When you locate one land deed for a relative, always look to see if other deeds by the same buyer or seller were recorded at the same time. Look a few deeds after and before the item you initially located. Sometimes buyers record multiple deeds at the same time, particularly if they live a distance from the courthouse or are buying a piece of property from group of heirs and the deeds were drawn up separately. Look for similar names. You may be surprised at what you discover. Read more about the example in the illustration.
Land warrants may have been issued to the heirs of single men who died in US military action for service prior to the US Civil War. These land warrants may provide significant family clues and help clarify relationships. The patent in the illustration was issued based on a land warrant that was obtained by Harrison Ramsey based on his son Andrew’s service in the Illinois Volunteers in the 1840s. The patents can be searched on the BLM site. The warrant applications and surrendered warrants are at the US National Archives.
To learn more about your ancestor’s employer as given in a city directory, search the rest of the city directory as it may include advertisements or list the employer in a list of area businesses. Consider performing a Google search for the name of the business and search local and regional histories as well, many of which have been digitized at Google Books (http://books.google.com) or Archive.org (http://www.archive.org).
Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can notice what you cannot. If you’re stuck, consider asking a genealogy friend for their input on the problem. New perspective can help Just don’t test your friend’s patience Some friends are more knowledgeable than others Preferably someone who does not know the family
It’s easy to see how stories told by a family member are reliant upon the accuracy of their memory. After all, the family member is telling you those stories. But most of what is contained in other records comes from someone memory as well. The person’s memory of what they were told may be accurate (or it may not). What they were told originally may have been accurate or it may have not. Information on census records, marriage applications, birth and death certificates, and a variety of other documents comes from someone’s memory. No “proof” was necessary and the clerk or census taker simply wrote the information down and went on. It’s not just Grandma’s memory of personal stories that a genealogist relies up. It’s the memories of […]
Look at the back of every document you locate–actual record, newspaper clipping, old family letter, etc. There may be some clue of significance written on the reverse side of the document. Years ago, a short note written on the reverse side of a probate document ended up being one of the biggest clues in the file. Backs of newspaper clippings can help to date the item or determine the newspaper from which it came.
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The story makes for a romantic one but, like many family legends, the reality may be somewhat different. A couple may not really have met for the first time on the boat. They may never have met on the boat at all. The future husband may have immigrated as a single man and then sent word back home that he had settled and was ready to marry. Story was my great-great-grandparents met “on the boat,” having been from different villages. They were born in different villages, but there’s more to it than that. The future bride’s family had moved to the small village where the groom was living about ten years before the couple married. They knew of each other before they ever crossed the pond.
When reviewing any record, document, or family story think about the pieces of information that item contains and the events it mentions. Does that information suggest another record or source that may contain more detail? Would the events mentioned in the family story have caused the creation of other records? Many events in a person’s life cause the creation of some sort of “paper record.” Try and get beyond birth, marriage, and death. A good way to begin analyzing a family tradition or story is to break it into the pieces that may have generated some sort of record or evidence and the pieces that probably did not. Then focus on locating those records.
17th and 18th century documents are full of dating that may appear to be “off.” This document was dated Stow, Mass., 23 January 1746: 7. It’s 1747 in our modern style where the “new year” started on January 1. It’s 1746 in the old style where the new year started in in March. It’s not some other parenthetical notation, an abbreviation, or a stray mark or error. There’s more on the calendar change on this page from the Connecticut State Libray http://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/colonialresearch/calendar. Learn more about research, methods, and sources in Casefile Clues.
If your male ancestor died and his wife survived him, have you fully traced what happened to his widow after his death? Was she willed property that would pass to his heirs after his death? There might be a record of that land transfer after she died. Did she remarry? There may be mention of a previous husband when she does. She may have died under another name and left records under that name–perhaps one that mention her children by her first marriage. Did she pay property taxes after her husband’s death? Those records might help you to estimate when she died if there are no death records and she left no probate. There’s also the chance that there is no record of her after her husband’s death. […]
Occasionally I use one of the online trees to give me a little boost or nudge when working on a family–especially when I need some general direction. Sometimes they are helpful and sometimes not. Recently when working on a family in Stow, Massachusetts, in the 18th century, I took a look at the FamilySearch tree on the family. What I found had significant differences from what was in the will of the father of the family. At that point, I decided to focus on the wills and probate records of the families under study, transcribe those, interpret those and go from there. Sometimes it is best to just start from scratch and work from the original records. Learn more about research, methods, and sources in Casefile Clues.
An earlier post mentioned that the use of the word “farmer” to describe an ancestral occupation can be somewhat generic. It’s not a bad term. It’s just that it can be somewhat vague and that knowing a little more specifics about your ancestor’s farming status can be helpful for research. For those with ancestors who appear in European church records, those records may list the ancestral occupation with a word that is more specific than “farmer.” Make certain you have the occupation translated accurately–it may indicate farm laborer, farm owner, tenant farmer, etc. Estate or probate records may provide clues as to your ancestor’s farming status. Ownership of agricultural equipment is suggestive of occupation. An estate inventory or a will that includes real property would indicate that the […]
As you make copies of records, either on paper or in digital form, track the source. If you don’t do it as you go, the chance you do it goes down……
I maintain the following genealogy blogs: Rootdig.com—Michael’s thoughts, research problems, suggestions, and whatever else crosses his desk Genealogy Tip of the Day—one genealogy research tip every day–short and to the point Genealogy Search Tip—websites I’ve discovered and the occasional online research tip–short and to the point Casefile Clues–information on my genealogy how-to newsletter which focuses on analysis, interpretation, and methodology through case studies and document analysis. Subscription to these blogs is free. Subscribe/Unsubscribe links are in every email and on the top of each blog page. Subscription to the actual Casefile Clues newsletter (emailed as a PDF file) is on a fee basis–only $20 for 52 issues. Subscription to the weekly blog update is only $5 a year.
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