Genealogists try to be specific when stating relationships between individuals. Your relative from Omaha might not be as specific when discussing family members. Grandma may have written “Cousin Myrtle” on the back of a photograph. If the person referring to their cousin is still alive, try and get them to be more specific about the relationship, if possible. Don’t suggest what the relationship is. Sometimes “cousins” were were actually cousins (just further down the line than you thought), were related by marriage, or were just neighbors with whom the family was close.
When one encounters the phrase “late of Tuckertown” in a legal document, it typically means that the person used to live in Tuckertown. The same thing is true of “formerly of Tuckertown.” Sometimes the phrase “late widow of John Jones” may be used to refer to a woman. Usually in those cases it means that the female to whom it is referring has married again after the death of John Jones. Deceased—that usually means dead.
Take care when removing photographs from albums. It can be easy to damage photographs when removing them from albums. Before any removal attempts are made take pictures of the entire album, page by page so that the original organization is preserved. Also scan or take the best digital photographs of each picture you can of each individual picture you place to remove–just in case the photo does not survive the removal process. This website has suggestions for removing photographs from photo albums. Read them before attempting any photograph removal.
A genealogist needs to act like they are three years old sometimes. That does not mean having a tantrum at the vital records clerk when you are denied access to your third cousin’s birth certificate. That means asking “why?” when you read something in a record, you learn that your ancestor did something, or you find a new spelling of an ancestral name? Why did they put that down as a wrong place of birth? Why did my ancestor move to Ohio in 1817? Why did the name get spelled that unusual way? Questioning gets you thinking and thinking usually is good for your research.
Years ago, I was using 19th century congregational records of a Lutheran church in Illinois. Most members of the church were natives of Germany as was the pastor who wrote the records I was using. I was having difficulty reading the records until I realized that he was writing in English script for most of the record, but that he was slipping in a Germanic script for names, places of birth, and the occasional random word. The records were in English, but the non-English script made transcription an occasional problem.
Transcribing records in a foreign language and an unfamiliar script can be a challenge. Both differences work together to make interpreting the records correctly more difficult. There are some things you can do to improve your transcription of older records in a foreign language and an unfamiliar script: And…be patient with yourself. Check out Michael’s books!
It can be easy to waste “research” time by mindlessly looking at online sites for one thing or another. Some ways to avoid these time wasting activities are: Chasing some research leads down those “rabbit holes” can be a good thing–sometimes. But it can be easy to waste an inordinate amount of time chasing after half-baked, uncooked leads on your computer, when you’ve got three perfectly good cookies sitting on the counter. The only problem is that you have to get off your chair to get them.
There are a variety of ways one can organize and track their research while they are working. I find it particularly helpful to have an open word document where I can paste screen shots of record images, paste copies of index entries, and type in my own notes. I put a footer on these documents and page numbers. I should have put a date and time stamp on them as well as I occasionally print them out and take notes on them as well and knowing which one is the most recent one is a good thing. There are programs one can use to manage your research, but this works for me–and can easily be saved as a PDF file to be placed in the same digital folder […]
Transcribing foreign language records can be difficult. Comparing a record to others in the same series to see which text is repeated is one helpful approach. Using words common to a record is another way to work out how a writer usually wrote certain letters or words. Determining place names mentioned in records is sometimes difficult. But it pays to think about the logistics, especially with christening records. If a child is born on one date and baptised a day or two after and the location of a sponsor is difficult to read, remember how news would have travelled at the time. A sponsor from a different town is not traveling far for a baptism in 1756 and if the baptism is a day or two after the birth, […]
Many researchers claim they do the “genealogy happy dance” when they make a discovery. I don’t as my preference is for the “genealogy happy swear” instead. Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Whether you dance or shout an epithet upon making a discovery, the next step is the same. Record your findings, save your images, and site the source. If you do none of that you may later be swearing for a different reason.
After fits and starts over many years, I finally spent some time working on my Trautvetter family in Bad Salzungen, Germany, and finally located the 1765 christening entry for my ancestor Erasmus Trautvetter. It pays to read and translate the entire entry. Erasmus Trautvetter was named for his sponsor, Erasmus Trautvetter. Fortunately the pastor indicated that the Erasmus the sponsor was the grandfather of Erasmus the sponsee. Always read the entire entry and always get everything transcribed and translated. And keep looking. Sometimes you finally get answers. But, in an attempt to be honest, it also bears saying that sometimes you do not.
Digital images are great, but one shouldn’t get too hasty when using them. It can be easy to make mistakes. Recently I was using digital images of German church records. I had zoomed in to read the records better and kept on scanning down the set of images that popped up on my screen after I hit the “next” button. I just kept doing that. It was several minutes later that I realized because of the magnification I had chosen, I was only scrolling down the right hand page. I was not looking at the left hand image at all. I had to go back and start over. Always orient yourself to the records carefully before viewing them, particularly when it’s a new set of records. Always zoom […]
Reminder: If you’re going to donate materials to a small historical or genealogical society, in addition to asking them first, organizing your materials, and the like, remember that some organizations have funding issues. What would happen if they had to close their doors five years after you’ve made the donation? I realize that no one can control the future, but if you’re going to donate items to a small, non-profit historical/genealogical group, see if a financial donation is also in your budget or if they need cabinets, shelves or other physical means to help with storage. Just a thought.
For most of American history, people could change their names or alter the spelling of their names relatively easily–without going to court. Among the places where you may find evidence of those name changes are probate and pension records. The court may notice that deeds of property acquisition do not quite match with the name of the deceased. Pension application examiners may notice that the name at marriage does not match the name on the application. There may be affidavits about the name differences in the record, or a judge or clerk may make some notation about it.
A cousin was married in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1911 and apparently became estranged from his wife approximately fifteen years later. Obituaries, death certificates, census, and other records were used to piece together their life. But many of these records omitted certain details or details that were incorrect. It was not until I located more records that a more complete picture emerged and I was able to see which records contained details that were incorrect. One marriage record? One obituary? That makes it difficult to compare, contrast, and see what appears to be the most reasonable situation. The more records you get the easier it is to get a complete picture. Learn more about my how-to newsletter Casefile Clues or our webinar specials!
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