Early in my research, when I did not know any better, I just assumed my female ancestor who died in Linn County, Iowa, in 1867 left no probate. Her husband had died in 1861 in Indiana and she left that state for Iowa shortly after his death. Most of her children were already in Linn County, Iowa. Her moving there made sense. She would have been approximately sixty-five years old at the time of her move and I just assumed that she moved in with her children and would have had no estate to probate, no land records, etc. Melinda provide me wrong. She bought ten or so acres in Iowa and had a home built on it. She owned the property when she died. There’s a wonderful […]
Sometimes records are only accessible onsite and travel is not an option. Sometimes records are in a foreign language and someone who can read and translate them is necessary. Sometimes things just don’t make sense and you need someone with expertise and experience to review your materials and make suggestions or do some research. Before you even consider hiring a professional: organize what you have–go through it, put it together, find the “sources,” transcribe it, summarize it see if there are other ways to access the records you need see if there’s a Facebook group, email list, or other group where you can post your questions–or get suggestions for someone who may be able to help see if you can translate the records yourself--but make certain you are understanding words correctly in […]
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