These Latin abbreviations are found in many courthouse documents, particularly land records and court cases When time is limited and you are looking through indexes to land or court records, pay close attention to cases where these abbreviations are used. “Etal” means “and others” indicating that your ancestor and other people are selling property, buying property, suing someone, or being sued. “Etux” means “and spouse” and that your ancestor and their spouse are selling, buying, suing, or being sued. Whenever a group of people are involved in a court case or a land record, it has higher potential to provide genealogically relevant information. Particularly when it is Friday at 3:30 and the courthouse closes at 4:00! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Fire insurance maps may provide you with a different view of where your ancestor lived. Insurance maps are generally available between the late 19th and early 20th century centuries. They may tell you what type of home your ancestor lived in, what it was made how, how many stories it was, etc. The maps showing neighboring homes also gives an idea of the “feel” of the neighborhood. Maps are available for urban areas and small towns as well. The Library of Congress website has more information at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr016.html and searches at Worldcat http://www.worldcat.org/ for “sanborn map yourtown” may locate some references as well. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Just as a note–Tip of the Day is FREE. The only time it is not is if you choose to get it on your kindle. The free versions will continue to remain free. Thanks and thanks for spreading the news about Genealogy Tip of the Day. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In some areas, it’s important to remember that the reason there may be several men with the same name of about the same age is that they are all named for their paternal grandfather. If Henry Puffer has four sons and they all name a son Henry and they remain in the area, that’s four Henry Puffers to sort out. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Genealogy Tip of the Day can now come right to you on your kindle.Tip of the Day can be as close as your purse or briefcase. I’ve been posting a daily genealogy how-to tip for nearly two years. Tips are “created” while I’m doing actual research. They aren’t copied and pasted from other sites. Usually they come to mind after a seminar or writing an issue of Casefile Clues. The link is to the Kindle version is here:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C44H1S If you want to interact with other Tip of the Day followers/readers/fans, the place for that is still Facebook. If you just want the tips, the Kindle version will just have those. The blog feeds that we’re posting to kindle from now on will have no ads, just the tip […]
Your ancestor’s estate is being administrated by a man whose name you have never heard of. Any chance he is the son-in-law? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When last names can be first names and first names can be last names confusion can result if records and the people providing information are not clear. An aquaintance of my daughter has the last name “Summer.” She refers to him as “Summer.” It was only after I referred to Summer as “she” that she told me Summer was his last name. Could mixing up the names be why you cannot find your ancestor in an index or a record? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If the tombstone of great-great-grandpa is difficult to read today, have you searched to see if the cemtery’s stones were transcribed 20, 30, or more years ago? Perhaps the stone was much easier to read in 1960 than it is today and perhaps someone transcribed it. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
USA Only Tip: Records of Selective Service records for men born before 1 January 1960 are available through the National Archives. For more information visit http://www.sss.gov/RECORDS2.HTM. World War II registration for the “Old Men’s Draft” are on the FamilySearch site. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
It is important to remember that some records we use in our genealogy research are not public records and may only be available to us through the courtesy of the record holder. Funeral homes, businesses, and churches do not really have to allow genealogists to use their records. Many do, but these groups are different from local or state governments who maintain records. Government records are open, subject to a variety of restrictions. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Some genealogists think if they post their question to enough message boards, websites, mailing lists, etc. someone will discover that magic missing piece. Remember that not every problem can be solved by getting help online. The answer to your problem might lie in a document or record in a courthouse that has never been digitized. Asking for online help is always a good idea, especially when you are unfamiliar with the time period, location, records, etc. But not every problem can be solved by posting online. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Sometimes we might have an idea of what great-grandma or great-grandpa did in response to a certain event in their lives. Be careful assuming that you know exactly what great-grandma or great-grandpa would have done. Sometimes you may very well be right. Other times you could be wrong and could be creating a brand new brick wall in the process. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is your ancestor’s name David P. Able? Is it possible in a record somewhere that he is listed as David Pable? Depending upon the handwriting, the letters, other factors, a middle initial can sometimes be read as part of the last or even the first name. Just something to think about. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you are looking for information or ephemera related to your great-great-grandparents, ask yourself: “Am I their ONLY descendant?” Chances are you are not and any other descendant could have information or materials. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Sometimes one letter can make a big difference and move a location across the country. I was typing an address and I intended to type “CA” for California. Instead I typed “VA” and implied Virginia. I corrected the error, but in this case it would have been easy to create confusion. I could easily see what I meant. Are all “quick errors” this obvious, especially when the error was made 100 years ago? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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