Broadly speaking, genealogists can put sources in one of three categories: This classification scheme is not perfect. No scheme is perfect. This classification scheme does not comment on the accuracy of the record. That’s the job of the researcher as some original sources are virtually worthless and some derivative sources are excellent. Thinking about what type of source you have in your possession helps you to think about how accurate it could be and the limitations that it might have. For more about record classification and analysis, consult Evidence Explained.
This presentation will cover an overview of research in Illinois, including: state resources, local resources and records (including an overview of typical courthouse records created in Illinois—land, court, probate, and vital), and records access. Additionally statewide research facilities and an overview of their collections and materials will be discussed. Also included will be a brief discussion of searching the FamilySearch catalog and accessing and using various websites of state agencies and organizations. A general methodology for accessing records in Illinois will also be included. The presentation will be approximately 90 minutes in length. Handout with links to various websites discussed will be included. Michael John Neill is an Illinois native and the eighth generation in one family line to have lived in Illinois. He has actively researched […]
For years I operated on the belief that the maiden name of an ancestor was Dunaway. I had never seen it written on an actual record. The first reference to the name I remember seeing was on a family group chart someone compiled years ago with no indication of a source listed. I obtained the chart very early in my research long before I knew the importance of source citing and evidence analysis. The name had simply been copied and copied over and over as the maiden name for my 4th great-grandmother. That meant it had to be correct, didn’t it? That repetition had to mean something. It does mean something. It means it has been repeated. The first time I saw it written down on an actual […]
This presentation will be example-based only and it will be assumed you have a working knowledge of how to use the full-text search at FamilySearch (order that presentation for $30—download immediate). We will look at examples (ones not discussed in the original presentation) and follow a consistent process and methodology to maximize the chance that we find what’s available for the individuals in question. It’s important to leverage all you know about an ancestor combined with the power of full-text search—we will focus on: family members, migrations, and known events and relationships. Our approach is systematic—we avoid the rabbit hole approach that can make full-text searches inefficient. Released. Pre-orders have been sent. Regular price $28.
While DNA passes from parent to child, each child only gets half of each of their individual parent’s DNA. Consequently, as a lineage is worked back in time, there will be ancestors in your genealogical tree with whom you might not share any DNA. It doesn’t mean that the ancestor is not your ancestor. It simply means that their DNA did not makes it’s way all the way down to you. While DNA is microscopically small, there’s only so much your body needs. Some suggest (for example, Blaine Bettinger in his The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy) that once a lineage is traced back to the 4th great-grandparents that there are paper genealogy tree ancestors with whom you do not share DNA. That’s why you […]
Some genealogists prefer to focus on only the dead and often ignore the living relatives for a variety of reasons. While I understand that dealing with relatives who are living and breathing can sometimes be a challenge, it can be a mistake to only concern yourselves with those who have shed their mortal coil. Living relatives may have access to things that are in no courthouse, archives, or library. Relatives who have not met their demise may have access to pictures, family ephemera, original documents, and memories which cannot be found elsewhere. While it may be a challenge to deal with the living sometimes, ignoring them can hinder your genealogical research.
It’s great to ask a relative questions about your family history. Having a list of questions to ask can also make the interview process easier. But it is worth remembering that the details of an event may be remembered over a period of time and not necessarily during a one-hour interview. The interviewee may remember significant pieces of information long after the question and answer session is over. And no matter how complete or comprehensive the list of questions seems to be, there can always be aspects of a specific family’s history that is not included. There will be questions the interviewee does not think to ask. One way to ascertain this information is to maintain a relationship with the individual if at all possible–it can be via […]
Transcribing old ledgers, account books, and estate inventories can sometimes be difficult. Businesses that are no longer in existence may be mentioned, names be abbreviated in unique ways, farm implements or occupational tools may be ones that are no longer used, etc. One way to potentially determine the names is to perform searches in digital newspapers for what can be transcribed. Wild card searches (*oat, sho*t, etc.) can be helpful when items can only partially be read. Newspapers may contain more complete references to items that can only partially be read in the item being transcribed. Business names your relative partially abbreviated may be more completely spelled out. Advertisements for these businesses may provide more detail about what they sold for those times when your ancestor’s reference to […]
There is a picture of me taken when I was about one year of age. According to me, all of my grandchildren when they were one year of age bore some resemblance to that picture of me. Had my mother been alive, she likely would have agreed with me. Whether the kids actually looked like me or not is another story. But it makes a genealogy point: do we see what we want to see or what is actually there? Sometimes, after years of research and years of knowing living famiy members, it can be easy to have an emotional investment in a certain family origin story. We have to put that story aside when looking at information we have obtained and focus on what the records actually […]
Genealogy “tricks” are a dime a dozen on the internet and there’s really no “trick” at all. It’s just being diligent and searching for every piece of paper or record that you can find. If we could get every shred of paper, digital image, stone, book, etc. with our ancestor’s name on it, research would be much easier. But that’s not the way it works. One approach is to think about what piece of information you would like to know and make a list of individuals who may have known that information (or may know it today) or records on which that information may have been written down. Given the time period and location, a marriage date could be in the family Bible, a civil record of the […]
Sometimes we have to conjecture about a relative in order to move our research forward or at least get ideas of what other records could help us. Be careful with whom you share that conjecture as sometimes speculation suddenly becomes a “fact” for which you become the source. If you include speculation in your research notes, clearly label that speculation as speculation. Otherwise you may inadvertently convert your own speculation to fact.
Genealogical documents present transcription challenges, especially the older they are. One wants to make it clear in any typed up rendering of a document what comes from that document and what comes from the researcher’s mind (or other sources). I have a simple approach that I use when transcribing any document. The transcription is clearly indicated as such and put between two markers in brackets indicating where the transcription begins and ends. The analysis or commentary is after the transcription. [begin transcription] transcribe document [end transcription] [analysis] analyze [end analysis] That helps me to know what the document said and what I thought it said.
The picture discussed in this post is not included because the other two individuals are living. There’s a picture of me in a suit taken in the early 1970s. I look to be approximately four-years old. When it was taken was a mystery. There’s a little girl, also dressed up and also about my age, standing next to me. I have no female first cousins, so that’s not who the person is. I did not recognize the person and she didn’t appear to be any female relative I could think of based on her age, hair color, and general face shape. She’s not a relative. As soon as I looked in the background of the picture and saw the woman sitting in the background in a church pew, […]
I stumbled today upon the name of my father’s 4H group he was a member of in the 1950s–the Elvaston Strait-Shooters. There were 4H clubs nearer to where they lived and the reason he and his brother were members of this group instead of one of the nearby ones has been lost to history. There are a variety of organizations–including church–where your ancestor may not have attended the nearest one. There are many reasons your ancestor may have not attended the nearest church of her denomination. Your ancestor may have been a Mason, but may have been active in a group that was not nearest to where he lived. Sometimes people have a falling out with the nearby group (or church) and change their membership. Sometimes people move […]
The Bureau of Land Management website (http://www.glorecords.blm.gov) allows users to search patent database of individuals who obtained federal land. The database contains an image of the actual patent and should describe the federal act under which the individual obtained the land. The BLM site does not contain any of supporting documentation used to obtain that land. Those files are in the National Archives in Washington, DC. Generally speaking federal land could be obtained via: The amount of paperwork in the application file varies dependent upon the type of acquisition process.
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