When you don’t know much about the ancestry of a DNA test kit, the results may appear confusing. Sometimes they appear confusing even when you do. A recent new match to my own DNA kit initially confused me. It had shared matches with known relatives of: my great-grandfather Trautvetter, my great-grandfather Neill, and my great-grandmother Neill. This new match was not a close relative to me at all. The new match had a very short tree that luckily I was able to trace further back. Then the seemingly confusing matches made sense. The new match was: A descendant of my 3rd great-grandfather Trautvetter (explaining those matches). The match had an ancestor whose cousin married a cousin of my great-grandfather Neill (explaining why we had some Neill matches in […]
I splurged and purchased this International Harvester Tractor and wagon at an antique mall near me over the holidays. It would make a great illustration for a genealogy tip, but the problem was writing a tip that it could be used to illustrate. Touching, feeling, or seeing matters. Physical objects can be great memory joggers. It’s not always possible to take items with you when interviewing someone, but asking about certain items or having pictures of them (even stock images found online) can be a great way to get a conversation started. One never knows when an inanimate object will jog someone’s memory about actual humans. Color matters. There were many colors of tractors at the antique mall, but red was the color I needed because that’s the […]
A recent review of the obituaries in my rural, home-town newspaper indicated one of the deceased was a native of New York City. That’s fairly atypical for where I am from and, at the risk of being frank, something of a culture shock. I wondered what brought her from New York as the obituary didn’t hint at a reason. But it got me to thinking. Have you documented the “whys” beyond any moves you made during your life time? If you know why your grandparents or other relatives moved from point A to point B, have you recorded why (assuming that you really know the reason)? Years later someone else may be glad you did. There are times when determining the reason is relatively easy after the parties […]
When you have a surname that can be spelled many different ways combined with a first and a middle name that are in a foreign language, it can be easy to get caught up in spelling and transcription. Don’t get me wrong, spelling and transcription matter. But instead of focusing on whether the name is written John Michael Trautvetter of Jahn Michael Troutvetter, the important thing to as is: is this the same person? Do the other aspects of the record suggest that John/Jahn Michael Trautvetter/Troutvetter is the person I have located in other records and the one that I believe is my ancestor or relative? Those other aspects of the record could include: residence, ethnic origin or place of birth, approximate age, consistent relatives, occupation, etc. While […]
Ancestry, FamilySearch, and other sites allow users to perform “unexact” searches. Sometimes it is clear how these unexact searches work and sometimes it is not. They often give results for names that sound like the name entered in the search box, names that mean the same thing, names that are similar, etc. But sometimes changing just one letter can change the unexact results. Try it and see. A search for the last name of Ichner and Ischner on FamilySearch gives different results when the “match name exactly” box is unchecked. Always experiment with different spellings, particularly if you are uncertain of what might happen.
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If things “don’t quite make sense,” consider that a couple’s first child might not have been both of theirs or might have been born less than the “necessary” time after their marriage. Their last child, particularly if born significantly after the couple’s other children, might have actually been their grandchild. Most of the time a couple’s children are theirs, but there are times where other possibilities could be the reality: the husband or wife had a previous marriage or relationship; the couple adopted the child of a sibling or other family member; the couple raised their grandchild; the couple took in the orphaned child of a neighbor couple; etc.
When I was a kid, my dad and I would count the cattle as they crossed the road from one pasture to another. It was important to arrive at the same correct number. The only problem was that my father tended to count out loud and his counting always got me off. Is part of the reason for your research difficulty that you are listening to what someone else has already concluded? Are you letting their interpretations influence yours–perhaps a little too much? Sometimes it’s helpful to put away the conclusions of others and start your analysis from scratch. Then, when you’re done counting your cows separately, you can compare your conclusions with others. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it.
Final receipts and accountings in court and probate records may mention last names that married females did not have when the case was initiated. Daughters get married and widows find new husbands. Court accountings may mention these new names and explain why someone “disappears.” These references can be especially helpful in time periods and locations where marriage records are not extant. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it.
I’m working on shared DNA matches I have with DNA matches who are known descendants of my Irish ancestor John Neill (born around 1810 or so). I’m starting that work by looking at those matches that have trees. AncestryDNA, like the other sites, allows me to have notes attached for each match. For me that’s not an efficient way to keep track of my thoughts, analysis, speculation, etc. since the notes are tied to each match individually. Instead of putting my process in each match’s notes, I’ve created one Word document with the name of each DNA match in this group and what I’ve noticed about the matches, why I’ve decided certain parts of their trees are the best places to start really looking for a match, etc. […]
As a slight diversion, I decided to revisit some work I had done on my children’s Swiss immigrants to Davenport, Iowa. The only problem was that in one family there were several people in the family whose first and middle names were Christian Anton and Anton Christian. There were several different last names as the various men with the first and middle name combinations of Christian Antons and Anton Christians were sons of two men named Christian Anton and Anton Christian and their sisters. The men were all first cousins (or the two brothers) and I was constantly confusing them. So I made a quick chart with each man’s complete name, year of birth, place of birth, names of parents (if known), and other identifying information. The list […]
A 1906 newspaper reference to my uncle and his wife provides several tips or reminders in one quick note: “Joe Neal and daughter Jennie and Mrs. Harper and daughter Anna returned home last Friday after a two weeks visit with relatives in Polo, Mo.” I located the entry by manually searching for the alternate spelling of my last name. The site that hosted this image, at least at the time I used it, did not support soundex-based searches and wildcard searches required at least two letters to be used initially before a wildcard operator was used. The connection between the individuals named in the newspaper is not stated. Frustrating for the genealogist. It’s worth remembering that the individuals reading the newspaper at the time already knew those relationships. […]
Migrations can work in a variety of ways. There was a family where the parents and the children moved from Illinois to California in the 1930s during the Great Depression. I had difficulty finding one of the daughters after I had located the death information on the parents and most of their children in California. The west coast of the United States is where I kept looking for them. When I broadened my searches, I discovered that one daughter had moved back to the exact location in Illinois where the parents were from and where they were living before they moved to California in the 1930s. At this point, I’m not certain exactly why she moved back, but it’s always something to consider. Sometimes children who are “pretty […]
When you enter a date, place, or relationship into your genealogical database have a reason or a source for that date, place, or relationship. If you are working on individuals you knew personally, you can indicate personal knowledge as your reason. For other individuals use the record that made the statement, or if there is no record, indicate why you entered in the date, place or relationship that you did. As you move forward in your research you may realize that you may need a better reason that your personal knowledge or the record that was originally used. You may also reason that your reasoning was not entirely valid. It is impossible to evaluate if you don’t indicate how or where you got a piece of information.
When you think you are done with your research, ask yourself: Could this person have had one more spouse? Could this person have had one more child? Could this person have moved one more time? Could this person have had one more step-parent? and so on… Sometimes when we think we are done we are. Many times we are not. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it.
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