From a while back It is not possible to preserve every piece of paper we have. Sometimes it is not even possible to preserve or pass on every piece of paper we have from our parents or grandparents. The piles and files may be overwhelming and those that come after us may have no interest in documenting every receipt that Grandpa kept during his life time. Consider scanning the paper items and letting the originals go in some cases. Do you need to keep every physical check your Grandfather wrote? Do you need ever receipt Grandma kept for craft supplies or having the television repaired? It might not even be worth your time to scan or digitize these items. Or it might be. That’s really your decision. But […]
Remember that not all associates of your ancestor are the same. Some may have been more connected to your ancestor than others. I’m doing a little research on a man who was an associate of two of my unrelated ancestors. Based on what I have found, the man they had in common was more closely connected to one than to the other. He and one ancestor lived as neighbors in Germany and in two different counties in the US and he testified about my ancestor’s farm operation after my ancestor died. The other ancestor appears in an estate settlement for a woman for whom the associate was an executor. Neither man was related to the woman (I’ve looked into that) and, based on what I have discovered, their […]
It’s possible that your relative got married in a church other than the one they attended or were a practicing member of. Couples who “run away to get married,” may get married in a church of the same denomination miles from home. They may also get married by a preacher of a denomination whose practices are close to their own–close enough that the differences are not considered different. Even couples who don’t leave home to get married may choose an officiant of denomination other than their own. Many times, particularly on the frontier, available clergy may be scarce and a couple may need to choose an officiant outside of their preferred denomination. Keep in mind that “wrong” church may have been a church attended by a family member […]
Got a word that you think is really unusual in a document? Not certain you’ve ever seen it before? Having trouble transcribing it? Of course you could (should…) Google it. Just make certain that any source you use for information is one that is credible. If you had Google “help” you transcribe a difficult-to-read word, just make certain that it’s suggested word is what is actually in the document. Google does not know everything. But…you could also type that word in the full-text search at FamilySearch as well and see where else it appears or get an idea of how uncommon it really is. You can search the full-text search at FamilySearch here. You can order our webinar on using it here.
Sometimes children are named for their baptismal sponsor and sometimes they are not. Of course if your ancestor was not baptized or was not baptized as a child, then it does not matter. The best way to know what was going on at the time and place of interest to your research is to read the baptismal entries for 3 pages before and 3 pages after your person of interest. How many entries were there? How many were named for their sponsors? How many were not? Now you know what was going on in the time and place where your person was baptized and you are not repeating something you don’t know is true.
If your relative’s 1850 or 1860 US census enumeration indicates a value of real estate owned, have you determined how they came to own this real estate and how the property left their possession? Those records could provide clues about your ancestor’s financial status, potential connections in the area, clues as to where they lived before or after those enumerations, and more. There’s no guarantee records of property acquisition will tell you anything other than the basic details of the land transaction, but you never know until you look. And always make certain you account for all acreages in utilizing land records. The number of acres being obtained should equal the number of acres going out–other than potential minor differences due to surveying errors.
The essentially missing 1890 US census creates a significant record gap for researchers. One way to potentially bridge that gap is to take a deep dive into newspaper records during the 1880-1900 time period for the ancestor in question. While newspapers are not a true substitute for the census (both records have different goals), newspapers can shed light on some family mysteries during this time period. Newspapers can document moves, relationships, vital events and more in your ancestor’s life. They do not provide that one-moment-in-time snapshot of your ancestor’s life, but they can shed some light on your person. Newspapers also may not reference everyone who ever lived in an area–as the census is intended to do–but they do (particularly in rural areas) mention a high proportion of […]
The recorded copy of a document may have several different dates on it. Make certain you understand the purpose of each date and don’t draw incorrect conclusions. Dates may include: Not all documents will have all these dates. Deeds are one document that are often acknowledged in front of an official in addition to being signed by the person executing the deed. The dates may not be the same. Wills often have to be “proved” by witnesses.
For that missing (or not missing) ancestor, do you know where the nearest three of these buildings, geographic features, organizations, social groups, etc. were when your ancestor lived in the area. It could help you through those research road blocks. Things to think about include the nearest three: There are others besides these. In some cases. three may not be enough. In some cases it may be more than you need for effective research. Get your copy of Genealogy Tip of the Day–the book.
Not all homestead applications in the United States were successful. Part of the process of completing the homestead application was to post a public notice that the claim was nearing completion–and often that notice was published in the newspaper. Homestead claims that were completed generated a land patent which transferred title to the claimant. Those patents are indexed on the Bureau of Land Management website (https://glorecords.blm.gov/ ). Claims that were not completed did not generate a patent and consequently do not appear in that website. Incomplete claims are generally not indexed–however they are referenced in the Bureau of Land Management Tract books. The incomplete claim application files are at the National Archives and can contain significant information on your ancestor. One needs the location of where the property was […]
There is my Benjamin Butler and then there are the other ones. Mine was born about 1819 in New York State and is known to have lived in Michigan, Ontario, Iowa, and Missouri (and possibly a few other locations as well). There are other men of that same name who were of about the same age. I’m always encountering them when I’m looking through records on my Benjamin. So I made a list of these other Benjamin Butlers and what I have about them–focusing on those who lived reasonably close to my Benjamin and were of about the same age. I also made a note that there was a Benjamin Butler born in 1818 in New Hampshire who was eventually a governor of Massachusetts. His name comes up […]
Do you have family history items that a distant relative may want? Instead of trying to find someone to take your whole collection of materials, see if there area bits and pieces that a more distant relative may be interested in. I found a third cousin (our second great-grandfathers were siblings) who was interested in some family history pictures I have. Did she want my entire collection of materials? No. But she wanted some of them. And that’s a start.
Internet and digital newspaper searches for individuals with common names can be difficult. John Smiths and Mary Jones are everywhere. Searches for individuals whose last name has another meaning, such as Lake, King, Noble, etc. can be just as challenging–if not more. Elizabeth Lake, William King, and John Noble create their own search problems. For some searches, location keywords based on your ancestor’s life can facilitate finding the person of interest, such as: place of birth (town, county, etc.), place of death, other residences, etc. Names of states or territories may be too common and not effectively narrow your search. Or they might perfect–if just depends. For other individuals, searches that include a specific part of a residence (particularly a street name for urban relatives), an occupation, or […]
When one encounters the phrase “late of Tuckertown” in a legal document, it typically means that the person used to live in Tuckertown–not that the person referenced is dead. “Late of Tuckertown” usually means the same thing is true of “formerly of Tuckertown.” The phrase “late widow of John Jones” may be used to refer to a living woman. Usually in those cases it means that the female to whom it is referring has married again after the death of a previous husband John Jones. Deceased—that usually means dead.
When creating that ancestral chronology, don’t just look at the events in one person’s life. Also include key events in the lives of those close relatives of your ancestor. Births of children and grandchildren may have impacted your ancestor as well as deaths of parents, grandparents, and other close family members. The marriage (or divorce) of a child may have had an impact on your ancestor. Don’t add births and deaths of fifth cousins with whom your ancestor never interacted and think about the reasonableness of the event somehow making a difference in your ancestor’s life. Adding too many events, particularly ones that your ancestor may given only a pass thought to, may clutter up the chronology to the point of making it useless.
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