A participant on my Salt Lake City research trip found a deed that indicated the grantor was selling an undivided 1/4 interest in a piece of property. This warranted further research in land and probate records. An undivided interest of this type frequently indicates some type of inheritance was involved. Not always, but often. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Even if you think you’ve tried it, try it again. I can’t remember the number of times that someone has told me they had “searched for that,” “tried that,” etc. with no luck. And when we did it together, the result was found. No guarantees, but maybe you need to try researching something again. It is always possible to overlook something the first time or not to search in the way you thought you did. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We have set the dates for our August 2010 trip to Ft. Wayne…if you can make our “last minute” trip, we’d love to have you join us: 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!
Don’t just copy the page on which your relative’s name appears. Copy sufficient preceding pages so that the information is not viewed out of context. It may be helpful to copy the preface. And always copy the title page so you know where you obtained the material. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t assume those stories about having “no relatives” are true. One family insisted our branch was the only one to come out west from Ohio. Turns out there were three first cousins and two aunts and two uncles who also came to the same area from Ohio. Why descendants insisted we were the “only ones” is beyond me, but they were incorrect. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Did your immigrant family have a temporary landing spot when they immigrated? Even if they lived in one state for thirty or forty years after their immigration doesn’t mean that was where they originally settled. I had one family where many extended family members immigrated over fifteen years. Almost all of them spent a few years in Kentucky before settling permanently in Illinois. I just assumed all their United States records were in Illinois, which was incorrect. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Abbreviations should be used in your records and transcriptions very very rarely. Will anyone else know what they mean? Will you remember them in five or ten years? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Just remember that what is obvious to you might not be obvious to everyone else. And that what is “obvious” to you might not even be true! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is the last name you think is your ancestor’s last name the last name of his father or his step-father? Perhaps the mother’s remarriage is creating a roadblock for you. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you are looking for when an ancestor died in an era before good death records, consider looking at property tax records if the ancestor owned property. If the ancestor suddenly is listed as “deceased” or “the estate of,” that could be a big clue as to when he died. The estate may be paying taxes for several years before the property actually changes hands. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Keep in mind that there are a variety of records that might mention your ancestor and that are not everyname indexed. Court records, estate records, and other records usually are not FULL name indexed, unless they have been abstracted and published. It may be necessary to get away from indexed records in order to solve your problem. The difficulty is that unindexed records take longer to search. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Some information lends itself to making charts–some doesn’t. Regardless there may be some way to organize information in table format. Doing so may help you to notice trends that have someone passed you by or catch omissions in your research. Either is a good thing. We use a fair amount of charts in Casefile Clues–because it helps organize information for readers and is good for the researcher as well. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you are stuck on an ancestor, are you using the “same old sources” you always use? Are there records you avoid because you don’t understand, they are “difficult” to access, etc? Some individuals avoid land records, court records, and other records for these reasons. Are there un-utilized sources that might have the answer to your problem? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If the last name is MacDonald, look for Donald. If the last name is DeMoss, look for Moss. If the last name starts with an “O,” drop it. Try looking for Wall instead of Van de Wall. And on the reverse side, if the last name is Neill, you might want to try O’ Neill or McNeill. Just in case. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
A wife’s dower is that portion of a man’s estate or possessions that the law assigns to his wife. Typically a third, it was determined by state statute. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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