An effective tool for searching online databases and indexes is to have a list of all the spelling variants for your name of interest. If the list is only “in your head,” it is easy to occasionally overlook an alternate spelling. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Are you using place names to describe where an ancestor was born, died, or was buried, that are not listed in any gazetteer? Make certain that you also include a more reference (eg. GPS coordinates) to assist others in finding the location. On a recent trip to visit my parents, I had to take my brother lunch where he was discing–“on the McNally place, you know past his forty, which is past McGaughey’s and turn south.” Of course those names would be on local plat books and other records, but often those descriptions are only in people’s gray matter. Don’t make that mistake. Clearly identify locations. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Citations are not stressed in genealogy because some retired English teacher needed something to do. There’s a reason. Not all versions of a record are created equally and knowing the site you used to find something, even a digital image, can help you (or someone else) analyze it later. One website may have only posted selected images (as HeritageQuest Online did for Revolutionary War pensions) or accidentally “cut off” parts of images that were posted. Some books of extracts and abstracts may have only included “selected documents.” Clearly indicating from where something was obtained lets you (or someone else) know the version that was used. Then later it’s easier to decide if more work needs to be done. And it is ok if your citation does not fit […]
Don’t assume your ancestor would not be in a paper, because “our family didn’t warrant any mention.” You never know when your ancestor might have been in an organization that caused him to get mentioned, got into legal trouble, received a pension, or any of a number of things that might have caused his name to appear in print. He might have even written a letter encouraging his fellow farmers to grow more winter wheat as the United States approached the first World War. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Obituaries and death notices, particularly more recent ones, may not mention previous spouses or the factthat children of the deceased are not full siblings. Be careful before concluding that the children listed in an obituary share the same set of both parents. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Review all the materials you have on “your” ancestor. Are you certain all those references to “your” ancestor are actually “your” ancestor? How would your conclusions change if one of those references actually was not to your ancestor? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Search Google Books (http://books.google.com) for every ancestor or relative. You never know who might appear in a printed reference. Sometimes the most unexpected names appear in print. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Your great-grandfather disappeared in the 1920s. Descendants “know nothing” and searches in the area are unsuccessful. Consider tracing the great-grandfather’s sibling and his aunts and uncles and their descendants to see if any of those individuals know where your great-grandfather “condensed.” Sometimes more distant family members know more than a person thinks. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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