If you have a chronology for an ancestor and, during their adult lifetime, you have five year gaps where you are not certain where the ancestor lived or what they were doing, try and locate a record to provide that information. Answering those questions may help you determine more about where the ancestor was from and what her origins were. Did they head west? Were they in an institution? Did they have a financial setback? Did they have a “short-term” marriage that did not last?
Did that obituary confuse the half-siblings, step-siblings, and the full siblings? An estate settlement will be concerned about the accuracy of those relationships. An obituary, being a less formal document (and certainly not a legal one), may not be. Always consider the possibility that relationships in an obituary may not be entirely correct.
When a man naturalized in the United States in the 19th and early 20th century, his minor children automatically became naturalized as well, even if their names are not listed in the naturalization. When foreign born Ekke Behrens applied for a homestead in Nebraska in the 1880s, he included his father’s naturalization as proof of his citizenship. If you are unable to locate a naturalization for your foreign born ancestor, consider the possibility that his father’s naturalization served as his naturalization as well.
I maintain the following genealogy blogs: Rootdig.com—Michael’s thoughts, research problems, suggestions, and whatever else crosses his desk Genealogy Tip of the Day—one genealogy research tip every day–short and to the point Genealogy Search Tip—websites I’ve discovered and the occasional online research tip–short and to the point Casefile Clues–free updates on my how-to genealogy newsletter. Please let others who may be interested in these blogs know about them. Subscription and unsubscription options are on every page of the blog and in every update email that is sent out. Thanks for your continued support. –Michael
“I put something in my tree if three sources agree.” I see that kind of statement on a regular basis–implying that “three” is somehow a magic number. Analysis of information is not quite that simple. Might does not make right. Three sources can easily agree if the information was provided by the same person, regardless of whether they were correct or not. John Trautvetter’s church record of his marriage says his wife’s maiden name was Franciska Haase. The county courthouse record of the marriage indicates his wife’s maiden name was Franciska Haase. And his wife is living the the Haase family shortly before her marriage as their child. Problem is that Franciska was not the child of Mr. Haase. He was her step-father. There is no “magic” number […]
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Female relatives can often be in plain sight, hiding under a title instead of their actual name. It’s not unusual for a woman to simply be listed as “Mrs. Jones” or, as in the illustration “Widow” Goldenstein. That may be why they aren’t located in indexes when their first name is used. In the illustration all the children are listed with their first name–just not the mother.
That one record you’ve found, a deed, a death certificate, a will, an estate settlement, probably was created because something else happened. For some documents it may be obvious what caused the document to have been created. But a deed? Why was the property being sold? Was the couple planning to move? Had they fallen on hard times? If a guardianship was filed and the parents were still alive, what was the reason? Was there an inheritance that someone didn’t want a parent frittering away? Always ask if what you are seeing or have located is just the shadow of a larger event. Records weren’t created in isolation. And even if you know what caused a document to have been created ask yourself what other documents might also […]
We’ve converted my AncestryDNA class into a series of presentations–no “online attendance.” Download and view at your convenience. More details on our announcement page–take advantage of our introductory rate.
Genealogical databases on some websites change. Information is updated. Corrections are added. Occasionally images are improved. Always include the date on which you accessed a database and performed a search–so that if it is updated, you know when you searched it last and for whom you searched. See our post on Ancestry.com‘s changes to one database.
When citing a census page that has several page numbers written on it, make certain you indicate which page number you are using in your citation. Common ways to indicate include using the type of writing and the location of the page number, such as: page 55 (typed, upper right) page 44 (handwritten, lower right) Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it and get your own copy. If you’d like to get our genealogy tip daily in your email for free, add your address here.
Are you actually thinking about the new information you locate? Or are you on auto-pilot as new details come across your path, responding to them without really thinking about them? Responding in a knee-jerk fashion to information you think “is the same” when it’s actually different could be the cause of your research problem.
If some piece of information given by your ancestor in a record does not make sense, consider the possibility that he lied. People lied for many reasons, including wanting to get married wanting to enlist in the service wanting to avoid the service trying to escape their past (parents, spouse, children, debts, etc.) An outright lie can be difficult to research around, but people did lie about their age, place of birth, name, marital status, etc.
Locations in records can easily be off more than one might expect. A relative born near Plattsburgh, New York is listed on a passenger manifest as being born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. It’s easy to see how Pittsburgh and Plattsburgh could be confused if the writing is messy. And, if the clerk is in a hurry he may have paid no attention to the “NY” and the “PA.”
If you are fortunate enough to find a biography of an ancestor or a statement they made in court, consider creating a chronology from the events and dates it contains. This can be an excellent organizational tool as biographies do not always list events in chronological order and thinking about how every event in the biography fits into a larger timeline can be helpful. Be certain to include all events–ones stated directly and ones stated indirectly The same approach can be used with obituaries. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it and get your own copy. If you’d like to get our genealogy tip daily in your email for free, add your address here.
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