To learn more about your ancestor’s employer as given in a city directory, search the rest of the city directory as it may include advertisements placed by the employer or list them in a list of area businesses. Either type of reference could provide additional information about the employer, where it was located, when it was in operation, etc. Consider performing a Google search for the name of the business and search local and regional histories as well, many of which have been digitized at Google Books (http://books.google.com) or Archive.org (http://www.archive.org). Newspapers from the area may also have included more information about the employer.
There were several migration trails across the United States beginning with the earliest days of settlement. Those trails are important and researchers need to be aware of them. However some people don’t exactly follow the trails. And some people are part of a group of migrants connected by ethnicity, religion, or other shared social bonds who move together over decades. These longer, smaller, and more personal migrations are often referred to as migration chains. There are a variety of records that can provide clues as to such migration chains, including: Such records have given me evidence of migration chains, including: Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it.
There is no date listed for the estate sale of Thomas J. Rampley in Coshocton County, Ohio. However, a review of other materials recorded with that estate sale suggested the date of the sale was August or September of 1823. The precise date was not crucial to my personal research, but if it had contained the last reference to Christianna Rampley, Thomas’ wife, then it would have been. Because I inferred the date of the sale from other records, I need to include that reasoning somewhere when I use it. That’s what was done on the image that is a part of this post. My citation is not perfect (it’s missing the date I downloaded the image), but other key elements are there even if the format and […]
I was chatting on Facebook with a fellow genealogist about one of our common families. Our discussion got me to thinking about a relative I’ve not researched in a while and I decided to start searching passenger lists for this person using what I could remember about the deceased ancestor off the top of my head. Mistake. Big mistake. Changing gears and working on a person or a family you have not researched in a while is a great way to make headway–a fresh start works wonders. But go back and review the information that has been located already. Don’t research based on details you remember “off the top of your head.” Chances are there are details that are remembered incorrectly and searching based on those details can waste […]
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.
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