It’s always helpful to think of what the original purpose of a record was and what details mattered and what ones did not. A relative died in 1869 with no descendants. Several of his heirs were children of his deceased siblings. His sister had children with more than one husband and some of those children daughters who were married. Those daughters were listed by their married names–not their maiden name. From the estate settlement it could not be determined which husband was the father of the married daughters. The court was concerned about the names of the sister’s children–not the names of her husbands–as the sister’s children were all heirs of their deceased mother’s brother.
I will be presenting a webinar on 19 January 2020 using the new features of AncestryDNA. This presentation can be attended live or pre-ordered as a recorded copy. We’ve posted details in our announcement post.
There are a variety of times when a Google search can help your genealogical research. It can be in finding a definition of a term, transcribing a word in an old estate inventory, determining a name in a census record, etc. But keep a few things in mind: The website where you find a definition of a word may not be as knowledgeable as you think. Interpreting anything is about context–historical, social, etc. The first hit may not be close enough to your situation to be helpful. The name you find on another website could be a mistake as well. There may be specifics of your document or record that aren’t addressed in the website you found. Google can be very helpful. But, like anything else, it is […]
It’s 1860 in a small county seat somewhere in the United States. A lawyer has been in his office all day, meeting a few clients and taking care of some paperwork. At some point during the day, his daughter while doing a few errands, stops in to see him. She has her six-month son with her. Later that afternoon, the lawyer pens part of a legal document for an estate he’s helping settle. The document refers to the children of the deceased as “infant heirs.” Before he leaves for the day he writes a letter to his sister. In that letter he tells his sister “my daughter brought the baby to see me this afternoon. The infant and mother are doing fine–we are thankful for God’s Blessings and […]
Just because it’s “legal” does not mean that it is correct. I’ve seen legal notices where heirs have been left out, where a list of heirs to be notified included heirs who were deceased, addresses were incorrect, etc. Always get more than one source if possible. This is not meant to suggest that all legal records are wrong. They are not. Just a reminder that they can be wrong. And why you should never rely on just one record.
When you don’t know much about the ancestry of a DNA test kit, the results may appear confusing. Sometimes they appear confusing even when you do. A recent new match to my own DNA kit initially confused me. It had shared matches with known relatives of: my great-grandfather Trautvetter, my great-grandfather Neill, and my great-grandmother Neill. This new match was not a close relative to me at all. The new match had a very short tree that luckily I was able to trace further back. Then the seemingly confusing matches made sense. The new match was: A descendant of my 3rd great-grandfather Trautvetter (explaining those matches). The match had an ancestor whose cousin married a cousin of my great-grandfather Neill (explaining why we had some Neill matches in […]
I splurged and purchased this International Harvester Tractor and wagon at an antique mall near me over the holidays. It would make a great illustration for a genealogy tip, but the problem was writing a tip that it could be used to illustrate. Touching, feeling, or seeing matters. Physical objects can be great memory joggers. It’s not always possible to take items with you when interviewing someone, but asking about certain items or having pictures of them (even stock images found online) can be a great way to get a conversation started. One never knows when an inanimate object will jog someone’s memory about actual humans. Color matters. There were many colors of tractors at the antique mall, but red was the color I needed because that’s the […]
A recent review of the obituaries in my rural, home-town newspaper indicated one of the deceased was a native of New York City. That’s fairly atypical for where I am from and, at the risk of being frank, something of a culture shock. I wondered what brought her from New York as the obituary didn’t hint at a reason. But it got me to thinking. Have you documented the “whys” beyond any moves you made during your life time? If you know why your grandparents or other relatives moved from point A to point B, have you recorded why (assuming that you really know the reason)? Years later someone else may be glad you did. There are times when determining the reason is relatively easy after the parties […]
When you have a surname that can be spelled many different ways combined with a first and a middle name that are in a foreign language, it can be easy to get caught up in spelling and transcription. Don’t get me wrong, spelling and transcription matter. But instead of focusing on whether the name is written John Michael Trautvetter of Jahn Michael Troutvetter, the important thing to as is: is this the same person? Do the other aspects of the record suggest that John/Jahn Michael Trautvetter/Troutvetter is the person I have located in other records and the one that I believe is my ancestor or relative? Those other aspects of the record could include: residence, ethnic origin or place of birth, approximate age, consistent relatives, occupation, etc. While […]
Ancestry, FamilySearch, and other sites allow users to perform “unexact” searches. Sometimes it is clear how these unexact searches work and sometimes it is not. They often give results for names that sound like the name entered in the search box, names that mean the same thing, names that are similar, etc. But sometimes changing just one letter can change the unexact results. Try it and see. A search for the last name of Ichner and Ischner on FamilySearch gives different results when the “match name exactly” box is unchecked. Always experiment with different spellings, particularly if you are uncertain of what might happen.
We are offering half off any webinar purchase on 1 January 2020. Extended through 5 January for newsletter readers and anyone who happens to stumble upon this late. Coupon code bf2019 at checkout will reduce your order price by half. Coupon expires at 11:59 pm Pacific Time. My list of webinars can be viewed on our site.
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