When you have finished analyzing the materials in a court case file, make note of the dates of any court action. Then search local newspapers for possible mention of the case. The court record may only give part of the story. What is in the newspaper may be unsubstantiated, but it may give you a different perspective than what was in the court record. It’s always worth remembering that manual searches of digitized newspapers are sometimes necessary and that not every newspaper that could contain genealogical information relevant to your research problem has been digitized. Most US newspapers have been microfilmed (but not all), but not all microfilm has been digitized. Don’t limit your newspaper searches to just those items that are online.
Grantor and grantee indexes to land records typically only include the name of the first grantor (seller) and the first grantee (buyer) listed on a land transfer. Deeds involving inheritances, estate disputes, and partnerships may list multiple grantors or grantees. Searching for all members of your ancestor’s extended family (relatives by blood, relatives by marriage, etc.) may locate references not found if you only look for that “one person of interest.” And since not all deeds get recorded promptly and since they are indexed when they are recorded, consider searching for after the death of the grantor and grantee as well. And if your ancestors were farmers and you’ve never looked for a deed…you could be missing out.
We are offering a four-week class on United States land records starting on March 2. There will be lectures, discussions, and optional assignments designed to help reinforce concepts. Additional details are on our announcement page.
I don’t have pictures of too many ancestors. Signatures can be a good replacement. Trying to find them can be an “outside the box” problem-solving approach. Remember that record copies of deeds, wills, and some other records do not contain the actual signature. If the handwriting of the document matches the signature, it’s likely a record copy of the document and not the original. Hence that’s not a signature but instead the clerk’s handwritten copy of it. Places to get signatures are: case packets of original papers from probate or court cases, some marriage records (if the couple had to sign), pension records, bounty land applications, some federal land records, and draft registrations, There are other records that may provide signatures as well.
Due to a schedule conflict, we’ve changed the date for our ChatGPT webinar to 2 March. Details on our announcement page.
When your research crosses a border into a state where you have never done research, put the ancestor away. Learn something about research and records in the state. Visit the website for the state archives, state historical society, state historical library, etc. Learning something about the materials that may be available to you may help you more than immediately digging away using approaches that worked elsewhere.
My webinars on searching land records at FamilySearch, searching probate records at FamilySearch, and full-text searching at FamilySearch have been released. Details on our announcement page.
In reviewing research on my Irish immigrants, I realized that somewhere along the line, I made an incorrect conclusion. I “got it in my head” that the bondsman on the 1865 marriage of my ancestors appeared as the bondsman on numerous bonds and probably was not a relative for that reason. When I went back and reviewed the records, the bondsman was a bondsman on only one bond: the one for my ancestors. All of which means that I need to research the bondsman more fully to determine if he had any relationship to my ancestors. Lessons:
Are you using an 1820 census enumeration where the names appear to be listed in rough alphabetical order? Census takers and some tax collectors, in an attempt to be helpful, roughly sorted names by the first letter of the last name. The problem for genealogists is that this strips the record of all sense of neighborhood. Keep this in mind when you think all the “B”s in an area lived together. No group of people are that organized.
We’ve put together a new ChatGPT webinar. Check out the details on our announcement page. Attend live or pre-order a recording.
The phrase was used to describe James Rampley of Harford County, Maryland, in probate documents in 1817. It may seem like using “late” and deceased” in the same sentence is redundant or being excessively legalistic. It’s not. The word “late” in legal records typically means formerly. “Deceased” normally means dead. So James was technically no longer a resident of Harford County because he was dead. But I have seen numerous references to an individual being “late of” a certain where county where they had moved somewhere else. So keep in mind that “late” usually means “used to be” or something to that import. “Deceased” usually means dead .
A name that sounds unusual to you may not be uncommon at all in the area where your relative is from. Early in my research, I believed that someone with the same last name as my grandmother (Habben) “had” to be related. Turns out they didn’t have to be related and in this case they weren’t. In the area where her family was from the last name was more common than I thought and just because two people shared that last name did not mean they had to be related. It also pays to understand how last names originated in the area where your family was from. That may help you to know how reasonable it is for individuals with the same last name to potentially be related.
Newspapers are great places to look for information about old schools that are no longer in existence. Usually the references give a general idea of where the school is at if one uses context clues from the article which mentions the school. Gossip columns, obituaries, and graduation announcements are the most likely place to learn something about that school your ancestor might have attended. This 1950-ere legal advertisement does give the specific location of Green Hill school when the buildings and real estate were sold. One doesn’t always find notices like this, but it may be worth searching for mentions of a school in newspapers long after the school was closed.
Try and determine where your relatives got the names for their children. Sometimes this can be difficult to determine (or even guess at) and there is no way to know for certain. However, looking for repeated names or using children’s names as clues may possibly jump start your research. Names are hints as to relationships. Usually they are not evidence. Don’t always assume the first son was named for the paternal grandfather, the first daughter was always named for the maternal grandmother, etc. There may be tendencies in some cultures to name children after relatives in a set pattern, but there are always exceptions. In the illustration, Civil War veteran Charles Hartsell names his children: Cora, Andrew, George, Louis, Cleveland, and Harrison). Andrew and George were names in the […]
Is the local library always a regular part of your research? It doesn’t matter how long your person of interest lived in a certain locality, it’s possible that a library (or their special collections department) has something that could help you with your research. It doesn’t hurt to look at their website or even reach out to their staff with questions. Just tell them as much as you know about the person who lived in their area—but be succinct when doing so and focus on details that might help them determine if they have special collections or materials that could help you. This includes: education, type of work they did, religious affiliation, ethnic background, etc. They do not need to read three paragraphs about how long you have […]
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