If your ancestor had a guardian appointed, look at when the guardian was released. It should be a clue as to approximately when the person for whom the guardian was appointed had reached the age of majority–typically 18 for females and 21 for males. A clue as to approximate year of birth. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Think about who might have written the obituary of Grandma that appeared in the newspaper. Was it a family member with “issues?” Was it someone who wanted certain people left out? Was it someone concerned with being entirely accurate? Unless you were involved first hand in the planning, you might not really know who wrote the obit. And who wrote it makes all the difference. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I was using an index to land records that covered the first fifty or so years of the county’s land records. One entry was difficult to read. The volume was legible–the page wasn’t. Afraid I’d have to go page by page, I viewed the volume and there in the front was an index to just that volume, giving me the actual page number. The clerk compiled indexes to each volume as they were recorded and years later, a more comprehensive index was created. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
You can obtain a lot of information via libraries, microfilm, published books, etc. You can get help from people who have never stepped foot near where your ancestor lived. And sometimes it is extremely helpful to ask a local. They may know about unpublished, local sources that are difficult to access or have other “tricks” up their sleeve based upon years of experience with local families. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Effective 8 June 2011, we’ll be ending the $7.50 6 month rate for Casefile Clues Beginners. To facilitate bookkeeping, we’ll be accepting year-long subscriptions for $17.00. If you’d like to try Casefile Clues Beginners, subscribe before the change goes into effect. Thanks! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Make certain the county or record agency does not also have copies of delayed certificates. Sometimes if a certificate was not filed when the event took place, one will be filed later. This is is most commonly done with birth certificates and generally when the person “needed” their birth certificate and realized that they did not have one. There may be copies of affidavits or statements as a part of the delayed record and these records may be filed separately from the originals. These are usually filed where the birth took place, but there are always exceptions. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
There is still time and room to join me on my annual research trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. We have a great time and work on problem-solving and research while the library is open. For more information visit our original blog post at http://blog.casefileclues.com/2010/06/ft-wayne-library-research-trip-11-15.html ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Even if an entry in a death certificate or other record appears to be incorrect, keep in mind that, on the surface, it can be hard to determine what’s right and what’s not. A relative’s death certificate listed her “mother’s maiden name” as “Mrs. Little.” Confusing–and I originally thought that maybe the “mother” had married after the father’s death and that “Mrs. Little” was her name at death instead of her maiden name. Turns out Liddell WAS her maiden name. And the “Mrs.” reference? Who knows. It easily could just have been an error. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t forget that there was a special 1890 US census enumeration that included Civil War veterans and Civil War veteran’s widows. Unfortunately returns for states whose name begins with the letters A-K were mostly destroyed. These have been microfilmed by the National Archives, NARA microfilm M123 and are online at Family Search. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember when reading those widow’s pensions, that it was in the widow’s interest to make herself, “poor, destitute, and without support.” Statements should always be interpreted with the thought that the claimant might have “shaded” comments to make things go in their favor. Same thing applies to statements made in divorce records. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
A deed may have the date it was signed, the date it was acknowledged, and the date it was recorded. Make certain you indicate which is which. They can be clues in some cases. A husband and wife executed a deed in 1814 in Kentucky and by the time it was acknowledged a month later, the wife is listed as a widow. This allowed me to approximate the date of death for the husband. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If a family sold a deceased parent’s land after the parent died, not all of the children might have lived near where the property was located. They might have been sent copies of deed, told to acknowledge it in front of a local official, and mail back the information. That acknowledgement would have been recorded with the actual deed. That’s how a deed for my ancestor’s White County, Indiana, farm in the 1860s told me the counties in Iowa, Illinois, and Louisiana where his children were living. Don’t neglect to read the acknowledgements on a deed–they may hold clues as to where heirs are living. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
My aunt was the third wife of her fifth husband. In her Civil War pension application, she mentions having his family bible which included death dates of his wife and others. I’m wondering what happened to the Bible upon her death. It’s very possible it actually went to her family and left her husband’s family altogether. Could this have happened to one of your family items? It might be worth contacting descendants of an ancestor’s step-child to see if they have any knowledge of materials of this type. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Use abbreviations sparingly. Does “w/o James Rampley” mean “wife of James Rampley” or “without James Rampley?” Of course on a cemetery transcription site, what it means is obvious. But remember, what is one person’s “obvious” is someone else’s “huh?” Abbreviations can easily confuse–use them with care. Avoid them if at all possible. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If visiting a cemetery where your ancestor lived, consider leaving your name and address on an index card at the stone you’ve been to visit. Put the card in a plastic baggie and use something (such as a rock, etc.) to keep it from blowing away. Don’t harm the stone in the process, but perhaps someone visiting the cemetery another day will find your baggie and contact you. Not everyone with genealogy information goes trolling the internet, but they may go cemetery visiting. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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