Genealogy Tip of the Day is written by genealogist Michael John Neill. Michal has actively researched his own genealogy for over thirty years in a variety of locations and time periods. He also leads research trips to the Family History Library and the Allen County Library in addition to giving seminars and workshops. “Tip of the Day” tips are meant to cover a wide range of time periods and geographic areas. While our concentration is on the United States, many of our suggestions apply to other areas. Not all tips will apply equally to all locations and time periods–sometimes they are just meant to get you thinking. Tips are not copied and pasted from anywhere. They are usually written while Michael is researching or writing. Sometimes they will be similar […]
The 1920 census lists New York native Mary Verikios as an alien. She lost her citizenship upon her marriage to unnaturalized Greek immigrant Peter Verikios. I’d forgotten about this until I stumbled upon a reference to A Nationality of Her Own which addresses the citizenship of US women before the 1922 passage of the Cable Act which separated a woman’s citizenship status from that of her husband. When Mary and Peter married his citizenship status became hers. That’s not true today.
When labeling pictures, writing family stories, or performing any type of research analysis, constantly remind yourself that what is obvious to you may not be obvious to someone else. We’ve all encountered the hundred year old newspaper article that omitted details we would love to know today were probably “obvious and well-known” at the time. What’s obviously obvious to one may not be so obviously obvious to another. And the line between being obviously obvious and being an incorrect assumption is a very fine one.
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