A little reminder about those DNA matches and other relatives (and potential relatives) who do not respond to your queries, emails, and messages. Sometimes life intervenes and genealogy needs to take a back seat. Other people do refuse to respond, are unable to retrieve messages, accidentally delete them, etc. But that distant cousin you communicated with may just have other things going on in their life that have to take priority.
The memories of the long dead people who provided information on a 1900-era death certificate can easily be wrong. So can yours. What things about your ancestors are you using to help you research that might not be true or which you are remembering incorrectly? Are you searching the 1860 census for a relative who died in 1857? Are you looking for an obituary in the 1890s for someone who died in 1902? Virtually any detail can be remembered incorrectly. What details are you pulling from your head when you should be pulling them from your files?
When searching digital images of newspapers, we often don’t think of small children as being named specifically. While children are not named as often as adults, they can be mentioned. Instances that come to mind are: attendance at family reunions, appearance in weddings, survivors in obituaries. Children are not always mentioned in situations such as these, but some times they are.
Sometimes writing up genealogical proof can seem overwhelming. It does not have to be. If writing something regarding a family living in the 18th century seems like too large of a task, then start small. Dating pictures–and including your reasons–can be a good way to start writing up genealogical analysis at a rudimentary level and getting your feet wet. This picture of my Dad, my brother, and I was probably taken in April of 1974. My reasons for this can be stated simply: The picture is stamped “Jul 1974.” This is a development date. My brother and I appear to be ages consistent with a 1974 photograph date (years of birth not included in this blog post–they would be in an actual blog post). The picture contains a […]
If your ancestors lived in public land states and owned real property, are you familiar with sections, quarter sections, townships, etc.? If not, you could be interpreting a property description incorrectly or missing out on a crucial detail. Theoretically, a: a township is a square six miles on a side; section is a mile on a side and contains 640 acres; a quarter section is a half of a mile on a side and contains 160 acres. There are exceptions to these dimensions and acreages that usually result from geography and political boundaries. For more about these methods of description and units of measure, refer to this reference guide.
To learn more about your ancestor’s employer as given in a city directory, search the rest of the city directory as it may include advertisements or list the employer in a list of area businesses. Consider performing a Google search for the name of the business and search local and regional histories as well, many of which have been digitized at Google Books (http://books.google.com) or Archive.org (http://www.archive.org).
Many records used in genealogical research were created as a part of a larger process or flow or information and records. When analyzing a document or working to understand it, determine what that process was. It’s also helpful to understand what function the document or record served in that process. Birth certificates were to document a birth, but summaries of information from those records may have been used for a variety of governmental purposes. The specific details of what was on the record may have been used by the individual to document their age, their parentage, etc. Death certificates are used to document a death, but different pieces of information from that record are used by different individuals for a variety of reasons: compilation of cause of death […]
If your ancestor had a first, middle, and last name, keep in mind that it is possible that those names could be in the wrong order in a record. If the names are in the wrong order on the record, then the ancestor will appear in the index under the wrong “last name.” If the index does not include the last name of interest, consider searching for that relative with their first or middle name as their last name.
When using a search option at an online database, do you know how that site implements wildcard searches, Soundex searches, and other search options? Getting creative with search terms is often necessary, but if you don’t know how they are really working, you are not being effective. Experiment and look at your results and see if you are getting what you think you should. A Soundex search for the last name Smut on a site with English language last names should result in a large number of hits. And if you don’t know why, then review what Soundex really is.
The grantor (seller) on a deed may not be a “person” but rather someone acting in an official legal or capacity. I could not find one ancestor’s deed “selling” his farm because it was transferred on a deed executed by the local judge after a court action involving his estate. The judge was the grantor, not the ancestor and not his children. If your ancestor went through a a foreclosure or a sale of property for back taxes, the court or the local sheriff may have been the grantor on the deed transferring property from your relative’s ownership. If you cannot find a deed of sale, look for a court action involving your ancestor or his estate.
Anna Apgar was born 8 March 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. Her Application for Social Security and Tax Account Number application (commonly called the SS-5) form was the first record on her that listed her father as William Apgar. It is one of the few documents where she provided her father’s name. That’s in contrast to her death certificate, obituary, and family information which was provided by others and which gave a different name for her father. There’s no guarantee what is on the application is 100% correct. It’s only as reliable as the informant and only as accurate as their knowledge. But the application form can be a great source of information. Make certain you obtain a duplicate of the actual card and not a computerized summary and […]
Have you made a list of genealogical goals? Have you thought about what genealogical tasks you can “put off” and which ones you should not? What compiled information do you want to leave behind (if any)? What items do you have that you want to preserve and share so that when you go those items don’t go with you? Do you have any unique items in your possession that have not been preserved? Are there any human memories that you’ve not recorded or preserved?
Always take a close look at the real estate inventory of your relative. Don’t just ignore the legal description as “legal mumbo jumbo.” While an estate is normally probated by just one county court, there may be real property mentioned in other counties as well. The specific records of how that real property was acquired will be located in the county where that property is physically located. There may not be a separate probate file in the other county if the property is in the same state. There should be separate land records in the county where the property is located. It may be that the person own real property in another state as well. All of those other locations could lead to additional information on your ancestor.
I have a DNA match (called “A”) with whom I share enough DNA that our relationship is probably between 4th and 6th cousins. A and I have several shared matches. The one with whom I share the most DNA (called “B”) is someone I know to be my 1st cousin once removed. This tells me nothing about how much DNA A and B share or what their relationship probably is. What I know is that: A and I are probably between 4th and 6th cousins. B and I are first cousins, once removed. A and B are DNA matches to each other as well. I do not know what A and B’s relationship is to each other or how potentially precise that relationship is. They could be related […]
Migrants often settle where they have associates–either through biology, marriage, shared social/cultural ties, etc. Determining the others in that group can be beneficial to your research–no matter where your ancestor or family fits into the chronology of migration over time. But who arrived first? What brought that person there? Others followed them because of ties they had to that person, but what precipitated the first move? Don’t assume you know what that was. Actually try and find out. It might have been area newly opened for settlement. It might have been political or financial unrest at home. It could have been religion. It could have been escaping the law. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here and it’s not written to help you research your “famous ancestors.” It’s […]
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