Transcribing old estate inventories can be a challenge. The handwriting can be difficult to read. The spellings can be phonetic and sometimes based on a pronunciation that is foreign to a modern speaker of the same language. The items may be household or farm items that have not been used in centuries. Google searches will not resolve every difficult to transcribe item. While items can be listed in an estate inventory in any order, they are usually grouped–either by purpose of the item or where they were located on the property. This is more likely if you are using the estate inventory appraisal and not the list of estate items sold. The appraisal of the estate was more likely to be done by walking around the property. This […]
We’re offering a session of our US land records class starting on Sunday, 13 July. Details on our announcement page.
Federal land warrants (generally received by soldiers for pre-Civil War service) can be thought of as coupons that could be exhanged for a set acreage within the federal domain. The warrant was the payment for the property. Not all veterans actually used the warrant to recieve property in their own name. Many sold the warrants to others who then used the warrant to acquire property. The selling of that warrant would be evidenced by the assignment on the reverse of the warrant from the original recipient to the purchaser. That assignment would have to be acknowledged before a local official where the original warrantee lived. There could be a residential clue in that acknowledgement as the local official would indicate the county in which he was authorized to […]
Are you aware of the local geography where your ancestor lived? Having access to maps is a great help, but having a certain amount of information “in your head” can save time. For your city ancestors do you know the “name of the neighborhood” (if there was one)? Do you know names of nearby neighborhoods and towns? How close did your family live to the line that divided one city from another? For rural ancestors the same thing applies? What were the names of adjacent townships? How close were they to the county line? Did they live in a part of the county that had a nickname (perhaps based upon where most residents were originally from, a small post office, school, church, etc.)? These nicknames may not appear […]
For readers of Genealogy Tip of the Day, we’re offering a half-off sale on my webinars–on 7 July only. Details on our webinar page.
That name on a photograph may be the person for whom it was intended (or who had it) and not a means of identifying who was in the actually in the picture. I’ve got a photo of my great-grandparents and their oldest son (my grandfather) taken around 1920. The name on the cover of the folder in which the picture was placed is that of my grandfather’s first cousin. There is nothing else written on the photograph anywhere. I only know who it is because I have a duplicate copy of the photograph another relative had that was identified. The illustration for this post is the name on the cover of the photograph.
A relative was found dead in a Kansas City, Missouri, hotel room in July of 1921 and depending upon who was telling the story the relative was either murdered or committed suicide. There were numerous articles about the relative in the Kansas City newspapers and in newspapers in western Illinois where the relative was from. Many of newspaper references contained repetitive content and I almost stopped reading new ones as they generally contained the same material. Except one in Kansas City in Septemer of 1921. It mentioned a girlfriend of the relative who apparently had married someone else shortly before my relative’s death. Of course the newspaper only referred to the girlfriend as “girlfriend.’ Fortunately her husband was named. It pays to read everything.
If you think you have ancestors involved in the American Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) have several databases that may be helpful to your searches. Not all of these databases are of patriots. Some are of descendants who were memebers of the DAR or were people through whom a lineage to a patriot could be traced.
Libraries, archives, and historical societies do acquire new materials, digitize items that “you never thought they would,” or create new indexes or finding aids. If it’s been years since you looked at their catalog, viewed their website, or inquired about their collection, it might be time to do so. There may be something there that was not when you originally checked.
Casefile Clues issue 5-20 has been sent to subscribers. It analyzes an 1893 widow’s declaration for a Civil War pension. Learn more about Casefile Clues on our website, subscribe, and increase your genealogical analysis skills.
From a while back… There are other things one can do as well, including learning about the time period and location of the “lost person,” their religious affiliation, occupation, educational level, etc. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it and get your own copy. Your work may not be going as slowly as this turtle, but it may feel like it.
Due to a lack of vital records, I used a will from Virginia to estimate when the children of an ancestor were born. All of the details are too long for this tip, but essentially it hinged on the assumption that the children were listed from oldest to youngest in the will and the fifth child had to have been of the age of majority at the time the will was written (along with a few other assumptions). I wanted to put the estimated years of birth for these children in my genealogical database. A source needed to be included. But the will does not specifically say when any of the children are born. I’m making some assumptions about what is in the will to conclude approximately when […]
Do you document your ancestor’s church memberships? While there are people who are cradle to grave members of the same church, others are not. Moving may require an ancestor to change the church they attend even if the denomination remains the same. Philosophical differences with a pastor, staff member, or fellow church member may cause an ancestor to leave a congregation. The move may result in changing the denomination of which they are a member. And some ancestors get asked to leave their church for one reason or another. But documenting an ancestor’s church membership journey can be a worthwhile activity.
Subscribers to Casefile Clues should have their issue 5-19. It discusses a will from 1740s in Virginia. Learn more about Casefile Clues here.
From a while back.. For that missing (or not missing) ancestor, do you know where the nearest three of these buildings, geographic features, organizations, social groups, etc. were when your ancestor lived in the area. It could help you through those research road blocks. Things to think about include the nearest three: There are others besides these. In some cases. three may not be enough. In some cases it may be more than you need for effective research. Get your copy of Genealogy Tip of the Day–the book.
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