Take your use of NotebookLM beyond the basics. In this session, we will look at ten examples of using NotebookLM for genealogy research. This presentation assumes you’ve got a working knowledge of NotebookLM either through experience or our presentation (order that for immediate download here for $25). We emphasize the responsible use of AI in genealogy and being reasonably critical of AI-created content. Our approach is to use NotebookLM to assist in the refinement of ideas and research process not to have AI create content and call it our own. NotebookLM can be the research assistant you always wish you had—although an imperfect one. Release date: 19 March. Pre-order at $21. Regular price $28.
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 five 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. Release date: 19 March. Pre-order at $21. Regular price $28.
For one reason or another, it may be necessary to remove photos from an album. I get that. But the positioning of photos can contain clues and is information that should be preserved (scanning or digital camera/phone photos are fine). The photo on the upper right I knew contained my grandmother (holding baby) and her in-laws. From other pictures and based on his face, I was certain the boy standing up was my Dad’s older brother. I’m also reasonably certain the child my great-grandfather is holding is his second grandson my Dad’s first cousin. Based on their ages and the fact that my Grandma is holding the baby, I’m almost 100% certain it’s my Dad she is holding. And the picture to the left of it, must be […]
Old deeds or surveys taken in metes and bounds states may have individuals listed besides the grantors, grantees, and witnesses. There may be individuals listed with “cc” or “cb” listed after their name. Chain carriers or chain bearers helped the surveyor by carrying the measuring chain. These individuals generally had to swear an oath, had to be of legal age, and some times were relatives of the surveyor or the family whose land was being surveyed. Chain carriers or bearers would have been viewed as reliable and trustworthy. “CC” on an old deed does not mean “Carbon Copy.” [That was an attempt at humor.]
I recently discovered an 1860-era map for a county where I have researched family for decades. One of the place names listed on it was new to me. A search of the United States Geological Survey place names database in the United States did not include a reference to it nor did the county histories I have saved digitally. So it just goes to show you that there is always something to learn and that it never hurts to look at “one more item” even when you think there’s nothing there you have not already seen. It is also possible as well that the place name reference is incorrect and was the result of some error.
One might be tempted to say that I don’t need to get a copy of the record of my ancestor’s second marriage to one of the men she married after the husband who was my ancestor died. That would be a mistake. In my case, that 1882 marriage in Ft. Madison, Iowa, was the only one that asked for parental information. The ancestor in question listed her parents’ names on that marriage record. It was a short marriage (50 days), but in terms of genealogical information it was perfect.
It’s uncommon for a will to say something to the effect that “the children listed in this will are the only ones I have ever had and there are no others. I have included all my children in my will.” Many genealogical arguments result from a will that appears to list only some of the testator’s children or a genealogist’s belief that a child (usually their direct ancestor) has been omitted from the will. Wills that do appear to list only some of the testator’s children can be frustrating for the genealogist. Wills that omit known children can be confusing as well. It’s possible that other children were provided for separately or were intentionally left out. Children do get left out of the parents’ wills for a variety […]
It can be tempting to ignore subpoenas in court records as “necessary details” that don’t warrant reading. That’s a mistake. Those slips of paper can provide significant details. In the United States, they should provide the jurisdiction where the individual was living (usually the county) which may not be the county in which the case was being heard. In the case of the example, the subpoena contained an easier reading of the names of the witnesses to the will that was being admitted to probate.
The obituary of a relative indicates they were cremated. As a result, you decide to not bother with checking for a tombstone because you decide that their cremains were probably scattered in some location by the family or are sitting in an urn somewhere. That’s a potential mistake. They may still have a marker. It is possible their cremains were actually interred somewhere and a marker was erected. It’s possible their ashes were scattered to the winds in some location, but that a cenotaph was erected somewhere–perhaps in a cemetery near where they lived or where they had relatives. It’s possible their spouse (or another relative was not cremated and that their information is inscribed on that individual’s stone. Just do not assume that cremated means no marker […]
It can be tempting to think that individuals with the same last name are related to each other when they end up settling in the same area. That’s not necessarily true. My maternal grandmother’s maiden name was Habben. My maternal grandfather’s grandfather’s sisters both married men with the last name of Habben. They were from the same general area of Germany and some of them lived in the same area of Illinois for a time in the late 1800s. They were not related to each other at all. It can be tempting when two individuals with a somewhat unusual last name live in proximity to each other to assume that they are related–that they have to be related. They do not have to be related. Sometimes names that are rare […]
Pre-1850 United States census records, which frequently only list a county of residence, can be a challenge when the names are spelled wrong and the writing is difficult to read. If you can’t find you person in 1830, try searching for his 1820 and 1830 neighbors in 1840 and then looking closely in the vicinity of that name (at least a few pages befor and after). You may find the person of interest.
It may sound morbid, but if you happen to be around when a loved one is at the end of their life, write down some of the more poignant moments. Not the medical details, but the other little stories. A few days before my mother died, I had finally fallen asleep at around four in the morning only to have a nurse come in and perform a bed check. I yelled and shot out of my chair. There my mother and the nurse were, laughing as if it were the funniest thing they had ever seen. Who knows, maybe it was. I was aware enough of my surroundings not to be irritated that I was being laughed at. And I remember my mother’s cousin and his wife coming […]
I’ve been told to not speak ill of the dead more than once. Non-genealogists are sometimes told this when a relative or a family has a challenging personality, has caused family conflict, or been involved in questionable activities. Sometimes it’s a fine line of how much to share and preserve and what to edit out—particularly when the events are not recorded or preserved in other ways such as newspapers, court records, .or other publicly available records. I’m pretty liberal in sharing what was in a newspaper or public court record—things were known at the time anyway. Occasionally there may be something on a publicly availably death certificate that was not publicly available at the time the document was recorded. But those things such as family squabbles and the […]
Tracking down those aunts and uncles who had no descendants is advised because it helps give the researcher a complete picture of the entire family and it helps all members of the family to be remembered. Those are excellent reasons. But there’s another reason. Some record on that relative with no children of their own could provide information on those relatives you can’t find out more about. This 1980 death certificate for my aunt listed a sister-in-law as the informant–complete with residential address in 1980. Had I been unable to track her down, the reference would have been extremely helpful. Any record on that relative with no descendants could tell you more about your relative’s life. It could also provide information on other family members as well. The […]
Genealogists often lament the fact that documents fail to include “extra” details that they would like to know. The deed between two men with the same last name that does not state their relationship. The newspaper item that mentions someone from out of town visiting a local resident without stating their relationship. Frustrating, but it is worth remember that, in the case of the deed, legal documents are created for a specific purpose–not for leaving behind details of the relationship between the individuals signing the document. If the relationship is germane to the transaction (they were both heirs to the property, for example) then it may be stated–but not always. The newspaper is about “news” and the “news” is that someone visited–not what their relationship was. Ask yourself […]
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