That relative of yours who was an only child and had no descendants? Have you researched to see how their estate was settled after they died? While there are variations depending upon time period, location, and how much property they had, their estate settlement could provide significant genealogical information. If they had no will, the estate settlement could mention cousins, where those cousins lived, and how those cousins were related (depending upon the place and time). Even if there was a will, those cousins would have been heirs and may have been given legal notice regarding the estate. Either way the records of the settlement could provide significant genealogical clues. In the United States, situations of this type tend to be more helpful from the 19th century moving […]
When I’m stuck on a family, I ask myself: am I sure I have found all the easy ones? Sometimes I have and then the work is more difficult. But other times there are easier members of the family to find and sometimes finding those individuals can provide me with additional information to help find the others. These “easy pickings” include: These approaches won’t always work. No approach always works. But it’s always good to ask if there’s a close relative to your “problem person” who might have left better records. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here and it’s not written to help you research your “famous ancestors.” It’s written to help with all of them. Learn more about it and get your own copy. Upcoming events:
Is it possible that relative you can’t find “returned home” in their old age? A relative of mine left Illinois in the 1870s with his family in his thirties, living in Colorado and New Mexico. Sometime after the 1910 census, he returned to Illinois where he had some relatives still living (mostly cousins but no siblings or nieces or nephews) and eventually died. Why he returned I don’t know, but his children were scattered throughout New Mexico and the western United States.
I’m really excited to be offering a webinar on DeedMapper again. We’ll have examples from a variety of states and the software takes the pain out of platting properties that are described in metes and bounds. There’s more information in our announcement.
When making copies or digital images from a print book, make certain that you copy more than just the page that has your ancestor’s name on it. You also should copy: You’ll be glad you did later.
We’ve released my new Ostfriesen Genealogy webinar. Details are on our announcement page. If you purchased and did not receive the download, please email me at the address given in your receipt.
When records on an ancestor fail to provide information as to his origin, look closely at those records in which he appears shortly after his arrival in the area. Who else is mentioned in those records? When an ancestor is still “new to the area,” he’s the most likely to interact with people he might have known before he moved or with whom he had a connection before he settled in that new area. Research those people he interacted with during his early years in the location. The longer an ancestor lives in an area the more likely he is to know and interact with people he did not know “back home.” It’s those people from back home who could help you find your ancestor’s origins.
I’m not overly knowledgeable about cars and passed the mechanic’s detailed discussion of my vehicle issues to a friend with more smarts about vehicles than me. Did my friend get a complete and accurate description of the problem from me? Probably not. I wasn’t the best conduit for the information. The same applies to family stories that have been passed down. There could have been details that did not make complete sense to the hearer/reteller of the story and their retelling of that story may have been impacted by that lack of knowledge. Incorrect details can be unintentional on the part of the teller and may not change the essence of the story. But they can cause our research to go astray if we are unwilling to admit […]
We are offering another session of our US land records class this month! Additional details are on our announcement page.
Many researchers use online trees for clues when they discover a new relative to discover what others have learned about that person–particularly when they are stuck That’s not a bad idea, but there are some things to keep in mind. There’s nothing guaranteeing that the other compilers have not made mistakes. If you find an online tree entry for “your” Joseph Bibberton, look at each document attached to him. Look at each fact or statement made about him. Look at who it says his spouse and children are. Are all the statements and records relatively consistent with each other? Ages a few years off are one thing–decades off are another. Places of birth should be reasonably close. You shouldn’t have to perform jumps of logic or common sense […]
My immigrant ancestors Peter and Barbara Bieger came to Illinois in 1850 after a short pit stop in Cincinnati, Ohio. The officially purchased a small lot in Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois, in November of 1850. I had never given any thought to the subdivision where their home/tavern was located other than its name and location. Searching for information on their neighbors in that same subdivision was on my to-do list in an attempt to learn more about the Bieger’s Germanic origins. While searching for something else, I discovered that the subdivision was platted out originally in October of 1849. It was a “new” subdivision when my relatives purchased the property there. Did they possibly have some connection to the individual who organized the subdivision?
How does that document or entry in a register of numerous entries compare to other documents or other entries in the register? Obviously the details identifying the specific individual are different, but other aspects of the item should be similar to other documents or entries? If your document (a death certificate perhaps) is partially typed and partially handwritten are others? If different types of handwriting appear on the document are others similar? If parts of the document are left blank do others have the same blank spaces? If the item of interest is an entry in a register of baptisms, are other entries similar to yours in how they are worded, phrased, and organized? Are there other pieces of information in most of the other entries that are […]
You shouldn’t ignore subpoenas in your genealogical research even though most times there’s not much information on them. From the standpoint of trying to “find and connect” people subpoenas can be helpful. An 1830-era court case in Virginia involved the heirs to an estate probated in the 1810s. The subpoenas were issued to the heirs and they were directed to the county sheriff in the county where the person was believed to be living at the time the court action was initiated. The counties where the subpoenas were directed were residential clues and told me where the heirs were living in the 1830s. That was helpful in tracking migrations from Virginia and confirming where the heirs had lived. That information was just as helpful as what was actually […]
We all have gaps in our knowledge of genealogical records. Those gaps are exposed when the records we typically use to “answer our questions” either are not available or don’t provide enough information upon which to make a reasonable conclusion. The United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872 (available on FamilySearch and on microfilm from the US National Archives) were one set of records that I initially did not use when researching individuals who received these pensions. That was a mistake. The ledger can provide additional details on the pensioner that may not be available elsewhere–particularly their date of death. What sources are out there that you might not have used? When was the last time you asked this yourself this question and really tried to find the answer?
Issue 5-15 of Casefile Clues has been sent to subscribers. As a reminder, it’s more detailed and more in-depth than Genealogy Tip of the Day. Learn more about Casefile Clues on our website.
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