The grantor on a deed is the person who has title to the property and is transferring that title to someone else. There may be more than one grantor on a deed–often it is the spouse, but not always. The grantee is the person to whom the title is being transferred. There may be more than one grantee. Land records are local records and usually have indexes created for them. There usually are separate grantor and grantee indexes and those indexes usually only include the name of the first grantor and first grantee. Indexes can differ slightly (or not so slightly) from one location to another. Familiarize yourself with an index when beginning work in a new location.
For those with US ancestors… Have you looked at the amount of schooling your relatives indicated they had in the 1940 census? Just to see if my thoughts were correct, I looked up the claimed educational level of all my living ancestors at the time of the 1940 census. Anna Habben’s 4th grade education coincides closely with the family’s immigration to the United States from Germany. The others were about where I thought they would be based upon family tradition. All of mine were living in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1940. Charles Neill (great-grandfather-St. Albans Twp.)–8th grade. Fannie Neill (great-grandmother-St. Albans Twp.)–8th grade. Fred Ufkes (great-grandfather-Bear Creek Twp.)-8th grade. Tena Ufkes (great-grandmother-Bear Creek Twp.)-6th grade. John Ufkes (grandfather-Bear Creek Twp.)-4 years of high school. Mimka Habben (great-grandfather, Prairie […]
It can be tempting to share everything you have with a newly discovered cousin. Sharing is not bad, but try and avoid overwhelming your recently discovered relative. Their level of interest may not be as high as yours and telling them that: your uncle got drunk, threatened his mother, and ended up in jail for thirty days another aunt went insane a cousin was killed after he passed out on the railroad tracks and a train ran over him your uncle’s body was exhumed three times to be autopsied may be a bit overwhelming. I’m not saying to keep stories from your cousin or to paint them a reality that did not happen. Just don’t overwhelm them. You might even want to wait to share ten generations of […]
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Many marriage records give no hint that one of the parties had been married before. This 1852 marriage certification gives nary a clue that the bride was a widow, over forty, and the mother of several children. Assume nothing. Lack of a “Mrs.” or “Miss” before the bride’s name usually means nothing.
Don’t forget to organize digital images you make of records as soon as you can. You will forget. Life will intervene. You’ll be glad you did. I just realized today that digital images of a court case I made in 2009 are lost. They may be on my back up storage, but they didn’t get organized and filed appropriately after I made them. Don’t delay. Don’t wait. Don’t put it off.
Some immigrants immigrated more than once. Immigrants went home for a variety of reasons–sometimes for a short trip and sometimes for an extended stay. Don’t assume that the one manifest they are on is the only one.
In some families the death of one parent may have left the surviving parent with more children than they could handle. Younger children may have gone to live with relatives; older ones may have gone to work nearby as a hired laborers, housekeepers, apprentices, etc.; others may have simply run off if there were too many mouths to feed. In families that lived hand-to-mouth, the death of one parent may have sent the family into a tailspin.
If someone is your ancestor, they were born (hard to avoid that), they reproduced (married or not), and eventually died (hard to avoid that as well). Everything else is somewhat negotiable–within reason. Everything else you “think” that is true about them may not be true. This gets especially true as your research extends back in time and what a person “knows” often is based more on what we assume as opposed to things we have evidence for. They might not have attended the same church their children did. People change churches for a variety of reasons. They may have spelled their name differently than their descendants do or did. They might not have really cared how it was spelled. They might not have been a member of the […]
Maiden names as middle names can be passed down for quite a number of generations. This World War II draft registrant was named for his ancestor James Rampley who died in Harford County, Maryland in 1817. Often names aren’t passed down this long, but it can happen. These World War II draft registration cards are indexed in Ancestry.com‘s “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.” The actual card images are on Fold3.com.
There are several things you should do while planning that research trip to a distant courthouse. This list is not all-inclusive, but will get you started on your planning: what days and times is the courthouse open? is it closed for lunch? are there days of the week I should avoid (is court in session on certain days?) what are the copy costs for various records? can I take cell phone in the courthouse? what other restrictions are there on things I can bring in the facility? can I take digital pictures of records? is there a local society who may be able to assist? does the local library have materials that may help? where is the nearest motel? Connect with a local person or organization before you […]
For United States censuses taken before 1830 the federal government did not provide forms for enumerators to use. Consequently there is not a standard appearance to federal enumerations before that date. Some locations did use their own pre-printed forms, but there was no national standard.
Newspapers can contain information you may not expect. This item from an 1898 edition of the Denver, Colorado, Denver Post discusses the “disappearance” of a relative and his apparent “reappearance” with a girlfriend. Stories you find may not be quite as scandalous, but details in newspapers can help you fill out your picture of a relative. This item was obtained on GenealogyBank–sponsor of Genealogy of the Day.
Is it possible that your immigrant ancestor’s last name was translated before being written in a document or a census record? While I doubt if my Aunt Wilhelmina Senf is enumerated as Wilhelmina Mustard (I’ve looked), other last names may have been translated into the local language. Your Schneider ancestor may have been enumerated as a Tailor/Taylor. Your Blanc ancestor may have been enumerated with the last name White. And your Verde ancestor may have been listed as a Green. So it may be perfectly normal for me to be sitting at the computer looking for Mustard instead of going into the kitchen cabinet <grin>.
Sometimes it can be tempting to focus on the spouse of an ancestor from whom we descend or only those spouses with whom an ancestor had children. That can be a mistake. Don’t ignore “short term” spouses or spouses with whom the ancestor had no children. There may be some clue that spouse’s life that helps you on the actual ancestor. That “short term” spouse may have had a connection with the ancestor than spans back years and may help you to learn more about your ancestor’s life as well.
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