If you are unable to find a probate settlement for your ancestor and you “know” he owned land, make certain you have all the deeds–did he sell his property right before his death and avoid probate? And did he really own land at all or is that just family fiction?
It is not unusual in pre-1900 newspaper articles to see the phrase “please copy” at the end of the article along with a name of a newspaper or city. That was a notation that the story would hold some interest for the readers of that paper as well. That phrase “please copy Warsaw Signal” could be a clue the person mentioned in the article would be known to readers of that paper. And that could be a clue.
When querying that database do you search without names? Searching on locations and approximate years of birth may be the approach it takes to find your person. Also avoid the temptation to fill in as many search boxes as possible. Searching a database is not a contest to see who has the most boxes filled in. Sometimes less is more. The best to way to go is usually to enter minimal information first, see how many results that gives you, and go from there.
More details on this presentation are on our announcement page.
In a word, no. Salt Lake City’s Family History Library (http://www.familysearch.org) is a wonderful library in which to research. Their collection of genealogy materials is the largest in the world. But remember that they do not have everything. For many Illinois counties, the Family History Library does not have personal property tax records from the mid-nineteenth century and later. While most genealogical problems do not require the use of these records, there are times when these records are helpful in placing a specific person in a specific location at a specific point in time. There are other counties where court case packets have not been filmed and where tract indexes to land records are still accessible only at the courthouse. The Family History Library is an excellent place to […]
It has been about twenty years, but there used to be a local band named “DOS GUYS.” There were three ways one could take this: DOS Guys meaning 2 guys from “dos,” Spanish for two. DOS Guys as a way of saying “those” guys, “dos” as a slang way of saying “those.” DOS Guys, meaning guys who were still using the DOS operating system on their computer. Is there something that could be interpreted more than one way? Have you “jumped” on one interpretation that may be the wrong one? It may be that you are creating your own brick wall by doing so.
Some families are a little bit complicated. And if one is not careful it can be easy to enter the incorrect relationships in our genealogical database. What I do in these situations is to map out the relationships on paper first in an attempt to get a broader view of the family and in an attempt to understand the relationships correctly. Once I think I have the relationships down, I begin my data entry. Wasting time “fixing” relationship mistakes is time I could spend doing actual research.
Keep in mind it is not the number of generations in your family tree that is important. What is important is that each generation be documented accurately. Bigger is not always better.
Are you using an 1820 census enumeration where the names appear to be listed in roughly alphabetical order? Census takers and some tax collectors, in an attempt to be helpful, roughly sorted names by the first letter of the last name. The problem for genealogists is that this strips the record of all sense of neighborhood. Keep this in mind when you think all the “B”s in an area lived together. No group of people are that organized.
Whenever you are writing or talking about a person be specific. First names are rarely specific enough, particularly in some families. First and last names are best, perhaps combined with a date of birth or date of death. My mother has three Aunt Ruths. It usually took more than just “Aunt Ruth” to know to whom someone was referring. Sometimes it was clear from context, but not always. Don’t create additional confusion in the records you leave behind. Be specific.
Don’t forget if you have found that will in the packet of probate papers for your ancestor that there might be a “will record” contained with the probate records as well. Not all jurisdictions kept these records, but many did. If the handwritten original will has a difficult to read portion, is partially missing, or is open to interpretation, the transcription in the “will record,” done at the time the will was proved, may answer your questions. These record copies were the legal equivalent of the original document and were made, theoretically, in an attempt to render the original as closely as possible.
Remember that that are two pages for the US 1840 census enumeration–the left and right hand side. There’s not as much information about the immediate family on the right hand side, but there can be clues there–including if a Revolutionary War pension is living in the household
Sometimes I talk to the dog and occasionally I’ll ask Riley for a “genealogy tip.” Of course his answers come from my head and not his no matter how I change my voice. Sometimes it’s really good to get the opinion of someone “outside your own head,” from someone who doesn’t have all the assumptions about the family that you do and may have a fresh perspective. There are times where that’s helpful. Just be careful from whom you take genealogical advice–especially when money or significant amounts of time are involved. Riley’s a sweet little dog, but if he could talk I’m not certain how helpful he’d be on 17th century Virginia court records. But…taking him for a walk and distracting myself from what I’m working on is […]
Casefile Clues is my how-to newsletter that focuses on records analysis, research methods, and process. Casefile Clues brings you one or more of the following: Sources–Some weeks Casefile Clues focuses on a specific source or type of record, discussing how that source can be accessed, researched, and interpreted. Methodology–Some weeks Casefile Clues works on one of Michael’s problems. Many times these problems are “in progress,” and Casefile Clues reflects that by explaining what was researched, why it was researched, and where to go next (and why). Case Studies–Some weeks Casefile Clues focuses on a specific record on a specific person and analyzes that record, discusses what it says (and what it does not) and where to go next based upon that person and the specific record. Citations–Casefile Clues includes citations of sources and records. Articles can easily be […]
This is your monthly reminder pulled from the well of current experience. Last spring I finally located the marriage record for an aunt in 1852. It’s a long story, but locating the marriage probably took longer than the couple’s courtship. Apparently life intervened shortly after I located the item and I did not save it anywhere. Today I remembered locating the item and wasted another hour locating it again. Fortunately I remembered the county (unindexed) where the marriage took place. Find some way for to save things as you find them–even if in some temporary way. The time spent will be time saved later. Now I’m going to file the Campbell County, Kentucky, marriage record of George P. Craft and Wilhelmina Zenf before Iose it again.
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