Any record can list a married female without her actual first name. This 1927 death record from Iowa listed the deceased as “Mrs. Charles Shipe.” Online indexes for this record indicated the record was for Charles Shipe. I was fortunate that I knew the name of her husband and could locate the item relatively easily. Unfortunately sometimes the easiest way to find a record on a female is to search for just her husband.
Thomas Graves answered the questions correctly–he wasn’t asked to list all his previous wives. The question was “were you previously married?” He answered correctly. He just didn’t indicate that there were two previous marriages before his current wife and that the second previous marriage ended in divorce. He only mentioned the previous wife who had died in 1879. The five-year gap does not mean that there had to be another wife. But the gap does suggest the researcher try and find out what happened in the interim. In this case the 1880 census enumeration may be helpful. Any gap in time in any chronology is an opportunity–an opportunity to see what else can be located. And remember that anyone can leave anything out of an application and it […]
Consideration is one of those terms encountered when using land records. It is the item (typically money, but not necessarily) that is exchanged for the real property being transferred from one individual to another. When the consideration is “love,” there probably is a familial relationship between the grantor (who originally owns the property) and the grantee (who is receiving it). That relationship often is a biological one, but not necessarily. Whenever the consideration on a deed is a token amount, consider that there may be a relationship between the two individuals. In modern times, the stated consideration may be a token amount even when there is no relationship between the parties involved. In those cases, there often is a mortgage or other instrument that handles the bulk of […]
Early in my research, I discovered an estate settlement for a relative who died with no living descendants. Her estate went to her heirs–the descendants of her brothers and sisters. What the estate record did not indicate (because it was not necessary) was that some of her siblings were full siblings and some of her siblings were half siblings. In the eyes of the law at the time, it made no difference in terms of the inheritance (in other time periods and locations it might have). But the full or half-sibling relationship makes a difference to the genealogist. Fortunately all the siblings shared a mother or it would have been more confusing than it was. Contemporary state statute would indicate if full siblings inherit differently than half-siblings. Sometimes […]
Two families in different parts of the same state had children with similar names. They could easily have been confused. Numerous original records clearly indicated that one member of the southern family had moved west and established their own family. That individual was my ancestor. The connection was clear. I researched the southern family as they were my relatives. I researched the northern family as well. Not in as much detail as my own family, but sufficiently enough to where I knew enough information about members of that family to help me to keep them separate. Sometimes you have to research the people who aren’t “yours” to help you keep them as separate as possible.
Genealogy research often is solving a mystery. But it is not like the mysteries one sees on television or reads about in novels. The answers are usually the simplest explanation. The legal terminology may be convoluted, but the reality often is not. Generally speaking the easier possibility is usually what took place. A correspondent had started research on a family using what records could easily be found online at no charge. Based on the limited items they were able to find, they had the great-grandfather having two relationships and children at the same time 100 miles apart. It made for a good dramatic story. The reality was much simpler. The “other wife” was actually the great-grandfather’s second wife and the “funny birth certificate” was actually one created after […]
Have you thought about what you would do if a surprise came up in your DNA test results? A sibling you didn’t know you had? A new first cousin, niece, or nephew? How soon would you reach out to that person? Would it depend upon what side of the family on which they were apparently related? Just because there are no surprises in your test results now does not mean that one will not show up in the future. That new relative could test at any point in time. Even if you would welcome a new relative, they may not be so welcoming of you. That new relative’s test results may have been a surprise to them as well as to you. They may have thought they knew […]
Genealogists talk about searching friends, associates, and relatives in an attempt to learn where someone came from or find out more about them. But it’s always possible that someone moved where they did not know anyone. Court records in early 19th century Virginia suggest that an uncle of mine was not thought of kindly by his neighbors and, after some legal troubles, might not have been trusted by his family as well. After his punishment for his crime was over he headed to what were then the wilds of Missouri to start a new life. Research there located no members of his extended network in Virginia–probably because that was his intent in the first place.
It is possible that that newspaper you need for your research is only available on microfilm? Not every old newspaper is available online –free or not–and your research should not only utilize those items that are online. WorldCat (http://www.worldcat.org) and the Library of Congress Newspaper Directory ( https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/ ) are good places to start looking for newspapers in your area of interest. Reaching out to others with research interests in the same area to inquire about newspapers and their availability is also a good idea as well.
Putting all your relative’s life events into a chronology can be a good way to organize information. Listing out events in sequential order can be a great way to outline a biography. Gaps are opportunities. What took place during those periods? It might have been absolutely nothing or it could have been significant? Did the person temporarily leave the area? Have records during the gap time been adequately checked? Was the ancestor ill? Or are records simply not available during the time period?
This is your periodic reminder: make backup copies of important files on separate media and preferably in a separate physical location; work to identify any pictures you’ve not already identified; create digital images of pictures and other ephemera that no one else has; download personal use copies of images and other digital media from websites for the possible time when you do not have online access to those materials; record your own stories as well as those of the dead.
Sometimes it can seem as if a couple or family simply disappeared into thin air. I have a couple who are last mentioned in a record in Harford County, Maryland, around 1805 or so. They approximately would have been in their fifties at that point in time. Then they are gone. Did they simply die with no children and not enough money to warrant an estate settlement? Did they even have children? Did they move west only to die in an epidemic as an entire family on the way out or shortly after their arrival and not leave behind any records in the new location? I can’t assume they moved away and I can’t assume they stayed. I’m inclined to believe they moved away but I have no […]
It sound pretty obvious, but sometimes researchers forget: if a deceased person has no money or property, they are not likely to have an estate settlement. The reality is that individuals who have money or property tend to leave more records, both when they are alive and when they are dead. If your relative died penniless, there generally will not be a need to settle his or her estate. While there are always exceptions, it’s usually true. For years I tried and tried to find an estate settlement, probate or any record of how things were finalized after a certain relative died. In reviewing court records for him about fifteen years before he died, a reference to him indicated he was nearly bankrupt and was unable to pay […]
When searching digital images of newspapers, consider searching those newspapers in the area where the ancestor died for the town/county your ancestor was born in. It can be a great way to locate others who were born in the same place as your ancestor and who died or later lived in the same general place as your ancestor. If your ancestor was born in Milroy, Indiana, and died in Macon County, Missouri, and you find other references to Milroy, Indiana, in Macon County newspapers–that could be a clue.
For years I tried to find the connection between my great-grandparents and a woman to whom they mortgaged their farm in the early 1900s. There was seemingly no connection. The woman was not related by birth or marriage to the great-grandfather’s relatively well-documented family and the great-grandmother did not really have any relatives in the area. Several years after I had put the problem aside, I came across an advertisement that likely explained the connection. The ad was for a local lawyer who was also working as a mortgage broker for individuals with “money to invest.” The lawyer/broker’s advertisement indicated he could connect investors with individuals who needed money and could secure it with real estate. Sometimes the connection is not what you think.
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