Take a good look at that tax list or pre-1850 census on which you found your ancestor. Are the names written in rough alphabetical order? Those people didn’t only have neighbors whose last name started with the same letter as theirs; the enumerator was attempting to organize the information. The end result is that some of the sense of neighborhood one gets from a tax record or census is lost. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Assume your ancestor is correct when, on 5 January 1850, he says he is 50 years old. What does that mean? He could have just turned 50 that very day, meaning he was born 5 January 1800. That would be the very youngest he could be on 5 January 1800—50 years and no days. He could turn 51 the very next day, meaning he was born 6 January 1799. That would be the very oldest he could be on 5 January 1800 and still be 50, one day shy of his 51st birthday. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Some descendants of Thomas Johnson Rampley assumed his middle name was his mother’s maiden name. While sometimes middle names that are “last names” are the maiden name of the mother, that is not always the case, the last name could have come from a neighbor, another family member, or a famous person. I’m not certain where it came from in Thomas’ case. Middle names that are last names may also be a patronymic name, one based upon the father’s first name as in the case of Anke Hinrichs Fecht whose father was Hinrich Fecht. Middle names that are “last names” can be clues to research–but don’t take a “clue” and make it a “fact” without something with which to back it up. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for […]
If you cannot find a naturalization record for an ancestor, keep in mind that he might never have naturalized. If your ancestor did not want to vote, he might not have found being a citizen necessary. Back during the time when being an “alien” wasn’t so much of a problem, “aliens” could own land, sell it, bequeath it, etc. If economics were the main reason for immigration, your ancestor might not have become a citizen. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that there might be more than one person who fits the details of the person for whom you are looking. I was working on a George Butler, born in 1848 in Michigan, the son of a Benjamin Butler. Turns out there were two completely unrelated George Butlers born in Michigan in 1848, sons of Benjamin. To top it off, the Benjamins were born in 1820 or 1821 in the same state. Look around when you locate a “match” and make certain there is not another “match” nearby. You may end up researching the wrong person if you are not careful. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that any relative, even the most well-meaning and reliable one, can occasionally tell you something that is incorrect. Verify everything Grandma (or Uncle Herman, etc.) tells you, using other sources as much as possible. Well-intentioned informants can be incorrect and the very process of verifying what they tell you may cause you to locate information you never dreamed of. People tell me that “I didn’t look at that record because I already knew what was on it.” You don’t know what is on it until you actually look at it. You may think you know and you may be correct. But there’s always the chance that you were wrong. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We all know that census records can contain incorrect ages. When searching online databases, besides having the years of birth for people I am looking for, I have their approximate age in 1850, 1860, etc. This helps me eyeball if I might have the correct people or not. Having only the years of birth in front of me is helpful, but having the approximate at the time of the census saves me a little bit of time and reduces errors because I “subtracted” wrong in my head. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In reviewing handwritten notes for an article, I looked at the way I had written the last name “Butler.” If I had not known what the word was, I really might have been inclined to think it was “Beetler.” I remember a time when someone told me that they way I wrote my last name made it look like it was “Neice.” Maybe if you are not having luck with spelling variants, try writing sloppy and have someone else read it! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Always keep in mind that there may be multiple records that may provide information on the date of an event. The date of your ancestor’s death may be in a county book of death records, an obituary, a church register, a tombstone, the family bible, his pension record, etc. There may be a note that he is deceased in a deed, a tax roll, or a probate journal. Not all of these records are equally reliable. Just remember that an event may be recorded in more than one place. And don’t neglect to check records just because “I already have that.” One never knows what additional information a similar source may provide. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Just because names are the same does not mean it’s one person with a variant name. My ancestor was Nancy Jane Newman. She had a first cousin Nancy Elizabeth Newman. To further confuse the issue, they married brothers. Researchers are frequently confusing them. It can be easy to do, but remember–just because you think the names mean the people are the same–check. Do your research and take care before determining you have the same person with two slightly different names. You may have two very different people with similar names. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Are you keeping track of the people who “weren’t” the right ones and WHY they weren’t the correct ones? Often a person will run into the “same wrong” people over and over. Tracking them in at least outline form and having that information handy may keep you from researching the same people over and over only to learn you already eliminated them a long time ago. And if it ever turns out that they are distantly related, you’ve already got some of the work done. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is there one or two “boarders” with your family in the census? Just because they are listed as a “boarder” doesn’t mean that they aren’t related. Boarders could easily be nephews, nieces, or other family members temporarily staying in the household. They may be a clue. Try and find them ten years earlier or ten years later and keep the names in case they appear in other documents. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
This has been a tip before, but it bears repeating. Sometimes in our haste to gather information, we fail to record why we did certain things and what led us to certain conclusions. Our reasoning may have been correct, or maybe not. If you don’t write down what you were thinking and your reasons as you do it, duplication of research is impossible and sooner or later you will wonder why you did what you did or someone else will ask how you arrived at that conclusion. Writing in my research notes why I did what I did as I did it reduces the chance I make mistakes along the way. It also makes it easier to review my thought process later and see how I was wrong—or […]
Remember that in order to do certain things, get married, write a will, buy property, vote, etc. a person had to be a certain age. Is an estimate of your ancestor’s age, hiding in a document because you didn’t make the connection? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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