Sometimes researchers avoid getting a record because “I already know what it will say so there’s no need to bother with it.”

And there are times where a record confirms what you already had or doesn’t tell you anything new. But there are also those times when the record contains unexpected information.

You never know what a record says until you see the record. And it’s always possible that what you “think you know” is not correct in the first place.


Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank.  They are currently offering Tip of the Day readers a subscription (annual) that works out to less than $5 a month!

Categories:

Tags:

4 Responses

  1. I often suggest to patrons (when I’m volunteering in the library) that they research land records. I get the reply” I know where they lived. “The first thing I do when researching a family is go to the deed books. For instance, Grandpa & Grandma buy land. As time goes on, later generations are now the land owners. Names of children, the spouses, and other valuable genealogical information can be found in the deed books.

    • You are exactly right. Sometimes land records reference court disputes over inheritances which can provide a significant amount of information as well. The first deed can give a time frame for when the family first moved to an area, whether they had the money to pay for the land outright or had to mortgage it, etc. Later mortgages can signify the couple may have had financial difficulties as well.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get the Genealogy Tip of the Day Book
Get the More Genealogy Tip of the Day Book
Recent Comments
Archives