Think about that “fact” you are trying to discover. What records could contain information stating that fact directly? What records could contain information that may provide incomplete information about that fact? What records may contain information that could help you locate additional records that would help you locate information about the fact in which you are interested? This activity is easier to do if you are familiar with records kept in the area and time period for the individuals involved. Brainstorm. Make a list. Then start your work.
When looking for siblings of an adult ancestor, it’s easy to focus on individuals living near the person that have the same last name. They are obvious candidates as siblings of the ancestor of interest. But that person with a different last name who appears on several documents with your ancestor and appears to be hanging out near the ancestor in Amherst County Virginia, and then in Bourbon County, Kentucky? Could he be a brother-in-law of your ancestor-married to the ancestor’s sister? Sometimes those neighbors with different last names are just as related as those with the same last name. And there’s no guarantee those with the same name are related just because they have the same last name either.
If the property your ancestor “owned” or lived on was entailed, it meant that he was not allowed to dispose of it however he saw fit. Broadly speaking, the document setting up the entail (usually deed or a will) defined how ownership would pass from one generation to the next. Many times this would be from the oldest son to the oldest son or to other heirs of the body (frequently males). Entails were generally abolished by the late 18th and early 19 centuries in most English speaking locations. A genealogist may find reference to an entailed estate in a deed and should reference the original deed or will of the initial landowner to determine how the original entail was constructed so that later ownership of the property […]
Documenting your search process is key to analyzing and understanding what has been located and in knowing that there might be more to find. If you have a DNA match with whom you suspect the genealogical connection and that match has an incomplete tree, do you stop researching three when you find the first connection consistent with your theory of how you connect? Or do you research the tree further? If I suspect that the match is connected to me on my Neill family and that we are related around the great-great-grandparent generation for that match, do I quit after I find a Neill connection in that tree even through at least half the tree is incomplete at the great-great-grandparent generation? If you quit (and there are valid […]
If Amazon’s too slow, we still have copies of the Genealogy Tip of the Daybook that can be sent directly to you via USPS. It can be a great way to refresh yourself on things you forgot, learn new things, or view research from a different perspective. It can be read in one setting, browsed at random, or used to generate ideas for your own research. It’s easy to read, informative, and geared towards helping you with your research and not seeing how much labored prose and ten-syllable words can be used in one sentence. If you’re “stuck at home” (or even if you are not), get your copy today! There’s more information on the book on our website.
A few concerns before posting that genealogy question in a Facebook group, Fan Page, etc.: Start your query with key names, location, and one date in the first sentence (some people will only initially see the first part of your query on their screen, phone, etc.). Briefly indicate what you have already searched. Briefly indicate what you are trying to locate. Look to see if there are replies to your post. Try and respond to questions asking for additional information, etc. Don’t post your question and never check on it. Read your post again before sending–does it make sense? Is it clear? Don’t fuss over grammar (within reason), but make certain that your message communicates what you are trying to say. Keep sentences short and to the point. […]
One of the things that can block our research efforts are things that we “know” about our relative that are simply not true . One problem-solving approach is to turn the computer off, put away your phones, and avoid your files. Then write down everything you know about your problem ancestor, including: place and date of birth, areas of residence, names of parents, names of other relatives, educational level, religious preference, occupation, name(s) of spouse(s), names of children, ethnic background, social class, comparison to their peers (financially better off, not financially better off, etc.), anything else, shoe size. Let the list sit for a while–preferably a day or more. See if you can add anything to it. Then after a few days, see which of those things you […]
The photograph of my great-grandparents was mounted on a piece of heavy paperboard. My grandmother has written on the reverse side of it–writing that is on the paperboard and not on the picture. Today, approximately 100 years after the picture was mounted on the board, the glue gave up the ghost. The photo had been freed. It was freed from the paperboard and potentially from being identified. How many of your identifiers are not really attached to the picture? Get more tips in our Genealogy Tip of the Day book.
It never hurts to ask someone else “what is this?” I ran across an online posting indicating a former US president had written a decree in a divorce case. While I remembered the president having been an attorney, I did not remember him being a judge. Knowing that memories are sometimes ephemeral things (mine included), I recognized the fact that I could be wrong. Instead of scanning biographies of the former president, I decided to look at the original copy of the document to which the posting referred. A quick read of it made it clear what it was: a bill of complaint in a divorce case. It was not any sort of verdict or order issued by a judge. The former president had written a “bill” for […]
These words are easy to confuse. The mortgagor is the person who is borrowing the money. They are the person who is actual mortgaging their property. The mortgagee is the lender. They are the person to whom the debt is owed which is secured by the property owned by the mortgagor.
Reviewing sets of image files is a good activity when you “want to do some genealogy,” but brick walls and real life have you frustrated. Is there a chance you have something in the wrong place? In the example, it’s just a stray restaurant menu from when my daughter and I spent a day at the Library of Virginia taking images of original court records. But it could have just as easily been something I really needed later and had put in the wrong place. Of course, I do need to eat, but that’s not really the point of this tip.
This hopefully is our last post about my Grandma Neill’s teeth. My Grandma had her teeth removed in her early thirties because they were “bad.” It’s been at least forty years since Grandma mentioned her teeth to me and I certainly cannot ask her about them now. It honestly was not a common topic of conversation. A reader pointed out to me that Grandma could have had her teeth removed for cosmetic reasons, including horribly buck teeth, terrible alignment, etc. At first I dismissed the comment. Then I got to thinking about what Grandma actually said and I realized that I could not really remember her description of them–except that they were “bad.” She might have said they were “no good” or that they were “rotten.” Again I […]
It is not the most startling of genealogical revelations, but it is instructive. I was reading through the entries in my Grandpa Neill’s farm ledger absentmindedly in hopes of finding something that met my loose definition of interesting. There were two entries for the dentist in the fall of the year. The second entry for $60 caught my eye. Then I wondered, “are those Grandma’s dentures?” What happened next is instructive. I shut the book without looking in it any further and forced myself to think what I knew about Grandma’s dentures. There was one thing I was absolutely certain of because I had first hand knowledge: she only had a lower plate because I had seen it several times and, as far as I knew, she had […]
We are not talking about getting married, having a child, retiring, or selling those stocks you bought using a tip from your fourth cousin. We are talking about that term, cultural practice, or lifestyle that you’ve discovered and decide to learn more about with a quick Google search. Separate from the fact that anyone can post anything on the internet, there are bigger concerns if you want to make certain you are understanding things about your ancestor as correctly as you can given the amount of time that has elapsed between their life and yours. Time is one of those concerns. Was the “thing you learned about” a “thing” in the 1500s or the 1800s? Make certain that the “thing” you have learned about was a “thing” in […]
Transcribing old ledgers, account books, and estate inventories can sometimes be difficult. Businesses that are no longer in existence may be mentioned, names be abbreviated in unique ways, farm implements or occupational tools may be ones that are no longer used, etc. One way to potentially determine the names is to perform searches in digital newspapers for what can be transcribed. Wild card searches (*oat, sho*t, etc.) can be helpful when items can only partially be read. Newspapers may contain more complete references to items that can only partially be read in the item being transcribed. Business names your relative partially abbreviated may be more completely spelled out. Advertisements for these businesses may provide more detail about what they sold for those times when your ancestor’s reference to […]
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