Your immigrant ancestor who had not naturalized could not vote in elections. What else could your unnaturalized immigrant ancestor not do? The way to get the specific answer to this is to view contemporary state statute and see what rights are allocated to alien citizens. Unnaturalized aliens and those who had not filed a declaration of intent to become a citizen of the US could not file a claim for a homestead. Depending upon the time period and the location, your alien ancestor may not have been able to file suit in court, bequeath property in a will, own property, etc. These laws have changed over time–do not assume what was true in 1800 was true in 1900. The answer is in contemporary state statute, many of which […]
Before 1906, any court of record could naturalize in the United States. While there tended to be one court within each county that did this, it is possible that in certain areas there was more than one court in a county working people through the naturalization process. Make certain you’ve search the records of all courts that could have naturalized your ancestor. Also consider the possibility that your relative may have traveled a distance to naturalize, perhaps in a location where an already naturalized relative was living.
How carefully do you read? When reading documents, make certain you are actually reading and thinking about what the document says. Also make certain you are seeing what the document actually says and not what you want it to say. Based on responses I see to things people post on social media and elsewhere, it seems that there are some who do not always actually read what is written before responding to it. Make certain you don’t do that with genealogical information.
Genealogy is often about location. Where your ancestor lived and where records were kept for individuals who lived in that location are vital things to know. Do you know all the political jurisdictions in which your ancestor lived: town/city/village, township, hundred, county, state, province, etc.? Do you know what jurisdictions border those towns, cities, villages, townships, hundreds, counties, states, etc.? How close did you ancestor lived to any of those borders? What is the chance he or she crossed those borders and left records in another area? Which of those jurisdictions kept records? Which ones still keep records? Where are those records located?
If you are stuck and in search of assistance, it might be worth it to get more than one opinion on your research problem. If you need to know where to find a specific record, one knowledgeable answer is usually all you need to get you on your way. But if the problem is more intricate than that and you are really stuck on where to go, consider getting more than one opinion or suggestion. Decades ago when I was stuck on one of my children’s English ancestors and was at the Family History Library, I got two significantly different answers on what my next approach should be. In that situation it turned out that the second suggestion was easier to implement and gave me sufficient details to […]
I will be presenting, along with James Beidler, “Naturalizations & German Names,” Thursday 21 May, at 3 PM eastern time as a part of Genealogy Quick Start. Attendance is free–feel free to join us or share the information with others. Viewing can be done via: YouTube channel for Genealogy Quick Start Facebook page
The last record I have for an ancestor is their enumeration in the 1830 census. Years ago I entered “died after 1830” as their date of death. The more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that the ancestor died after the 1830 census enumeration was taken in the area where they were believed to have been living. And they could have died in 1830–just after the enumeration was taken and before the year ended. Probably the better approach for me to take is to indicate that the last record I have for that ancestor is their 1830 census enumeration. It’s possible that they were overlooked in 1840 or hidden in one of those unnamed tick marks in that enumeration. One needs to take care […]
Leaving things only in your mind is the best way to forget them. Searches of digital newspapers require a certain degree of creativity. “c” can be misread as “e,”h” can be read as a “b,” “t” can be read as an “l,” etc. The list of variants is a long one, but some are more likely than others. The newspaper’s original print quality, whether the originals or microfilm copies were used to generate images, and other image factors can create additional character recognition issues as well. Keep a list of the main OCR variants you encounter for names that you are working on. Sites that allow wildcard searches will make it easier to find some of these variants, but not all sites allow searches to be conducted in […]
I was experimenting today with searches on www.newspapers.com and noticed that a search for “james rampley” and “rampley james” brought up 331 and 57 results. That did not surprise me. Both located references written in the original newspaper as “James Rampley.” I’m not certain exactly how the ” work when querying this database. The point here is that one should experiment when searching databases.
Sometimes it is easy to see when something is missing. Other times there may be no obvious clue that information has been from a genealogical record or document. Atypical entries in handwritten records are particularly easy to overlook, especially for the untrained eye. When viewing a handwritten record in a series of entries in a record book, look at others to make certain that there’s nothing missing in the one in which you are interested. Does the record of interest appear similar to others in the same series? What’s missing in a record is not always as obvious as it is in this picture. Check out the Genealogy Tip of the Daybook.
Knowing what you are looking at is key to any level of genealogical analysis. Making the most out of any record and not becoming confused depends on understanding the material in front of you. That’s why this is not the signature of John and Milly Sledd. It’s the clerk’s transcription of their signature because this deed book contains word-for-word transcriptions of deeds that were brought to the county office for recording. The purchaser of the property kept the original deed. That is the record that had the actual signatures on it. That was the original signed document. John and Milly’s signatures may have looked nothing at all like what is pictured in the deed record book. John and Milly signed the original deed, but their hands did not […]
When querying any database or searching any record, consider the possibility that a relative’s first and last names have been interchanged. Is the individual named Tinsley Johnson or Johnson Tinsley? Even where the first name is not usually used as a last name, it is always possible that someone entering data or enumerating a census inverts the two names. Individuals whose names are in a foreign language can easily be confused by clerks who are not familiar with that language. Check out the Genealogy Tip of the Daybook.
My late Mother’s recipe book contained a recipe from her Grandma Habben that was clearly written in my Mother’s handwriting. Hiding behind another recipe in one of the plastic sleeves in the book was the same recipe on a very well-worn three by five inch card that had clearly been used by someone while they were prepping the dough. It was fairly old, stained, and apparently had been used repeatedly through the years. I was not certain about the handwriting. It clearly was not my Grandmother’s handwriting–my Mother’s mother and daughter of my Grandma Habben. At the bottom, someone had written “Grandma Habben” in what appeared to be a similar handwriting. I thought maybe it was my mother’s handwriting. My daughter likes to bake and I shared an […]
Obituaries on some funeral home websites are more detailed than the one that is eventually published in a print or online newspaper. The charge for the funeral home’s obituary is usually a part of the funeral cost and is not dependent on the length of the obituary (within reason). That’s not necessarily true for a print obituary which may end up being edited and reduced in length even if cost is not an issue. Do not assume those funeral home website obituaries will always “be there for the taking.” That’s not the case. While working on DNA matches, I needed the obituary of a distant cousin. I had a paper copy but did not have it handy. “It doesn’t matter. I can get it on the funeral home […]
Sharing information with other genealogists is great, but one will only reach a small portion of the world if one does. Always ask yourself if there are other places where old pictures, newspaper clippings, etc. can be shared. One place to share such items are in Facebook groups devoted to a specific area or locality–particularly if the group has any sort of historical focus. Groups such as “Old Days in Tuckertown,” “You know you are from Smithville if you remember..,” or similarly named ones often include people who, while not technically genealogists, do have an interest in local history and may know a thing or two about their deceased relatives or have access to materials that you do not. Such postings may also pull relatives out of the […]
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