Remember that an abbreviation might not stand for what you think it does. There was a time when “Ia” stood for the state of Indiana, not the state of Iowa as it does today. So make certain you really know what something stands for. Readers of Casefile Clues will see this “in action” in issue 7. Attendees at the recent Germantown, TN workshop saw it as well. But there are other examples besides the “Ia” one. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Are you using just one index or finding aid to a set of records? Is there another index or another database or website that indexes the same records? If so, that other site or source might have read names differently or offer different search options. Do not limit yourself to just one site. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I’ve been working on a relative who was married at least 6 times. To help keep myself organized, I made charts for: her marriages where she was in each census year what each census enumeration said about her what years she had what last names who was the father of what children Just organizing the information about her helped me keep everything straight in my own mind. The relative will be featured in an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
As a reminder, facts cannot be copyrighted. The paragraph you write about how you proved a date of birth is something you can copyright and typically copyrighted the minute you write it. The fact that Johann was born on 18 June 1832 is not something you can copyright. Otherwise if facts could be copyrighted, I’d be taking claim to “2 plus 2 equals 4.” (Grin!). ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is the spelling of your ancestor’s name in a census or other record a clue as to how your relatives said your ancestor’s name? Elecksander was probably Alexander, said so as to be spelled another way. Cathren in a census was probably Catherine, but probably pronounced “cath rin” as opposed to “Cath er in.” Spelling might hide more clues than you think. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If your ancestor has half siblings, don’t forget to search for them as well. In some families half-siblings barely speak and never interact. In others, they are as close as full siblings. Just because in one family those relationships were strained doesn’t mean they were in others. And your ancestor may have half-siblings and you may not even know it. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
For our new fans/followers: Genealogy Tip of the Day is one genealogy tip published every day to our blog (http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com/ and the Genealogy Tip of the Day Fan Page on Facebook. You can also follow us by clicking on the links on the blog page at http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com/. Tip of the Day is free–but is sponsored by my weekly newsletter Casefile Clues (http://blog.casefileclues.com/). Tips usually come from my own research and writing. Content and topics are pretty random–just whatever comes across my desk in the process of doing my own research and writing. You don’t have to subscribe to the newsletter to get the tips. The tips are, by the nature of tips, short and to the point. Once in a while I may mention a website, but we […]
Need to know what questions were asked in what census? Here’s a page that has links to all census questions asked in every census from1850 and onwards. http://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/tEnumForm.shtml ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t forget that the 1910 Census asks for the length of the current marriage. This can be helpful in estimating a marriage date. And in some cases, there will be a notation as to how many times the person has been married. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I’ve been working on Aunt Emma for the next issue of Casefile Clues. In searching for her in various census records, I have become convinced she pronounced her first name as “Emmer.” At least that’s how almost every census taker spelled it, Emmar, Emmer, Emer, etc. Think about how the first name was said. Sometime English language names were said in ways that resulted in a wide variety of spellings. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that if your ancestor was married more than once, records on those “other” spouses may be helpful to your direct line research. A second spouse may provide clues about the ancestor’s other spouses, the ancestor’s family, etc. And if the “other” spouse got a military pension, those records may be helpful as well. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Chronologies are a good problem-solving tool. So are maps. I’ve got one extended family I’m stuck on and I think that maps of each person’s location in certain years (say 1850, 1860, 1870) might be another helpful tool. Seeing what is “pulling” and “pushing” people to certain locations might be easier if I organize the information in this fashion. Hopefully we’ll have some illustrations in a future issue of Casefile Clues. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
It is always advisable to think of all the records that might have been created when one is missing. Perhaps the records of your ancestor’s estate settlement cannot be found. Are there other court records (perhaps a partition suit?)? Were there guardianship records for the children? Were there deeds that might have settled up property? Would tax records provide any clues? It can be frustrating when a record is missing, but ask yourself “what else could there be?” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Many of us posts genealogical questions on message boards, mailing lists, facebook groups, etc. Keep in mind that the person who answers may not really “know their stuff,” even if they throw around key phrases and sound really smart. Give a second thought before taking free advice or suggestions from someone whose skill level and expertise are not really known to you. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Today is 10-4. In CB lingo that means “OK” or something pretty close to that. Is there a phrase or word in a document, letter, or record that meant something different when it was written? Is there a chance you are interpreting something with a 21st century mind when it was written with a 17th century one? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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