.
The easiest way I found to map the points is Mapcustomizer.com. To get it into a video, I will probably need something more powerful though.
1850:
1860:
1870:
1880:
1900:
1910:
1920:
1930:
1940:
To be really interesting, it would need to go back to 1700 or so, but that data starts to get pretty speculative. I would be building the map based on two or three data points in a person's life. I also need a lot more information for the late 1800s to clearly show the westward migration in that era. I included almost all my second great grandparents in that list, but to adequately cover the late 1800s I need a lot more third and fourth great grandparents.
One thing this does show well is just how much the dust bowl impacted the family. In 1920 no ancestors were in California, in 1930, four ere in California, and in 1940 eight were in California. The only ones remaining outside the state were a few stragglers in Ohio and Missouri.
The last two Europeans also left the continent in the 1900-1920 era. This corresponds quite well to an era of mass immigration.
