We are offering sessions of our popular US land and probate classes this February. Additional details are on our announcement pages.
Monthly Archives: January 2016
Do You Have Color Pictures to Digitize?
Ladies Can Homestead Too
Women could file claims under the United States Homestead Act of 1862. They simply had to meet the age and citizenship requirements like the men. In some areas of the United States, homestead claim eligibility was one of the reasons single women would naturalize.
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Don’t Ignore the Deeds
Years ago, early in my research, I located an early 20th century entry for relative in the seller’s index to local land records. It was in a part of the county where he “shouldn’t have owned property.” It turned out the deed was one where he was selling his small interest in a small piece of property that his grandmother had owned at her death.
And the deed referenced that her former husband had purchased the property in the 1850s.
All from a deed that I didn’t even think was relevant.
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Our sponsor, GenealogyBank, is offering an annual subscription for a monthly rate equivalent to less than $5 a month.
Our Tip of the Day Goals
My goals here at Genealogy Tip of the Day are pretty simple. Iwant to make people aware research pitfalls, research procedures, sources, and terminology.
And I try and do this in short tips. That means that many tips are not complete, lengthy discussions of a topic. There may be exceptions that would take too long to discuss fully. Generally those tips are at most four sentences long.
I try and keep each tip to the point, with the thought that:
- some people just need a reminder
- others will see something new and decide they need to learn more about it
Suggestions for additional tips are always welcome.
Genealogy Tip of the Day (and our sister sites Rootdig, Daily Genealogy Transcriber, and Search Tip of the Day) are all written by Michael John Neill
How Was It Split?
Realizing Who “I” Was
Sometimes it takes a while for things to dawn on us. I had this photograph for years before I realized that the “Mary and I and our old home church” was written by my great-grandmother. After all she and Mary are in the picture so “I” must be her. This was one time when I was glad that “I” was used on the back of a picture instead of the name. Fortunately someone was able to identify the people in the picture for me.
Don’t Be A Year Off
Legal records that state the ages of children may indicate their age as of a certain date or state what the child’s age will be on their next birthday. Read the document carefully to make certain you interpret the age and when it was effective correctly. Otherwise you may inadvertently create a year discrepancy where none actually existed.
Men Were Not Always Widowed Either
An earlier tip referenced women lying about their marital status in census records. Men also gave incorrect marital status accounts to avoid mentioning their divorce. In 1900, Conrad Haase in Hancock County, Illinois’ Appanoose Township, indicated he was widowed. He wasn’t. He was divorced. Always take those marital status entries with a grain of salt.
A Few Cemetery Trip Suggestions
Before heading to a cemetery to take pictures, there are several things to keep in mind, including:
- having the permission of the landowner, if appropriate
- knowing how to get to the cemetery
- having adequate materials to clean the stone without harming it
- having some way to take notes to augment your photographs
- knowing how to use your digital camera or phone
- dressing appropriately–old clothes are best
- being prepared to take pictures in the shadows
- arriving while there is still plenty of light
- having a cemetery travel buddy may be a good idea as well
This list is not comprehensive, but is suggestive.