Look carefully at the bondsman on an ancestor’s marriage bond. If he was not related himself, research him further–it could have been his wife who was a relative. And remember that marriage bonds were not required in all US states and generally fell out of favor by the Civil War. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is there a first name in your family that gets passed down from generation to generation and is somewhat unusual? Was it possibly someone’s maiden name? While that’s possible, don’t hold to that theory too closely–it’s also possible that the unusual name came from a non-relative. Unusual names are clues to potential information about a relationship, not proof. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Three of my blogs are available for delivery on your kindle: Daily Genealogy Transcriber–view blog—order kindle version Genealogy Tip of the Day–view blog-–order kindle version Rootdig —view blog—order kindle version ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When your research crosses a border into a state where you have never done research, put the ancestor away. Learn something about research and records in the state. Visit the website for the state archives, state historical society, state historical library, etc. Learning something about the materials that may be available to you may help you more than immediately digging away using approaches that worked elsewhere. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If your ancestor filed a homestead claim under the United states Homestead Act of 1862, he had to be a citizen of the United States. This might be a place to locate your ancestor’s naturalization record if he naturalized in some unknown location “back East” before moving west to homestead. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
March 2012 Fundamental WebinarsRescheduled due to illness–see new dates below Our fundamental webinars are each approximately 20 minutes in length. These short session are geared for beginner or somewhat experienced beginners who would like to learn more about the following topics. Each presentation includes the 20 minute or so presentation and the handouts. Downloads of previous fundamental webinars can be ordered here. Quick Google Ideas—this is geared towards the advanced beginner to intermediate genealogist as all the fundamental webinars. Our focus will be on searching, what to search for and how to search for it. Runs on 13 April 2012 at 2:30 PM Central. Register for $2. · Organizing Census Searches—querying census databases to locate hard-to-find ancestors is necessary. Organizing the search is necessary as well. Through three quick examples, get ideas […]
We have rescheduled my missed webinars and posted the new schedule. If you have already paid and registered–you’re still good to go for the ones that I had to reschedule. Our upcoming lineup:Genealogical Proof Standard (rescheduled)Proving Benjamin (rescheduled)Sourcing in Your Ancestry Tree (rescheduled)1940 Census–NEW!Preparing for Mother’s Death-NEW!The new schedule is online at:http://www.casefileclues.com/webinars_neill.htmIf you have questions, email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
For some locations and time periods, there may be civil and church records of birth (baptism), marriage and death (burial/funeral). Make certain you’ve located both the civil and church record if appropriate. One may be more detailed or legible than the other. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If an ancestor “disappears,” consider the possibility that they were admitted to the county poor farm? The ancestor may have fallen on hard times or otherwise become unable to care for themselves. Records of the poor farm may not be overly detailed, but they may help explain why Grandma “disappeared.” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If your ancestor bought and sold property after property, the deed work can be tedious. However if he were married during those land transactions, his wife would have had to “release” her dower when the property was sold. The name of the wife on those releases could provide clues as to the existence of more than one wife and approximately when he was married to which one. A Mary releasing dower in 1802 and 1805 and a Susannah releasing dower in 1810 and 1817 could be a good clue. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Have you fully researched those siblings of your ancestors without descendants? Their pension applications, marriage records, census materials could be just as helpful on your direct ancestors in answering questions about your family’s origins. And, if they had an estate requiring probate, those records could help document additional family relationships. Sometimes there’s a big story in the aunt or uncle who never has children. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
After you have transcribed and analyzed the information, take the names of neighbors from the census and ask family members if they remember people with those names. Names of neighbors can often jog people’s memories and cause them to remember stories you never thought to ask. That’s one thing I wish I had done with my grandfather’s 1930 census entry for the rural township in Illinois where he grew up. I’m certain asking about those names from the nearby census entries would have generated a lot of memories. When the 1940 census comes out and you finally find your people, don’t just file the information away. Use it. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you ancestors were living in an area before the county was formally settled and had established a local government, are you aware of the county from which it was formed? Do you know where to obtain records for that time before the county actually had its own government and set of records? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When reading a 1790s era deed, a quick reading seemed to indicate that the seller was selling all of a piece of property he had acquired a few years earlier. The acreages were inconsistent with the whole property being sold. A more detailed reading indicated that the part being sold was actually a part of the original. What was originally confusing was just me being not careful. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
It never hurts to be reminded of the importance of spelling: ignoring it for names (within reason). The last name of a person can easily be spelled more than one way, even within the same document. The key for the researcher to remember is that the different spellings should indicate the same name. Bigger, Bieger, Berger, Picker, Pickert, Bickert, Burger, etc. could all easily be the same person. However, a last name of Haase would be considerably different. In modern times we want our names spelled the right way consistently for a variety of reasons. Our ancestors didn’t live in modern times. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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