If your ancestor has half siblings, don’t forget to search for them as well. In some families half-siblings barely speak and never interact. In others, they are as close as full siblings. Just because in one family those relationships were strained doesn’t mean they were in others. And your ancestor may have half-siblings and you may not even know it. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
For our new fans/followers: Genealogy Tip of the Day is one genealogy tip published every day to our blog (http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com/ and the Genealogy Tip of the Day Fan Page on Facebook. You can also follow us by clicking on the links on the blog page at http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com/. Tip of the Day is free–but is sponsored by my weekly newsletter Casefile Clues (http://blog.casefileclues.com/). Tips usually come from my own research and writing. Content and topics are pretty random–just whatever comes across my desk in the process of doing my own research and writing. You don’t have to subscribe to the newsletter to get the tips. The tips are, by the nature of tips, short and to the point. Once in a while I may mention a website, but we […]
Need to know what questions were asked in what census? Here’s a page that has links to all census questions asked in every census from1850 and onwards. http://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/tEnumForm.shtml ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t forget that the 1910 Census asks for the length of the current marriage. This can be helpful in estimating a marriage date. And in some cases, there will be a notation as to how many times the person has been married. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I’ve been working on Aunt Emma for the next issue of Casefile Clues. In searching for her in various census records, I have become convinced she pronounced her first name as “Emmer.” At least that’s how almost every census taker spelled it, Emmar, Emmer, Emer, etc. Think about how the first name was said. Sometime English language names were said in ways that resulted in a wide variety of spellings. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that if your ancestor was married more than once, records on those “other” spouses may be helpful to your direct line research. A second spouse may provide clues about the ancestor’s other spouses, the ancestor’s family, etc. And if the “other” spouse got a military pension, those records may be helpful as well. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Chronologies are a good problem-solving tool. So are maps. I’ve got one extended family I’m stuck on and I think that maps of each person’s location in certain years (say 1850, 1860, 1870) might be another helpful tool. Seeing what is “pulling” and “pushing” people to certain locations might be easier if I organize the information in this fashion. Hopefully we’ll have some illustrations in a future issue of Casefile Clues. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
It is always advisable to think of all the records that might have been created when one is missing. Perhaps the records of your ancestor’s estate settlement cannot be found. Are there other court records (perhaps a partition suit?)? Were there guardianship records for the children? Were there deeds that might have settled up property? Would tax records provide any clues? It can be frustrating when a record is missing, but ask yourself “what else could there be?” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Many of us posts genealogical questions on message boards, mailing lists, facebook groups, etc. Keep in mind that the person who answers may not really “know their stuff,” even if they throw around key phrases and sound really smart. Give a second thought before taking free advice or suggestions from someone whose skill level and expertise are not really known to you. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Today is 10-4. In CB lingo that means “OK” or something pretty close to that. Is there a phrase or word in a document, letter, or record that meant something different when it was written? Is there a chance you are interpreting something with a 21st century mind when it was written with a 17th century one? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In 1850 and after census records, have you compared your ancestor to his neighbors? Were they from the same place, about the same age, similar occupations, etc.? Or was your ancestor significantly different from his or her neighbors? It might be a clue. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Adoption records are usually closed. Is there a chance there was a guardianship instead? Records of guardianships are open and may answer your question. The difficulty is that guardianships are usually for children who have inherited some type of estate. If your “adopted” ancestor was poor, there’s less chance of a guardianship. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In going back through material for a Casefile Clues article, I looked again at some pension papers on a relative. Her children were listed, including my great-grandmother. There great-grandma was listed with a middle name I had never seen anywhere else. For some reason, it had never “clicked” before that the name was different. Great-grandma was always “Fannie” on every document, except for Francis on her birth record. And the only middle name ever used was Iona. And there on the pension application for her mother was “Fannie May” Or so I thought. It actually said “Fannie May 16 1880” and was referring to her DATE of birth. Be careful before jumping to a conclusion and getting a little too excited about locating something “new.” ———————————— Check out […]
If you think there should be an estate for an ancestor, make certain to look for a deed even if court records are not located. In some cases, if there was just the widow’s inheritance to settle up after her death the only record might be a quitclaim deed where the heirs transfer property to one of their siblings. There might not have been any need for an estate settlement. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Keep in mind that in the cases of intestate estates, a court might not be concerned about relatives who die young, never marry, and do not leave any issue. If John dies without children and had six siblings, the court might only list those four who left heirs of their own. The court is concerned with determining heirship–not with compiling a complete genealogy. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Recent Comments