Years ago when I started my genealogy research, I would occasionally give my grandparents various records I had located on their grandparents or great-grandparents. My maternal grandparents had a moderate interest in genealogy and I enjoyed sharing my discoveries with them. After these grandparents passed, I ended up with most of their papers–including the copies I had made for them years ago of various records. I didn’t need the duplicate copies of things. But what was helpful was the notes that my grandma had written on some of them. Many of these details were things that I did not know. If you are needing a memory prompt, consider giving that relative copies of a few family documents. Encourage them to write on them and mark them up. Their […]
I’m giving a webinar on “Pond Crossing” on Wednesday, 20 September–attend live or pre-order a recording. More details on our announcement page.
While browsing the stacks at the Allen County Public Library recently, I noticed a book that appeared to be out of its geographic element. The book “Knox College,” actually a 1993 yearbook for that institution, was shelved in the materials for Gallatin County, Illinois. Knox College is located in Knox County, Illinois. The reason for the unexpected location of the book in the stacks was due to a typographical error in the call number of the book. That was why the book was placed where it was. Everyone can occasionally make a mistake. Browsing the stacks is still a great way to find things and a way to catch errors of this type. Note: the library is aware of the error.
“Deed” records may contain entries for documents besides those that transfer title to real property. This 1736 deed, recorded in the land records of Baltimore County, Maryland, documents a transaction where the property being transferred is a dark bay gelding. The horse is also described as having a “great Star in his face.” Do not assume that your ancestor will not appear in the deed books if he never owned real property. Some times records of other property transfers are recorded there.
From a while back… Indexes that take us to one page are great, but they can be limiting if we only look at the page referenced in the index or linked to from the online search results. Some US federal censuses have more than one page. The 1840 census in particular contains names of Revolutionary War veterans on the right hand page–which many researchers fail to look at because it’s the “next image.” Deed books can contain multiple deeds from the same grantor recorded sequentially–if they were brought in for recording at the same time. For one reason or another the others may not have been indexed. When you find a deed always go a page or two before and after. Neighbors on the next census page may […]
My Grandma always told me they went four counties away (staying within the same state) to get married because “your Grandpa just decided to.” They weren’t hiding the marriage from their relatives and were well over the legal age to marry. From what I heard about my Grandpa, he never did anything on a whim. Chances are your ancestor did not pack up and move for no reason either. It might have been because local soils were getting depleted, former neighbors wrote home with news of “prosperous times further west,” a new political allegiance increased the chance of sons being drafted into military service, Pa got a military bounty warrant, or one of several other reasons. Have you tried to find out what might have motivated your ancestors […]
Do not neglect to add restaurants to your list of places to ask about when having a family history conversation with a relative. Some families may have a special restaurant where they often go out to eat for celebrations or when relatives come home to visit. Just mentioning the restaurant may generate memories–like the relatives who ordered steak medium rare when this writer had never seen beef cooked that way or ordered it in a restaurant because we had beef at home. Then there’s the time cousins from Indiana came to visit and while we were in the restaurant our meal was interrupted by a trip the establishment’s basement due to a tornado. Hard telling what memories an eating establishment will bring.
I’m not recommending people leave notes in books across the genealogy library world, but I did encounter this note in a 1960s era genealogy at the Allen County Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, recently. The note had more genealogy information on the writer’s connection to the family and her name and address. Those things have not been published here. Have you encountered such a note in a reference item?
Even if your ancestor’s estate was intestate (without a valid will), the probate records could contain a copy of will that was refused probate by the court. While that will was unprobated, it still could provide good genealogical clues and reading it may tell you it was not allowed to go through probate. If there was a separate court case over the will it may be filed with non-probate court records in the county where the estate was administrated.
In numerous places and locations, my great-grandmother is listed as Trientje or Tena. Those sources include her birth certificate from 1895, her baptismal entry, her confirmation record, her marriage record, tombstone, etc. Both names are occasionally spelled incorrectly, but the meaning is always clear even if the writer used a name phonetically similar. One published genealogy (sans sources) lists her first name as something clearly not Trientje or Tena. Some would say that I should include this name as an alternate name for her. I will not. It’s an apparent oversight and, based on over forty years of research and personal knowledge of the family, clearly incorrect. I’ve made a note of it in her file. It’s a clear error and determining how it came to be isn’t […]
Birth entries in a birth register. Marriage entries in a marriage register. Death entries in a death register. Do you know how those entries actually got to be in the register? In many cases, those entries in a “register” (or ledger of entries) may have been made from submitted certificates of those events. If that’s the case, the register entry could contain a transcription error or an incorrect rendering of a word or phrase on the original submission. Chances are doctors, midwives, and others did not just “walk in” to the records office and verbally give the information to be put in a register of births or deaths. A form likely was completed and sent or taken to the appropriate records office with family, the official, and possibly […]
In looking at any locally created index to records, keep in mind that the names starting with “Mc” or “Mac” sometimes have a separate section in the index. Most computer generated indexes do not separate these names out, but handwritten indexes occasionally do.
If you are looking at a pre-1850 US census or tax list where the names are in rough alphabetical order, chances are that list was recopied from something else. People do not live in alphabetical order.
Asking relatives questions is one way to elicit family stories and traditions of which you were never aware. But often copies of family pictures or other family memorabilia is an even better way to stir memories. I recently shared to my personal Facebook page a copy of letter our aunt wrote when applying for a job in the 1960s. Two of my cousins responded with details of which I was unaware–based on the letter. The aunt’s address and other details in the letter brough back memories that pictures apparently did not.
The date on the 1962 check my grandfather Ufkes wrote was either October 26th or 16th. It’s clear that he either wrote a “2” first and then a “1,” or wrote a “1” first and then a “2” to replace it. Based on the “paid” perforation on the check (indicating a paid date of 10-18-1962), the check would have been written on 16 October and not on 26 October. Granddad likely realized his mistake after he had written the date on the check. Of all the dates on the check, the “paid” one is the one that is mostly likely to be correct. Banks can always make a mistake, but it seems unlikely that the paid date would be incorrect. When analyzing a record that has inconsistent information, […]
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