Family tradition and initial research indicated a relative lived in one township after his immigration to the United States in the 1850s until his death in the 1910s. Every decennial census showed him living in the same township from 1860 through 1910. Digging a little deeper it turned out he spent approximately 10 years in the county to the north–where he owned property, a few children were baptized, and where he would have been found in the 1890 census if it were extant. After he and his wife spent his time there, they moved back to where they originally settled. This ten or so year excursion would have been more difficult to determine if the family had not owned real property and had not had their children baptized […]
Biological relatives are the logical place to begin your search for family history information. And while biological relatives are the obviously place to search for others who may be willing to take a DNA test, non-biological relatives may be the place to get additional information. If your ancestor/relative was married several times, the descendants of the final spouse may have family history items from your family in their collection of old materials. Descendants of ancestral associates may have information about your relative. Former neighbors of somewhat close family members may have stories about your family member that your immediate family do not know or are not willing to share. One way to locate some of these individuals is to reach out to local history groups on Facebook. In […]
For any family history photograph, letter, or other “historical” item, do you track as best you can the provenance of the item? How did it come into your possession? Who had it before you? Who told you about the item (if anyone)? Where was it when you obtained it? Do not forget to record the history of the item in addition to identifying what it is and who is mentioned or pictured in it.
Genealogists typically refer to information as primary if it is given by someone who had firsthand knowledge of the event to which the information refers. Other information is said to be secondary. I was present at my wedding. I have first hand knowledge of that. I was present at my daughter’s birth. I have first hand knowledge of that information. I was present at my birth, but I do not have first hand knowledge of the date I was born. Similarly my own knowledge of my grandparents’ dates of marriage is secondary–I was not there. Classification of information as primary or secondary is simply about how the knowledge was acquired by the person sharing it. How reliable they are is another issue–partially related, but also dependent on the […]
It was not until I went through all the newspaper references to Theodore Hoontis that I discovered why there could be more to find. The legal notice regarding the settlement of his estate indicated that he was also known as Theodore Repas. This was the first reference indicating another last name for him. Because I already had a fair amount of information on him and no gaps in his chronology, this reference was a surprise to me. Now I have an entirely different last name to use when searching for him. Theodore had a large number of newspaper references because he advertised in the newspaper promoting his restaurant and other businesses and most of the time when he was in the paper, it was in that capacity.
Sources are said to be original or derivative. The original source is, generally speaking, the original document in its original form. My birth certificate, on file in the county office in the county where I was born is my original birth certificate. The little card my parents were given with my date and place of birth and certificate number–that is derivative because it was created from the original. The photocopy of the certificate that I had made years ago–that’s derivative because it is a copy of the original certificate. That “certification of live birth” I got a few years back because I needed it ( and that is a typed transcription of my name, date and place of birth, and names and places of birth for my parents) […]
This digital scan of a newspaper from 1858 is difficult for a human to read. It is difficult for OCR technology to convert to raw, searchable text as well. This item about a murder in 1858 was found by searching digital images of newspapers–but the reference was located in a 1958 issue of the newspaper in a section of items from 100 years ago. The dead can be mentioned in a newspaper long after their obituary has been published and forgotten. Historical items or “days from the past” (often used for filler in smaller papers) may mention that ancestor decades after they have died.
When writing about a relative, use more than just a title such as Aunt/Uncle, Grandma, etc. Grandma Neill or Grandpa Rampley can be equally vague. Also avoid using the title and just the first name. In some families, Uncle Cecil or Aunt Ruth can easily refer to more than one person. I had two uncle Cecils and three Aunt Ruths without having to reach into the distant past of my family tree. Sometimes even the last name will not be enough help. There were two Aunt Ruth Ufkeses in my family, although one was always referred to as Ruthie. Use either a maiden name in parenthesis, a middle name, or additional clarifying verbiage (year of birth and deaths) when referring to these individuals in writing–especially on photographs. When […]
Some documents used in genealogical research clearly state the name of the person providing the information. Others do not. Knowing who provided information helps the researcher judge the probable reliability of that information. If you have a record that does not specifically state who gave the information, indicate in your notes who you think likely provided the information–and give a reason if possible. Certain individuals are more likely to know certain details about the family or their live than others are.
I will be offering this five-session class starting 4 January 2021. More details on our announcement page.
It may be fun to sketch out far-flung scenarios to explain that census enumeration or birth certificate that does not make sense. But remember that reality is often more mundane than the fiction we create in our mind and often the simplest explanation, or something close to it, is likely what actually transpired. It can be helpful to think about possible scenarios when trying to determine what records to search next, where the family might have been from, etc. but focus on the situations that are most reasonable–unless the records indicate something more atypical was taking place. You should not have to violate the laws of common sense, physics, and biology for a scenario to have played out. Violating state law could easily have happened–fortunately records may have […]
Not all families are composed of individuals who are biologically related to each other. In many cases, those relationships are extremely important to the individuals involved. DNA does not track those relationships where the connection is not biological. For that reason, when it is known that two members in a family are not biologically related, it’s important for the genealogist to clarify the relationship in their database as much as possible (adopted, foster, step, etc.) to help with the DNA analysis. It’s also important to document what is known about that non-biological relationship because it mattered (or matters) to the individuals involved and can impact their lives and records in which they appear together. An ancestor of mine in Massachusetts was raised by a neighbor (after the parents […]
Time is what we occasionally need. The ability to get “immediate” answers to many questions online sometimes makes us think that we should understand things immediately as well. The best realizations or awakenings about a document or a record do not always pop into our motind the moment we first read the item. It takes some a while for connections to be made, particularly if the problem has not been an easy one to solve and the language and terminology is not familiar to us. So give yourself time to understand. Do not expect an immediate answer. Knee jerk reactions sometimes end up kicking us in the rear end. I know that’s not really possible to do, but the statement is not meant to be taken literally.
If your ancestor has a surname as a first name or middle name, remember that it may be a mother’s maiden name, grandmother’s maiden name, or another last name from the family’s history. It’s also possible the name was for a family friend or notable figure. Keep in mind that not all notable figures during the time the relative was named are still notable figures today.
Making discoveries is great, but there comes a time when one has to stop gathering and start organizing, summarizing, and putting information in form that can help you make more progress and get less confused. Information from a new find needs to be compared with what is already known to determine if the right person has been located and if the information is consistent. It can be easy to latch onto the wrong person if one is not careful. And a chart to keep track of the names and relationships is usually helpful as well. Names can easily run together.
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