Genealogy “tricks” are a dime a dozen on the internet and there’s really no “trick” at all. It’s just being diligent and searching for every piece of paper or record that you can find. If we could get every shred of paper, digital image, stone, book, etc. with our ancestor’s name on it, research would be much easier. But that’s not the way it works. One approach is to think about what piece of information you would like to know and make a list of individuals who may have known that information (or may know it today) or records on which that information may have been written down. Given the time period and location, a marriage date could be in the family Bible, a civil record of the […]
Registration for all live attendance closed on 27 September 2022. Presentations (handout included) can be pre-ordered before 29 September for less than the normal download price. Determining Your Ancestor’s Personal Migration Trail Discovering your ancestors “migration trail” is more than determining the physical route they took to get from one point from another. It is about determining others who might have had the same point of origin and destination as your ancestor and what those individuals had in common with your ancestor (biology, relationships by marriage, shared denominational membership, same point of origin, etc.). Determining others who might have had the same point of origin as your ancestor may help you to locate more information on your ancestor. Our focus will be on ways to determine who else […]
An address given for your ancestor could be the name of the town where he lived, the town where he received his mail, or perhaps the name of the township or county in which he or she lived with the word “township” or “county” omitted. It’s also possible that the location listed does not even exist any more. Searching on contemporary maps, in local gazetteers, in county histories (see if they have maps included as well), in local newspapers, or in other sources may help you to determine exactly what the reference meant. The man in the illustration lived in Appanoose Township at the time the document in the illustration was completed. Other contemporary addresses given for him–presumably also where mail could be addressed–were consistently listed as Niota, […]
A recent book of poems written by a cousin that I purchased on Ebay recently reminded me of a tip that we’ve mentioned before. Go through old books completely page by page to see what might be stuck in between pages. Clippings can be smaller than this one and might not be noticed with a casual, quick, flip through–especially if they are tucked in the spine. Also don’t forget to turn them over! This one was photographed this way intentionally, but looking at both sides can be helpful and may help you date or locate the clipping as well.
When you are looking at old pictures that were likely not taken by a professional photographer, do you think of who the likely photographer was?
When was the last time you took a second look at a FindAGrave memorial to see if a better picture of the tombstone has been posted? This memorial for Marion Blanton originally included a picture of the stone that was covered in growth that made it difficult to read part of the inscription. A later visit to the page indicated someone had posted a cleaned up image of the stone. Thanks to CABS for posting this memorial to her Facebook page which brought it to my attention.
Years ago, while in the greater Chicago area for a wedding, my Grandma and my immediate family visited a niece of my Grandma’s in her home in the suburbs. She had lived there for decades and Grandma had never visited her. I was in my mid-teens at the time and had been doing my genealogy research for a few years. Several times on our trip there we heard how good of a cook the niece was. While at her home, the niece asked me what I knew about my Grandma’s grandfather. Before I could open my mouth, Grandma said “he doesn’t know anything about him.” I didn’t interrupt Grandma or correct her. A few minutes later, the excellent cook asked my Grandma to come into the kitchen to […]
Don’t neglect researching ex-spouses of your ancestor. While very short term marriages may not yield much relevant information during the time period after the marriage, individuals who were married to your ancestor for some time may shed new clues on your ancestor after the marriage ended. And do not neglect to research the divorce as it may mention date and place of marriage as well as other details.
A little humor: It would be nice if Ancestry (and the other sites) had a notice that said: Please compile your tree again. The tree submission could not be completed because your submission did not make any sense at all, violated the laws of time and space, and shows a blatant disregard for accuracy. While we all make mistakes, we have likely seen trees where the issues are larger than the occasional error or lapse in genealogical judgement.
I purchased on Ebay a copy Sorting the Smoke. It is a book of poems written by a second cousin of my grandmother–largely because it was signed by him in two places. The inscription shown here is written to someone the author knew and someone I discovered passed away in 2021. This is not a post about doing Google searches to learn more about people. It’s a reminder that after we leave this existence, we have no real control over what happens to our things. Think about your genealogy and family history materials and what you hope happens to them after your demise. Work to make that happen to the best of your ability. Reach out to others for ideas and suggestions. Think about all the items you […]
When looking for birth records of children, always consider the possibility that the mother may have gone to live with her parents, or other relatives (either by blood or by marriage) to have the child. If civil records of births were being recorded, it would be where the child was actually born. Children baptized as infants may be taken to a “home church” for that ceremony instead of being baptized where the parents are living at the time of the birth.
A tip from the past: When my parents were married in 1967, they received a congratulatory card from Ola Howes. The name did not ring a bell to me and I concluded it was a former neighbor or a fellow teacher of my mother. Upon asking Mom who Ola Howes was, I was told that “I don’t know.” Years later in my research, I discovered that my paternal great-grandfather had a first cousin Ola (Baker) Howes (their mothers were half-sisters). She had apparently seen my parents’ announcement in the paper and sent a card. Are there genealogical clues hiding in old greeting cards?
Obituaries and family members can easily hide a key detail in a person’s life. According to family members, my great-grandfather died at home. His obituary in the paper indicated he died at home. He did not. After suffering from a series of strokes, the family could no longer take care of him and he was put in a state hospital several counties away where he died a few weeks later. They cared for him at home for years, but were no longer able to towards the end of his life. That’s why it took me forever to locate his death certificate–I was looking in the wrong place.
If your ancestor owned property for several generations, do you have every deed in the chain of ownership documenting the transfers? Remember that in some places and some time periods, the a will or an estate settlement may serve in place of the deed. And for every piece of real estate an ancestor owned, even if it did not stay in the family, make certain you have determined how that property was acquired and how it left the person’s ownership–copies of deeds if they are applicable to your relative’s situation. Sometimes the acquisition and or disposition may have been through an inheritance–in which case you would want to check local court and probate records in most cases.
It could just be that my DNA results are an outlier, but I have many DNA matches who are related to each other in a way separate from how they are related to me. Sometimes that other relationship results in DNA matches that are somewhat confusing. To reduce the confusion, I’ve created a chart where I track known relationships between DNA matches that is not the relationship I share with them. My chart includes the username of each match, actual name of the match (if known), their shared set of ancestors (who are not my ancestors), their line of descent, and whether I’ve included my analysis in a master document where I track my DNA work. This reduces the chance I do work more than once and that […]
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