If your ancestor went somewhere “out of the blue” to get married and married someone from that “out of the blue” location, have you determined why they went there? It might not have been to find a spouse. I discovered an uncle worked in Nebraska for several months on a farm near where his cousin lived. The uncle didn’t meet his wife while in Nebraska, but it very easily could have happened. In this case, I already knew about the cousin and where he lived so his name and residence were not a surprise to me. This newspaper reference has got me to thinking about other relatives who married someone they had met a distance from home–and I had not figured out what the connection was. In some […]
If your ancestor’s death record says they were born in Hamilton, Illinois, is the reference to the city of Hamilton, Illinois, which is in Hancock County, Illinois, or is it a reference to Hamilton County, Illinois, with the word “County” omitted? Hamilton County is in southern Illinois and quite a distance from Hancock County where the city of Hamilton is located. There are many US locations where a town has the same name as a county but the town of that name is not located in the county of that same name. It’s not just the United States where the same name can be used for political jurisdictions that serve different purposes and where the smaller jurisdiction is not located within the one that is larger. Even if […]
I wrote a little story about my Grandma Neill on my personal Facebook page. The details do not really matter. To me and to others who knew both my grandmothers it likely was obvious to whom I was referring. People who didn’t know both of the reasonably well had no idea which grandma I was referencing. Veiled or missing references do not always matter in off-the-cuff Facebook posts. However, in writing or materials that will hopefully be read by others and by individuals long after the writer is deceased, clarity and specificity does matter. Don’t neglect stating “the obvious” in any genealogical writing you do. Your reader is someone who does not have any knowledge of the individuals involved. They may also not be aware of local history, […]
Putting an ancestor’s life in context matters, but there are things to consider before just assuming that every historical event had an impact on your ancestor’s life in a meaningful way. National and global events are not the only ones that potentially mattered to your ancestor. Regional, state/province, or local events may have mattered to your ancestor as well. It’s possible that certain regionalized events impacted your ancestor more than some national events did. It is also worth stating specifically that not every event had an impact on your ancestor. When my grandmother was born, the Dawes Committee was working on drafting what would later be referred to as the Dawes Plan. Did that impact her parents living in the United States? Was it something her father might […]
Military widow’s pension application files often contain evidence regarding their marriage to the soldier. If the widow is fortunate, she has (or can easily get) a certified copy of her marriage record. In other cases, the widow may have to rely on testimony of individuals who were present at her wedding. If the marriage took place forty years before the statement and a significant distance from where the widow resided, ask yourself: Why was this person at the wedding–were they a relative? How did the widow find this person all these years later–did they keep in touch? Are they still living near each other (but in a different state) all these years later. Why? It’s great when a deposition or affidavit from a witness provides evidence of your […]
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