Your ancestors may have permanently separated but never divorced. In some cases, one spouse may have sued the other one for separate maintenance (in which case there may be a court record). If there’s not a court case, a deed separating property may be recorded wherein who has sole title to what property is clearly stated. If the couple had no real or personal assets, there is a lower chance of any resulting record. They may have also married other people after their separation–even if they never divorced. It was sometimes cheaper and easier to simply go their separate ways. The times these situations became issues where when there were significant assets or a military pension involved.
If you have the one of the few paper copies of a family item–funeral folders, mass cards, wedding announcements, photographs, etc., have you digitized it? That way the paper copy you have is not the only copy of it in existence. Be certain to share the copies with others who are interested in the family. Copies can be more easily shared than originals. Always consider using a camera instead of a scanner on fragile items. Check out Genealogy Tip of the Day book version for other tips and questions you should ask yourself about your research.
Many databases will be titled something like “Blah Blah Records of Blah Blah: 1800-1900.” Always try and determine just years are really included in the database. It could be that the “Blah Blah Records of Blah Blah: 1800-1900” actually only contains entries for: Read the “more about,” “FAQ,” or whatever they call it to determine just how complete the database is. It does include records between 1800 and 1900, but there are gaps. And of course, your person of interest lived in the area from 1830 until 1840…and his grandson lived there from 1892-1898.
If you are fortunate enough to find a newspaper reference to a family reunion that lists all the attendees, determine their connection to each other. A 1930s reference to a family reunion for one of my family contained the names of nearly eighty relatives. I thought they were all descendants of my 3rd great-grandparents. But when I went through the list, there were several individuals I could not connect to the known descendants of my 3rd great-grandparents (occasionally a friend of the family, long-time neighbor, or significant other of a relative will also attend). A little research indicated that three of those “non-relatives” were related to each other. Because of that they were researched a little further and their ancestry traced a few generations further back. It turned […]
They say when filing and organizing materials that you should only touch them once to be efficient and winnow down your collection of materials. Looking at things once when analyzing genealogical records is not a recommended approach. It is easy to overlook details in an initial review of a record. It may be that over time we have learned more about the family and names on a record that were initially meaningless now have relevance. It’s also possible that we have learned more about genealogical research and methods and now see clues in words or turns of phrase that were un-noticed before. Take an additional look at that record you’ve not seen in ages. There may be something there you’ve not noticed before.
Sooner or later it is necessary to estimate a date of a genealogical event. Often this is to help us sort out individuals with the same name, determining when a person is too old to be having children, determining that a person is likely too young to be a certain person’s parent, etc. But when you estimate a date of an event–say “born about 1870,” have a source or a reason for that estimated date. Margaret Smith was born by 1850 because it is assumed she was twenty-one when she married in 1871–then use the marriage record as the source of the age. Thomas Jones was dead by 1880 because his wife is listed as a widow in the 1880 census–then use that census enumeration as the source […]
This obviously is a World War II era photograph of my grandmother’s brother and his wife. The clothes and the apparent age of the image make that clear. But there are some things about this photograph that are not quite so clear. I’m not certain if they were married yet when this photograph was taken. I’m thinking they weren’t because of how the names are written on the back of the photograph–Aunt Alice is listed with her maiden name of “Alice Cherrill” while my uncle is only listed as “Ed.” It would seem more likely if they had been married when the photograph was taken they would have been styled “Ed and Alice” or something similar. “Calif motel” is a very specific location. I’m assuming it was near […]
Do you have family ephemera that you also have old pictures of? The image accompanying this post contains a picture of my grandfather’s high school sports letter and a picture of him and two of his schoolmates wearing their high school letters. Fortunately everyone is identified and I recognized the handwriting on the back of the photograph as that of my grandfather (the John H. Ufkes in the picture). I should have included the approximate year the photo was taken along with the probable location of the picture as well. I do think it is important to indicate how the identification of any individuals in the photograph was made as well as commenting about the identity of the handwriting (if known). I’ll need to go through my photographs […]
The illustration for this post is the last page of the 1933 “Class Will” from the BHS Junior Class in Basco, Hancock County, Illinois. My grandfather was the one who apparently wrote it. It serves to remind of several genealogical concepts and ideas. I do not have the original will. What I have is an apparent photocopy that was in my grandparents’ personal items that I acquired from my grandmother after her passing. Technically that makes what I have a derivative copy since it is not the original. My digital image is a derivative copy of my derivative copy–still making it a derivative copy. There’s not a special word for a derivative of a derivative. Copies and digital images usually represent the original accurately, but there’s always the […]
If you use the hints at various online genealogy sites, remember that they are hints. You should confirm that the person in the hint is actually your person of interest. Make certain you’ve read the original image to confirm the transcription made by the website. If the name is not the same, is the difference a reasonable one (perhaps due to a variant spelling, variant interpretation of the handwriting, translation of the name, or a diminutive)? Is the person in a place where you would expect them to be or where they could reasonably be given the time period and what you know about your person of interest? Is it possible there were two distinct people with similar names living in the same place and time period? Remember […]
Normally when we cite a printed book in our genealogy research, it’s not necessary to indicate in our citation the specific library where we utilized a print copy of the book. If there’s five hundred copies of the book, others can use a different copy of it in a different library. There are two main exceptions to this. If the book was known to have been printed in a small run and there are an extremely limited number of copies in existence and locating one was particularly difficult including a parenthetical comment about where the book is at in a citation can be helpful, but is not necessary given that most library’s card catalogs are easily accessible online. Similarly, if the book wasn’t actually published, but was rather […]
Genealogy holiday writing prompt…your favorite holiday song. You don’t have to share it here in the comments–share it with your relatives, put it in your genealogy files, or something similar. Posting to a website is not the same thing as preserving it for your family. And if the holidays aren’t your thing…put that in your family history files as well. The key is…put something of you in there. Genealogy isn’t just about the dead. It’s about the living, although one day they will pass, so maybe it is about the dead. I’m going back to my corner to contemplate that. But seriously…record the memory or why you don’t have one.
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A reminder: In current genealogy parlance sources (record books, vital records, marriage records, etc.) are said to be original or derivative. Original records are ones that are in their “first form.” Derivative records are ones that are created from original records–transcriptions, abstracts, summaries, compilations, and the like. Technically, according to some, scans and photographic reproductions are derivative copies as well but they certainly are more reliable than hand written copies. Information is considered to be primary or secondary. Generally speaking, a piece of information reported or stated by someone who had first hand knowledge of the event is considered primary. The statement needs also to have been made when the person’s memory was fresh and reliable. Other statements are usually said to be secondary. A source can contain […]
Make certain you note the publisher of each city directory you use, not just the year. In some time periods in some cities, multiple directories were published in one year by different publishers. And different directories may provide slightly different information.
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