I’ve seen hundreds of these affidavits in US homestead records. This is one of time when there was a clue. It indicated the homesteader on this 1888 document was a widower. That’s a clue. The homestead records don’t indicate that he married her a few years earlier in Illinois and that she and an infant child died shortly over a year later. I’m a big fan of looking at and actually reading everything. Clues can be anywhere and sometimes something that someone else will not think is a clue will be a clue to you–it all depends upon what is already known. Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank. Check out their current offer for new subscribers.
Relatives will not tell you everything. Face this and accept it. Generally there are two main reasons that people don’t tell you something: they really didn’t know about it they hope you don’t find out about it There are a variety of reasons people tell you things that are incorrect, but generally those fall into two broad categories: they were told something incorrect they hope a wrong story will lead you astray so that you don’t find discover something Try and avoid ruining a relationship with a living family member just “to get an answer.” My one grandmother told me she never knew her uncle committed suicide. She also told me a man who I thought was her mother’s first cousin was not related to her mother. It […]
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