What’s Missing?

Sometimes it is easy to see when something is missing. Other times there may be no obvious clue that information has been from a genealogical record or document.

Atypical entries in handwritten records are particularly easy to overlook, especially for the untrained eye.

When viewing a handwritten record in a series of entries in a record book, look at others to make certain that there’s nothing missing in the one in which you are interested. Does the record of interest appear similar to others in the same series?

What’s missing in a record is not always as obvious as it is in this picture.

Check out the Genealogy Tip of the Daybook.

Not Your Ancestor’s Signature

Knowing what you are looking at is key to any level of genealogical analysis. Making the most out of any record and not becoming confused depends on understanding the material in front of you.

That’s why this is not the signature of John and Milly Sledd.

It’s the clerk’s transcription of their signature because this deed book contains word-for-word transcriptions of deeds that were brought to the county office for recording. The purchaser of the property kept the original deed. That is the record that had the actual signatures on it. That was the original signed document.

John and Milly’s signatures may have looked nothing at all like what is pictured in the deed record book. John and Milly signed the original deed, but their hands did not touch this page in the record book and neither did the writing instrument they used to sign the original.

First is Last and Last is First

When querying any database or searching any record, consider the possibility that a relative’s first and last names have been interchanged. Is the individual named Tinsley Johnson or Johnson Tinsley? Even where the first name is not usually used as a last name, it is always possible that someone entering data or enumerating a census inverts the two names. Individuals whose names are in a foreign language can easily be confused by clerks who are not familiar with that language.

Check out the Genealogy Tip of the Daybook.

Children, Upper-Case Letters, and Context

My late Mother’s recipe book contained a recipe from her Grandma Habben that was clearly written in my Mother’s handwriting. Hiding behind another recipe in one of the plastic sleeves in the book was the same recipe on a very well-worn three by five inch card that had clearly been used by someone while they were prepping the dough.

It was fairly old, stained, and apparently had been used repeatedly through the years. I was not certain about the handwriting. It clearly was not my Grandmother’s handwriting–my Mother’s mother and daughter of my Grandma Habben. At the bottom, someone had written “Grandma Habben” in what appeared to be a similar handwriting. I thought maybe it was my mother’s handwriting.

My daughter likes to bake and I shared an image of the recipe with her and I said I thought it was my Mother’s handwriting. The response from my daughter was “Grandma doesn’t capitalize her ingredients.” I mentally rolled my eyes and flipped through the numerous recipes in the book that I knew were in my Mother’s handwriting.

None of them put the ingredients in upper case–unless the ingredient was a proper noun. My daughter was correct and I was reminded of the importance of viewing documents in context and comparing them to similar documents.

I’m still not certain who wrote the recipe–it could have been my great-grandmother.

But my late Mother is probably rolling her eyes at me.

Check out Genealogy Tip of the Day: the book.

It Will Still Be There–Not

Obituaries on some funeral home websites are more detailed than the one that is eventually published in a print or online newspaper. The charge for the funeral home’s obituary is usually a part of the funeral cost and is not dependent on the length of the obituary (within reason). That’s not necessarily true for a print obituary which may end up being edited and reduced in length even if cost is not an issue.

Do not assume those funeral home website obituaries will always “be there for the taking.” That’s not the case.

While working on DNA matches, I needed the obituary of a distant cousin. I had a paper copy but did not have it handy. “It doesn’t matter. I can get it on the funeral home website.”

Nope. Not any more. The funeral home was bought out a few years ago and the new owner updated the site and the old obituaries were gone.

A good reminder for me to make copies of obituaries when they run or when I discover them and not just think “it’ll still be there later.”

Posting That Picture to a “Non-Genealogy” Group or Site

Sharing information with other genealogists is great, but one will only reach a small portion of the world if one does. Always ask yourself if there are other places where old pictures, newspaper clippings, etc. can be shared.

One place to share such items are in Facebook groups devoted to a specific area or locality–particularly if the group has any sort of historical focus. Groups such as “Old Days in Tuckertown,” “You know you are from Smithville if you remember..,” or similarly named ones often include people who, while not technically genealogists, do have an interest in local history and may know a thing or two about their deceased relatives or have access to materials that you do not.

Such postings may also pull relatives out of the internet woodwork as well. In addition to seeing who comments on the item you posted, look and see who “liked it” without commenting. Names of relatives you had forgotten about or who you have been unable to locate may appear.

Sharing such items is not necessarily a way to preserve them, but it can be a good way to share them and to potentially locate other relatives or individuals who can provide you with additional information.

They Might Not Have Settled Together

My German immigrant ancestor and his brother settled in Adams County, Illinois, in the 1850s. His mother and her second husband also immigrated to the United States, settling some ninety-eight miles away. Early in my research, because I didn’t find her near my ancestor and his brother, I assumed that she never immigrated because “people settled together.”

That’s true–usually.

But there were a few other factors at work in this family. The “boys” were adults when they immigrated and they actually did settle in an area where a few of their former German neighbors (and perhaps an errant relative I simply haven’t tracked down yet) settled. Their mother had a second husband she married in Germany and it’s possible that he had connections in the area where the mother settled.

There area always factors at work. Sometimes we just don’t know what they are.

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel

I recently discovered the second husband my ancestor had and the children she had with him during the 1840s and early 1850s. I knew her first husband had died, but I had “lost” her after his death in the late 1830s. Her two children with her first husband were immigrants to the United States in the 1850s and are well documented.

One of the things I wanted to discover was when she, her second husband, and their children immigrated. Before I start looking for names in online databases and indexes, I need to do one thing: take a look at the manifests on which her two sons appeared (they immigrated separately) and see if the mother (and her crew with husband number two) are also on the manifest.

They may not be, but it is a good first place to look before I start running through all the variant spellings of Schrader–the second husband’s last name.

Did Grandma Emigrate?

When documenting your immigrant family’s experience, keep in mind that immigrants could have been “up in years as well.” Widowed individuals, on their own for the first time in decades, may have felt the pull to “cross the pond” with one of their children. Empty nest couples whose last child was emigrating may have felt they had no other choice or decided it was time for a new adventure.

And you never know, Grandpa or Grandma may have been the driving force encouraging their children and grandchildren to emigrate–only to decide to join them.

Need a Virtual Presenter for Your Society?

If your genealogy group is looking for a virtual presenter for your next monthly meeting, email me for details at mjnrootdig@gmail.com. Many groups are meeting virtually given the current situation.

I recently gave a presentation for a group in western Massachusetts whose meetings are online–which is great for those who have mobility challenges or do not live near enough to the meeting site to attend in real time.