Whenever a document is located, you should quickly ask: Why was this document recorded where it was? Why is it in the location where it is? Many times the question is quickly answered and the answer is obvious. James died where he lived and the death certificate was recorded in that county. But if you find an obituary for an ancestor in a newspaper that you do not expect it to be in, try and determine the reason. If you find your ancestor enumerated in one census in a location that’s unexpected, try and determine why she was there (first make certain it’s really the same person). Usually the “why” is easy. It’s those few times when it is not that could lead to more genealogical discoveries. Genealogy […]
A new DNA match appeared to be descended from one of my Irish immigrants, based on their surname and the handful of shared matches we had that were known to descend from that immigrant. Their tree had two names: their name and that of a maternal great-grandmother. There was no other data. A quick search for the great-grandmother’s name was inconclusive with no location to aid in the search and it turned out the name was more common than I originally thought. So I reached out to the match with a very short, cordial email. Fortunately, I received a response that, while brief, gave me the name of their paternal grandfather and great-grandfather. That was enough for me to flesh out the connection. Then I realized that their […]
It can be tempting to ignore subpoenas in court records as “necessary details” that don’t warrant reading. That’s a mistake. Those slips of paper can provide significant details. In the United States, they should provide the jurisdiction where the individual was living (usually the county) which may not be the county in which the case was being heard. In the case of the example, the subpoena contained an easier reading of the names of the witnesses to the will that was being admitted to probate.
This tip ran nearly five years ago on the day of my Mom’s funeral. It’s still pretty good advice–or a reminder if you’ve been at this for a while. We all have relatives of whom we neglected to ask questions or otherwise probe for family genealogical information. If you have relatives who have pictures you’ve not identified, try and identify them now.If you have relatives who have pictures or other ephemera you’ve not digitized, do that now. If you have relatives to whom you’ve not talked about the past, do that now. If you have relatives who would consent to DNA testing, do that now. If you have stories of your own that you have not written down, do that now.
One ancestral family lived in Ohio for several years in the early 19th century before moving to Adams County, Illinois, and settling near the village of Lima. Records in Ohio do not suggest that they ever lived near Lima, Ohio, and spent their time there in a different portion of the state. When one child in the family died in Iowa in the very early 20th century, her obituary indicated she was born in Lima, Ohio. The document was transcribed as written, but it was noted parenthetically that the reference to Lima, Ohio, was probably due to some confusion with Lima, Illinois. Probably.
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