Tracking down twentieth and twenty-first century relatives can be problematic, but it is sometimes necessary in order to determine DNA matches or see if living family members may have family information, ephemera, or pictures. Sometimes a person can find one relative when others seem to go missing. The difficulties are magnified when the relative is a female who may have had “one more” husband than the researcher was aware of. While FindAGrave has its issues (not all cemeteries entries are complete), consider searching for those missing relatives in the cemetery where you’ve found one of them. On a side note, I’ve sometimes spent just a little time trying to figure out why a relative was buried in an unexpected cemetery. Sometimes that can be a clue that the […]
Local land records are not just deeds involving property transfer between grantors and grantees. They may contain court orders that impact property title (such as partitions), affidavits (from heirs or others testifying to certain aspects of property title), contracts (to purchase a piece of property or between two individuals with their own property preparing to marry), etc. Occasionally someone who never bought or sold property can appear in a document recorded with the land records. An uncle of mine filed an affidavit in the 1890s after his father died stating that there was no debt on the property and that all his father’s last bills had been paid). The son did not sell the property, but filed the affidavit because the family had not gone through a probate […]
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It’s easiest to know a will mentions all the will writer’s children when they are all mentioned–even if to be told they are getting nothing. It is the wills that appear to only mention some children that are more confusing. It’s possible that other children were provided for separately or were intentionally left out for one reason or another. Children do get left out of the parents’ wills. It is proving the connection that can be the problem. Researchers should make certain that all probate records involving the settlement of the parent’s estate have been obtained–not just the will. Were there any settlement deeds drawn up for property not referenced in the will? Did heirs have to sign any of those deeds? Was there property whose disposition was […]
This is not some spirituality post. When looking at any legal record, it’s always important to remember: What is the true purpose of this record or the process that created this record? The purpose of an estate settlement is to settle up the affairs of a deceased person, either according to the terms of their last will or according to the procedure set in state statute. It is not to leave a detailed record of all the heirs, exactly where they were living at the time of their death, exactly how they were related to the deceased, or even the exact date of death for the individual who died. In some cases, because it was deemed necessary for the settlement or contemporary statute required it, those details are […]
The petition to probate the will indicated the deceased died “on our about” the 6th of December. The person’s death certificate indicated that they died on 3 December. Is the difference significant? Probably not. Of the two documents, the death certificate is most likely to be correct, but there are always exceptions. The probate court is most concerned about the fact that the individual is deceased. The date being three days off most likely not germane to the petition to begin the probate process. The incorrect date could simply be an error that was not noticed. Even if it was noticed at some point later, correcting the error was likely not considered to be worth the bother. If there’s real concern about which document is correct, one could […]
It can be tempting when only a few documents have been located to reach a conclusion about an ancestor, family member, or historical event. While sometimes conjecture is occasionally justified as a problem-solving technique, remain focused on what the documents actually say–avoid creating dramatic events in your head to “explain” what was left behind on paper. Remind yourself that conjecture is just that: conjecture. It can be easy to get caught up in conclusions that are drawn too early and sucked into the belief that there was something dramatic going on in our relative’s life. The result is that we often ignore other obvious information or spend too much time trying to prove conclusions that are improbable, wasting time and money in the process. Sometimes we need to […]
Online citizens are good about sharing a variety of memes, images, and other things from “back in the day.” Recently it was some sort of make up. People were saying “Oh everyone’s Grandma had that.” And on and on and on. No everyone’s Grandma did not have that. Mine had an old container of powder of some sort that she must have had since well before my father was ever born. She rarely wore it and I’m not certain I can ever remember her actually wearing it. Grandma was a farm wife, did not drive, wore house dresses everywhere (except when going to town), and shoes were optional a fair portion of the time. Be careful assuming something about a deceased relative just because someone shared a common […]
If a biography of an ancestor refers to him as a Whig, a Federalist, or a member of any political party, have you determined what that affiliation likely meant at that point in time? There may be a history lesson there. If your relative named a child for a politician, what was that politician known for? There may be clues in those affiliations–or at least a chance to improve your knowledge of historian.
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Chances are you have at least one ancestor that you wish had left some sort of written record behind. Most genealogists would be happy with just a page or two about an ancestor’s life–a complete five-volume autobiography is not necessary. Have you left such information behind for the family members who may come after you? Write about your early life, your work years, your raising children years, political beliefs, etc.
When entering items in your genealogical database, be as consistent as possible. While some things can vary from one individual to another, such as last names, other things do not. Transcriptions should always render documents and records as they were recorded and originally written. But other things should be entered as consistently as possible to facilitate searching and analysis–not how Ancestry.com entered the name of this Missouri college in their yearbook database.
It can be difficult to learn more about someone when the earliest record that can be located is a marriage and it seems like they just showed up from nowhere at the courthouse to get married and start making descendants. Sometimes that first appearance is the first time they’ve actually provided their name to the person writing it in a record. In earlier records (such as census) someone else provided their name, perhaps a parent, older sibling, etc. Is it possible that during that time they were living with a step-parent, foster parent, etc. and their last name was used for the “appearing ancestor?” That marriage where they “appear” could be the first record where they actually provided their name–that of their biological father. Maybe they were living […]
The thing about cliches is that they are sometimes correct. I located an entry for a relative in the California State Death Index. The entry (at FamilySearch and at Ancestry.com) provided the surname of the father and the mother and the date and state of birth for the deceased. The temptation was to start searching online in a variety of places in hopes of “finding something.” That can be a temptation, but at this point I really don’t have much information and I don’t have the actual death certificate to know what additional information it contains. The complete names of parents and town of birth may be there. While that information could be incorrect, it would give me more details upon which to base my searches and help […]
A few reminders for the good of the order: Check your assumptions. They could be incorrect. Your gut reaction about what “really happened” when the records are confusing may be spot on. It may not. That boring event you shouldn’t bother researching may end up being more intriguing than you ever imagined. Don’t assume you have completely turned over every rock. Use a research log to mark the rocks you have turned over. If you don’t track the rocks you’ve looked at, you’ll end up turning the same ones over and over. Avoid the urge to avoid the use of name. “He” and “she” can be confusing depending upon how the reference is worded. “Aunt,” Uncle,” “Grandma,” etc. can cause similar confusion.
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