Reviewing the whole census page is not just about locating other people with the same last name who were neighbors. Looking at the whole page gives you an overview: –occupations in the location –family structures in the location–many had extended family or boarders –migration patterns into the region –home ownership (if the census year is right) –other demographic details We don’t look at everyone else on the census page just to find other relatives. We can also get a view of the area as well.
Generally speaking and making some broad assumptions, information on a death certificate does not just come from the “informant.” More than one person provided the information–either directly or indirectly. There is the person who provides the “biographical” information–typically the informant. There is the person who provides the medical information–cause of death, underlying causes (if stated), length of illness (if stated), date of death, perhaps even date and place of death. There is the person who provides the burial, or disposition of remains information. In some places and time periods one person provides all three functions. Even if one person provides all the information, they potentially obtained some information from someone else. The takeaway here is to know how the information got into the record you are using–that helps […]
If an ancestor marries on 1 December 1901 and it is indicated that he was “of legal age,” on that date, then (if 21 is the legal age to marry) he was alive by 1 December 1880. Marrying, buying property, naturalizing, and other “legal acts” require a person to be of age even if their age is not stated in the document. Of course people will lie about their age, but that’s a separate tip.
Do you use your “real” name? Or do you use a diminutive based upon your first or middle name? Do you use a nickname? In the notes section of your genealogy software indicate why you used the name you did. Future genealogists and relatives might like to know why you used it. I have always used Michael, never “Mike.” This is largely because my family always called me Michael and mother always said “if I had wanted him called ‘Mike’ I would have named him ‘Mike.’”. And I always thought Mike Neill sounded too short to be an actual name–at least to my ears–probably the result of being half German where every name needs to be somewhat long and have a lot of consonant sounds. I started using […]
Children were not always named immediately. While modern practice is to name children at birth (if not before), this was not always the case for one reason or another. It is not uncommon to see “unnamed” or “baby” as the first name on a birth certificate. A couple may have waited until they could arrange for a christening to name the baby, because they could not decide, or other reasons. This post on our sister site looks at possible unnamed children in the 1880 United States census.
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