Is there just one site that you’re using for your research? Remember that not one site has everything. Consider avoiding using that site for two days and either doing some onsite research or looking at other websites. You might be surprised at what you find. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Think about the age(s) at which your ancestor marries, buys or sells land, pays taxes, witnesses documents, etc. Are those typical ages for those things? Or is someone marrying at the age of 14 or marrying at the age of 54 (for the first time)? A ten year old is not witnessing documents. Use the age as a clue. And if the age means something is “off” it could be that you have the wrong year of birth to begin with or that there was more than one person with the same name, they were just different ages. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Marriage records will not always indicate if one of the parties has been married before. Some marriage records may list the groom as “Mr.” and the brides as “Miss” or “Mrs,” but others will make absolutely no distinction. Do not assume that if one of the parties had been married that a subsequent will make a note of it. Some records may indicate the bride is a widow, but others will not. For this reason, unless there’s a statement to the contrary, don’t always conclude that the last name of the bride is her name at birth. It could very well be the last name of a previous husband. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
A separation of property is a legal division of the assets of a husband and wife. Usually it allowed a female to act independently as a feme sole and served to protect her dowry. If done during marriage it was usually to protect her assets from her husband’s creditors. It does not mean the couple physically separated or divorced. Sometimes it was done after the husband’s death for a similar purpose-protection of the wife’s property from creditors of her husband’s estate. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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