Legal documents frequently contain the abbreviation “ss” after the court location. There is a reason the abbreviation is used in that part of the document. The letters are said to be a contraction for scilicet which is frequently translated as “in particular” or “to wit” and is usually used to state the venue of the court. Get More Genealogy Tip of the Day today from us directly for only $30-save $5.50.
Hasty research increases the chance that incorrect conclusions are made and that we include records for our “person of interest” who is not really our person of interest. To reduce the chance mistakes are made, take the records that you “know” are for your person of interest and estimate whichever items you do not have specifically: For all of these approximations, include your reason why you think the time frames and locations are reasonable–you should have at least one source document. These reasons combined with the records are key. Then look at the “new” records you think are for your ancestor. How closely do they match your expectations? Is the difference reasonable? Is it possible your conjectures were wrong? It may also cause you to question whether the […]
Write down your own life story and ask those interview questions you have been putting off. The human mind is the most fragile repository we use. Don’t waste it and don’t miss an opportunity.
We’re offering a sale on my webinar on the full-text search functionality at FamilySearch Labs. The promotion says through 3 August, but sale prices will be honored through 4 August. Details on our announcement page.
Undated clippings often leave the genealogist wondering from whence they came. There may be clues as to the paper’s origins on the reverse side–are any popular events mentioned, street addresses, etc. that might help determine where the item was published? On the chance the newspaper has been digitized, consider searching for key terms from the clipping (and the reverse side—just not as a part of the same search) in an attempt to find its source. Learn more about Casefile Clues!
When you find records of your ancestor that indicate he or she “made out a statement” before an official, try and determine where your ancestor lived at the time and where that official was authorized to act and where the statement was witnessed or acknowledged. An 1868 statement signed by my ancestor who was living in Hancock County, Illinois, was acknowledged before a Justice of the Peace in Linn County, Iowa. In this case, it was not a huge clue but it did document his travel there to assist in the settling up his mother’s estate. Some times knowing that a person traveled from one place to another is a big clue. Other times it is not. But looking at details in document for all the little things […]
When using US court records researchers should determine if there are case packets of various court papers in addition to using court references in various court ledgers and journals. These packets of court papers usually include original copies of filings, depositions, court findings, and other material related to the case at hand. Papers were typically folded and placed in one packet which may have been tied with a string or somehow kept together. Filing structure can vary from one location to another. Ledgers and journals duplicate some of what is in these materials, but many times there is information in the case file or packet that is not contained in the bound materials. Unfortunately not all jurisdictions retained these case files, but when accessing and utilizing any local […]
Our latest issue of Casefile Clues has been sent and should be in your inbox if you are a subscriber. It discusses and analyzes an 1875 Illinois land deed. Learn more here–subscribe today and we’ll start your subscription with issue 5-1!
Take care when creating citations for church records. In some times and places, one physical volume of church records may be broken into separate sections for various types of pastoral acts or other church records. Each section may have page numbers that start over instead of the whole physical book having one set of page numbers. Scan the entire volume to get a feel for how the material is organized before crafting a citation for a specific entry. The 4th edition of Evidence Explained, section 8.15 contains more detail on books divided into sections that we can discuss in a short tip. Even if you don’t use Evidence Explained, please scan the entire book in which the record was obtained in order to understand it better and create a […]
If you have a hunch of when an event in your ancestor’s life took place–say a year of birth or death–provide a reason for hunch when making a statement about it. Don’t just say “Hinrich Fecht was probably born in 1812.” Say “Based on his age in the 1850 census, Hinrich Fecht was probably born in 1812.” Uncertain statements can be turned into facts by other researchers. There’s no way to stop that. But including your reason for an imprecise statement reminds you of why you made it and tells others how you reached that conclusion as well. And if you have no reason for your “probably” statement about an ancestor…should you really be making it?
In reviewing a twentieth-century family I have not worked on in some time, an obituary had me completely confused. The names of the children were consistent with other records, but the grandchildren and great-grandchildren made no sense to me–at least not using the information I had already located. I put the obituary aside and looked at other records–including earlier obituaries of the family and what vital records could be found online. Going back to the obituary with more details allowed me to develop a hypothesis. It appeared that the obituary writer or editor referred to grandchildren as grandchildren and to step-grandchildren as great-grandchildren. It’s an easy mistake to make, particularly when the person reviewing the information is not personally familiar with the family. The obituary actually referred to […]
DNA tests for genealogical research have been heavily marketed. There are times when they will solve problems–or at least help to solve a problem. But DNA needs to be used in concert with other forms of documentation that researchers have been using for years. And DNA will not necessarily make your genealogical research easy. It will give you one more tool in your research toolbox. DNA will help establish biological connections, but there are a variety of other questions to answer about any individual ancestor. But it is not the only tool.
Today deeds are recorded fairly soon after their execution. That was not the case in the 19th century and before. It was not uncommon for deeds to be recorded several months or longer after they were signed. The risk a person took is in losing the deed before it was recorded as the recorded copy serves as the legal equivalent of the original if it is lost. Deeds that are recorded decades after the fact were frequently recorded then because the purchaser wanted to sell the property or had died and the heirs realized the deed had never been recorded. And remember that deeds are recorded in the order in which they are brought to the records office, not the order in which they were executed.
The bulk of pre-20th century local land records in the United States consist of handwritten transcriptions of original deeds. These deeds occasionally contained errors that were noticed by the clerk making the record copy. The clerk’s job was to transcribe the document exactly as it was written. One way to indicate an obvious error was to underline the apparent incorrect text. In the illustration, a husband and wife are selling property and both sign the deed. But the writer of the deed has written that “he signed” instead of “they signed.” The clerk, noticing the error, still wrote the word “he” because that’s what the deed said. But the word “he” was underlined to indicate that the error was not that of the clerk, but of someone else. […]
I knew my aunt had at least three children in the 1840s in Germany with a man that I assumed was her husband. Turned out he was the father of her children, but that they were not married when some of the older children were born. Because of their parents’ marital status, some of the children used her maiden name as their last name, some used his last name as their last name, and some went back and forth between their parents’ last names. It took me forever to locate one of the daughter’s marriage record as she married under her mother’s maiden name and not the last name of her father.
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