There is still time to join me on my annual research trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana this coming August. Check out our more detailed post for details.
Try to be as specific as possible when referring to geographic locations in your research (use GPS coordinates when the location is is precisely known). For urban locations, street addresses are usually not a problem–but certain there have not been changes since the time the address was valid and the present. For property owners, a legal description of a piece of property should serve to precisely indicate a location. Try to avoid the description used by this postmaster in 1918. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Dates of birth can easily be off by a day or two, particularly if the birth was in the wee hours of the morning. What is recorded “at home” versus what appears on the original certificate. In this case the mother gave a different date of birth for her child than appeared on his birth record. She had to explain the difference to the pension department. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Individuals who died at a veterans’ home or hospital may have been buried on the grounds instead of being sent home. If your veteran (or his spouse) is not buried near where he or she lived, see if they were sent to a veterans’ hospital.
Pension files may contain multiple medical reports on your ancestor. Read more than one. Some doctors tell the truth, some exaggerate key details, some lie, and some don’t know what they are doing. Different reports provide a broader perspective.
I’m updating my genealogy speaking schedule for late 2017 and beyond. If your group sponsors a seminar or workshop and you need an engaging, entertaining, and informative speaker, look no further–there are details on my speaking page. I’ve taken something of a speaking hiatus for the past several years for personal reasons, but am back to booking dates on my calendar. I am looking forward to returning to Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank, California, to give 3 speeches in June–look for me if you’ll be there!
The context in which a document was created and the purpose for which it created matter. A widow in 1901 lists people who attended her wedding. She lists three of her husband’s siblings and one in-law–clearly leaving people out of the list. That’s because the statement she was making was part of her Civil War pension claim and the court was interested in additional people who were living nearby and could confirm her story. She was not providing a comprehensive list of attendees. Dead people cannot testify and those who may have attended but lived a distance away could not easily have given testimony. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
In most United States courthouses, land records are usually indexed twice. Once index entry is for the first seller. The other is for the first buyer. If there are multiple sellers listed on the deed the others probably will not appear in the index. The same applies to the individuals acquiring the property. Always look for names of relatives and associates in land records for this reason. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Don’t just look for a relative’s name in the alphabetical directory if you know they operated a business of some sort. It is possible they had an advertisement in the directory as well. Advertisements in city directories can give clues about your ancestor’s occupation, business location, and more. This 1880 advertisement in a Denver, Colorado, directory indicated that the relative’s business also operated out of a Kansas City, Missouri, office as well. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
The place of birth from this World War II draft registration card was difficult to read, so the indexer left it out of the transcription in Ancestry.com‘s “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947”. Because of that if one searches for births in Iroquois County, this record will not come up. When searching any database, consider the possibility that some of the data was not transcribed and if you use it as a search term (on an “exact” search), you won’t find it.
Someone told me that forty years ago, so it must be true. It could have been Grandma, your beloved high school history teacher, or someone standing next to you in line at the grocery store. I remember it correctly, even though I was told years ago and never wrote it down. Do you remember with exact, precise recollection what you were told by someone a month ago? Check out those assumptions. Double check what you think you remember and look into those beliefs you have about your ancestor and history–you might be wrong. Don’t just do a quick Google search on the internet to see if your knowledge is correct. Anyone can post anything online. Find sources that are reputable. You might also be right. And, if you […]
24 hour sale on our recent webinars (after this post runs live)–save 30% on any order over $10! Recent Presentations: 2017 Brick Wall Strategies Avoiding “Fake” Ancestors Basics of Citation Do I Cite it All? Using Indexes at FamilySearch Download is immediate. Handout included. More details and order page.
It’s important to preserve the papers you have in addition to locating copies of records on your long deceased ancestors. It is just as important to preserve what no one else has as it is to locate new information already in an archives. Here are some resources with suggestions and reminders for preserving your own materials: Library of Congress Personal Archiving Page National Archives Page– “How to Preserve Family Papers and Photographs“ There are a variety of sites that offer archival quality–acid free–storage materials. Below are links to a few: Archival Boxes on Amazon.com Acid Free Sheet Protector on Amazon.com Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
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