Posts in Michael John Neill

I am on entirely too many email lists for genealogy. Finally at long last I sat down in my gmail (which I use for my genealogy email) and made a separate filter for each one. Messages to these mailing lists then never go to my main inbox and I don’t see them unless I visit the folder individually. Now my inbox is not overflowing with these messages and I my inbox can stay clear for the “important” ones. This is particularly helpful as I get my genealogy email on my blackberry and before the filter I was ALWAYS getting email on my phone. A little annoying. Email lists are great for genealogy, but now I can read them when I want–not have them flying at me 24/7. ———————————— […]

In some families and ethnic groups, there are tendencies to pass on certain names. Sometimes this is done in a certain fashion, perhaps the oldest son for the father’s father, the oldest daughter for the father’s mother, and then on down the line. Remember that this practice was a tendency in some families and is not proof of anyone’s name at all. Names can be used as clues, but they are “extremely circumstantial” ones at best. And if both grandfathers are named John and both grandmothers are named Anna, then you really have a mess! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

Remember that just because your ancestor took out a marriage license does not necessarily mean that he got married. Make certain there is a return as well with the date of the ceremony given by the officiant. Most people who take out a license get married, but once in a while something happens between the courthouse and the ceremony. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

Many genealogists would benefit from having a legal dictionary. It doesn’t have to be a current one. I picked up an old edition of Black’s Law Dictionary on Ebay several years ago for $8–shipping was nearly that much as well. Current editions are much more expensive. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

Just because someone is listed as someone’s child in a census doesn’t mean they actually were their child. Could they have been a step-child or a neighbor child who was taken in? And if person A is person B’s “cousin” the exact biological relationship may not be as simple as one thinks. Their parents could have been siblings or half-siblings or the relationship could have even more distant. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

Keep in mind that a last name that may be unusual in one area may be very common in another. The name Schulmeyer is not too common in Iowa where my wife’s relatives settled in the 1850s. Yet when I looked at the church records for Beberstedt, where the family was from, there were several of them. It seemed like when looking at the church christenings like half the births were either to a Schulmeyer mother or a Schulmeyer father. A slight exgaggeration perhaps, but close enough to the truth to keep me on my research toes. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

Upon occasion, one hears fellow genealogists being slightly judgemental about a specific ancestor. Instead of getting bogged down in that line of thinking (which doesn’t help your research any), think “why?” Putting yourself in your ancestor’s shoes gives you a different perspective. If you were twenty-six years old, widowed, the mother of two small children, unable to speak English and living where you had no relatives, what might you do? You might marry the first German speaking single male around–one who would not have been your choice if you were twenty years old and still living at home with no children to support. If your great-grandfather “disappeared” consider where he might have gone and what he might have done in an attempt to find him. Was there a […]

Are you working to get more than just birth and death dates for your ancestors? After a while, lists of names and dates get a little dry for even the most serious genealogist. Consider fleshing out other details on your ancestor. County histories, newspapers, and court records are all great places to get beyond the bare facts. In lectures, I refer to my ancestor’s 1850 era Mississippi River tavern as “Barbara’s Bar and Grill.” The local newspaper referred to it as a “house of ill repute.” You never know what you will find until you look. I still don’t have Barbara’s date of birth, but I know a lot about her from court records and newspapers. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

Have you really thought about how your ancestor’ s was different from your own? Things have changed since your deceased ancestor was alive. Some changes are big and some are small. I haven’t used directory information for years, if I need a phone number for a business I simply “google” it on my blackberry, click on the phone number and dial. Ten years ago I couldn’t do that. And maybe when you think about how your ancestor’s is different from your own, you will realize there is something about that ancestor you have overlooked. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

Ok, so it’s not an actual tip of the day, but I am pleased to announce we have set the dates for the 5th annual Rootdig.com Salt Lake City Family History Library Research Trip in 2010. The dates of our trip are 27 May-3 June 2010. This includes Sunday, but we either use that day for rest, siteseeing, or additional consultations with Michael in the afternoon. Enrollment is limited and $50 will hold your spot until the complete registration is due. For more information visit our site or email me directly at mjnrootdig@gmail.com. We would love to have Tip of the Day viewers join us in 2010. Back to writing more tips…I am a little bit behind–fortunately because I spent an extra day at the FHL and did […]

One never knows when the hard drive will crash. Are you backing up your genealogy files on a regular basis? Remember, it’s not whether your hard drive will fail, but when it will fail. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

Yesterday’s post mentioned men who might have had wives with the same first name. Keep in mind that in some ethnic backgrounds “reusing” names of deceased children was a very common practice. One of my Ostfriesen couples had four daughters named Reenste born within a ten year time span. The first three died shortly after birth. The fourth one grew to adulthood. And my genealogy software program thought I was nuts to have a family with four children with the same name. But it can happen. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!

There is a tombstone in the local cemetery. I can’t remember the husband’s name, but he had two wives, both were named Mathilda. One can only imagine how confusing this might be for his descendants. Usually a new wife has a different name. If I researched this individual, the age of his wife might change significantly in census records, her birth place may suddenly be different, or other pieces of information may be inconsistent. Keep in mind that if the details on a spouse are different, it might because there was a different spouse–just one with the same first name. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!