When you find someone on a census or any other digital image of a record, make certain you read the entire thing—not just what shows up in the “viewer” on your web browser. Have you scrolled through the entire image? Is the next image part of the record as well. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you have “lost” your ancestor at a certain point in time, put yourself in their shoes and see if it generates any ideas or leads. Think about: their age when you’ve “lost” them. what “stage” were they at in their life-newly married, lots of children, “empty nester,” etc.? what economic advantages did they have? what economic limitations did they have? who were they responsible for? how “easy” was it to just “pick up and move?” could “family problems” have impacted their decisions? did they move or associate with members of their extended family–either relatives by blood or marriage? And so on. No one operates in a vacuum. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If great-grandpa’s first marriage was in his late twenties or early thirties or even later, keep yourself open to the possibility that he was married more than once. People did wait to get married for the first time and someone might have married the first time in their forties. But keep in mind that what you think was the “one and only marriage” might not be–especially if information starts coming to light indicating that there might have been a marriage before the “first” one. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Your ancestor who supposedly “divorced” may never have bothered to go through the legal process. It was not as difficult as one might think for a couple to “separate” and eventually marry again. Civil War pensions contain numerous examples and it cannot only be war veterans and their wives who were a part of this occasional practice. Your ancestor may have separated and divorced. Or there may have been no divorce. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Recently I was reviewing some estate records I viewed several years ago at the Family History Library. A second look at the handwritten index indicated I had missed a reference to the estate. That second reference contained several names that may be crucial in my research. All because I went back and looked a second time. Is there something you can look at again on the off chance something was overlooked? If you are curious about what I located, there’s a blog post about it on the Casefile Clues blog. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you’re weary of the 1940 census hype, pick another year–say 1925. For that year, think about where each ancestor or relative would be living at that point in time. Do you know where that would be? Do you have a city directory listing for them if they were city dwellers? And if 1925 is too recent for you, try 1825. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When names are listed in an estate settlement or any similar record, don’t change the order in which the names are listed as there may be some method to the ordering of the names. I used one estate record where the heirs were listed by family group, even though that was not stated in the record. Of course, the ordering of names is not even close to solid proof, but it can be a clue. And sometimes the order of the names can be fairly random. That’s why the order of names isn’t solid proof! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Did your married female ancestor use her middle name for her middle initial in one record and her maiden name for her middle initial in another? It happens. My children’s great-grandmother is Grace A. Johnson in some records and Grace M. Johnson in others. The A. is for her middle name Alice. The M is for her maiden name of Mortier. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Making and Proving Your Case. Geared towards advanced beginners and intermediate researchers, this presentation discusses things to think about before writing up “your case.” Talks about statements, primary, secondary, ways to prove yourself, considering all the options, disproving, citation, etc. Provides the viewer with ideas on how to “make their case” and see gaps or omissions in their research. The digital media for this presentation can be downloaded for $8.50. Genealogy Blogging For Beginners This is geared towards those who have no blogging experience. Discusses things to be concerned about, generating content, creating posts, inserting images, tables, copyright, and more. The presentation and handout can be downloaded for $8.50. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
French records dated from 22 September 1792 and 1 January 1806 follow the French Revolutionary Calendar. There is more about the calendar at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendarand at FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/French_Republican_Calendar Feel free to post comments to this post on the blog or on Facebook’s fan page. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Use ssdi as the coupon code on our webinar page and get a 60% discount on orders. Offer expires at 9 AM 10 February 2012 A list of webinars is available at–your order can be processed there as well:http://www.casefileclues.com/webinars.htm ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We’ve run this tip before, but it is a good one to repeat. Do you have backups of all your data in separate places? Are there documents or pictures you have not scanned? Do you have paper copies that are the “only one?” Think about that. Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.com, etc. will be around tomorrow. Will your only paper copy? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Occasionally bodies are exhumed and moved to other cemeteries, perhaps where a spouse or children are later buried. Whole cemeteries are sometimes moved to make way for roads, construction projects, lakes, etc. There is always the possibility that your ancestor’s final resting place really wasn’t final. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Years ago a fellow researcher located a baptismal entry for a family who had their child while living a distance from other family members. The researcher only copied the entry for the one child, not looking at any other entries. The couple only had one child baptized in that specific church. Because of the way the baptismal record was written, the researcher concluded that the child was born out of wedlock. When I viewed the microfilmed records myself years later to get a better copy, I noticed that the relative’s entry was not unusual at all–in fact it followed the same format used by the pastor in all the baptismal entries. There was nothing irregular about the child’s birth or baptism. Always look at entries in context. Picking […]
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