It is easy to search without looking to see if the record even exists. Ancestry.com “let” me search the 1810 census for a man who should have been living in Ohio. Problem is that most of the 1810 census for Ohio was destroyed in the War of 1812. If I never get past the search box, I don’t realize that. Are you making certain it really exists before you click “search?” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you need maps of county boundary changes, complete with animations, try this site hosted by Chicago’s Newberry Library. http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/index.html ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you can’t find an ancestor who should be a head of household in a pre-1850 United States census, consider that he could be living with someone else and not listed by name. I was looking for an older ancestor in 1840. Then it dawned on me that, given his age in 1840, he might have been living with one of his children. The ancestor would not have been head of household and would be “hidden” in one of those tally marks. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I was asked to give people a little advance notice about our next offering of “Organizing Your Genealogical Information.” Our next series of classes and follow up sessions will begin in January 2013. More details are here. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t stop with asking one relative about the family. Ask as many as possible. Even siblings close in age may remember different aspects of Grandpa’s life or have a different perspective. Exhaustive searches should apply to people as well as paper materials. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Chances are you are not the only descendant of your “brick wall” ancestor. Have you attempted to locate as many descendants of your “brick wall” ancestor as possible? Others may have researched him, have additional information, or even have apparently meaningless clues that, when combined with your apparently meaningless clues actually mean something. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Have you done Google and other searches to see if others are researching first (and more distantly related) cousins of some of your “lost” family members? This may be a good way to connect with others and researchers of these families may not “know enough” to have names that they can post on earlier generations. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
A relative giving information for a record could easily get similar (or not so similar) names confused. Any chance a relative got the names John and Tom confused? These are not the same names, are not derived from the same name, but a mixup could easily take place. This is more likely the case if a minority of documents give a name that does not appear anywhere else. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Half of our ancestors are female and yet researching them adequately (or even not so adequately) often takes more than half of our time. This webinar presents some suggestions for tracking the ladies in your family tree along with pitfalls and a discussion of why researching females is different. Presentation is made through examples and specific situations which explain methodology clearly and succinctly. Researching female ancestors is not difficult, but does require the researcher to get outside of techniques that may emphasize male ancestors. This presentation is geared towards advanced beginners or intermediate researchers. True beginners might find it valuable as well–if only to make them aware that there is hope. You can order the download of “Female Ancestors” today for $4–using the link below. Download links will […]
Please let your genealogy friends know about “Genealogy Tip of the Day.” Old tips are on our blog at: http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com. Tips can be received in your email daily by subscribing on the link on the right hand side of our blog. Our Fan Page on Facebook usually has additional conversation and tips: https://www.facebook.com/genealogytip Thanks! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Estimate dates of events when possible, and include your reason for the estimation. When researching a family in Michigan in the 1860 census, looking at the ages of the children told me that the couple was probably married after 1850–meaning they were probably not in their own household at that point in time. Is it evidence that they were not married in 1850? No, but it gives me some guidance when researching. It’s not proof either, but that’s another tip (grin!). ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
The individuals that may help you track your ancestor may not always be direct ones. In trying to research on relative who moved from Canada to Michigan in the 1840s, the easiest person in the group to track (because of his name) was the father-in-law of the ancestor’s brother who also moved with the brothers. The best way sometimes to extend your direct line is to get away from your direct line. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When you are including information about yourself in your genealogical information, consider including a list of things for which you are thankful. Remember that one day, you too will be a deceased relative, and leaving behind something about yourself is just as important as leaving behind information about other dead people. Someone in a hundred years may treasure your list of things that mattered most to you. Think about it. And then think about a way to preserve it beyond your lifetime. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Here is wishing a “Happy Thanksgiving” to our readers regardless of their location. Don’t neglect your living relatives while searching for the deceased ones. When you need a break from your holiday activities, check out some of the blogs and posts: Michael’s Mayflower ancestors Michael’s recorded webinars Genealogy Tip of the Day Blog Rootdig Blog Genealogy Search Tip Blog Preliminary Chart on Rufus Stephens ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Have you considered contacting the funeral home who handled your ancestor’s funeral to see if they have information that could aid you in your search? Remember that these records are private business records with the funeral home does not have to share with you–be extra polite and considerate. There may be additional information that was not in the obituary, details about who paid the funeral bill, who else was buried in the set of graves as your ancestor, etc. Or there may be no records at all. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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