The DNA ethnicity results that measure your “ethnicity” do so back to a time when there are extremely few records to document the existence of most individuals. You are not going to be able to paper trace your complete genealogy back to that point in time suggested by the ethnicity results. Pedigrees the extend 2000 years aren’t generally worth the paper they are written on. Use the ethnicity results as a form of entertainment–unless they reveal something significantly different from what is expected (for example, you think you are entirely European and discover that you are 25% African or 20% Asian, etc.). Document your paper tree as best you can with as many reliable sources as you can and go from there. The part of your DNA test […]
During the time period when women had few legal rights, it’s worth remembering to look at the men who end up overseeing their affairs in one way or another. Always pay close attention to the person who was appointed to be the administrator of the estate of a man who died with a wife and young children. If the person is not clearly a relative of the deceased individual, it very likely is a biological relative of the wife–or perhaps her second husband. And if there is a will and the wife is appointed executor, look carefully at who signed her bond. Those bondsmen were often relatives of the widow.
The instructions for 1950 US census enumerators indicated that a Canadian who spoke French upon their arrival in the US should be classified as “Canada-French.” All other Canadian natives should be classified as “Canada-Other.” One might be tempted to think the “Canada-French” means Quebec and “Canada-Other” means outside of Quebec. That’s not necessarily how I would have interpreted those terms had I not read the instructions. Always read the instructions. 1950 Census instructions can be viewed online at the www.census.gov website. Learn more about getting ready for the 1950 census release by viewing my webinar on that very topic.
Generally speaking, genealogists who write and lecture extensively about genealogy research and methodology, put sources in one of three categories: Original-the first time the document was recorded. Derivative-when the document was reproduced, whether by hand or some sort of “image reproduction” Authored Narrative-usually a written compilation of original and derivative records along with analysis, interpretation and summary This classification scheme is not perfect. No scheme is perfect. This classification scheme does not comment on the accuracy of the record. That’s the job of the researcher as some original sources are virtually worthless and some derivative sources are excellent. For more about record classification and analysis, consult Evidence Explained.
I realize the errors and limitations of online trees. I never just “copy and paste” that information into my own tree. Some trees are more than riddled with errors. But if that tree has a totally new to you date and place for an event in your ancestor’s life–an ancestor for whom you’ve never found anything regarding that event in their life. Do not just copy the information to your tree. One option would be to put the information (and source) in the notes for that ancestor. Then ask yourself “if the date and place were correct what reliable records with reliable information” could have provided that information? A date and place of death may be mentioned in an obituary, a church record, or a death record. The […]
Records are recorded by local officials in the order in which they are brought to the courthouse. Generally speaking this is relatively close to when the even took place–people generally have vital events recorded quickly. The record where it is most likely to be a problem is with land deeds. For a variety of reasons, some deeds are not recorded promptly. People forget, things get temporarily lost, etc. Often the failure to record a deed is not realized until the purchaser dies and the family wants to sell the property and realizes the deed of purchase was never recorded. Consequently it is imperative to search deeds for sometime after the transaction took place. It is not unheard of for a deed from the 1840s to be recorded in the […]
All download links for this presentation (recording and handout) have been sent. Discount rate extended through today if you missed it. Contact me if your order was not received.
When a person is referred to as a “relict” on a tombstone or document it usually means that they were a widow–eg. Susannah, relict of James Tinsley.
A decedent is someone who is dead. The descendants of someone are their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on. A decedent can have descendants. A decedent’s estate may descend to their descendants. But “my ancestor’s decedents” is not correct. It’s “my ancestor’s descendants.”
My 1950 census webinar has been released for purchase and immediate download. More details on our announcement page.
If you are fortunate enough to know where your ancestors lived, do you know how far they were from all the nearest political borders? I grew up a half mile from the nearest township line, about ten or so miles from the nearest county line, and about fifteen miles from the state line. The knowledge may not directly impact your research, but the more information you know about your relative’s relative location to political features, the less likely you are to look for records in the wrong place.
When encountering a family tradition, take each statement suggested by the tradition and put it in one of two categories: probably generated a record most likely didn’t generate a record “Grandma sold sandwiches to support herself after her first husband accidentally drowned in the 1850s. Then she married Grandpa Haase and they moved to the farm.” Probably generated a record: The drowning may be mentioned in a local paper There may be estate or probate records related to the first husband’s death There may be a death record of the drowning–although in some US states this is too early for a death record There should be a marriage record to Grandpa Haase The place to start looking for these records is where Grandma was believed to have been living in […]
Census answers can appear to be wrong for a variety of reasons. Most of those stem from issues with the informant or the enumerator. Sometimes the “wrong” information is not really wrong at all and is the result of the genealogist not being fully aware of the instructions given to the census enumerator. Of course some enumerators did not follow instructions. Others did. In preparing for my webinar on the upcoming release of the 1950 US Census, I discovered this reference to how places of birth are to be handled in that enumeration. Quoting from the instruction manual’s instructions on item 13 (place of birth): For a person who was born in a hospital or elsewhere outside of the State in which his family was living at the […]
Census enumeration district maps at the National Archives (1880-1950) are online and can be searched here. Try searching for “yourstate yourcounty” or “yourstate yourcity” to locate items of interest.
I’m not a lawyer and I don’t pretend to be one on the internet. However, having read through more than my fair share of probate records–from modern ones to pre-colonial ones–and having been involved in the settlement of estates, I have a rough idea of how things work. And when I read the comments to an online column about an estate issue, I was shaking my head over and over. Some of the advice was flat out wrong. Some of the advice only worked in certain states. Some of the advice clearly indicated the commenter had not read the original question. And there were a handful of comments that were spot on. The same goes for answers ones gets to online posts about genealogy questions. Comments and suggestions […]
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