We’ve released our 2018 version of “Tightwad Genealogy.” If you ordered and did not receive download information, please let me know and I’ll send the download. If you didn’t order there’s more detail on our announcement page.
We’ve set the dates for my annual research trip to Salt Lake City, Utah’s Family History Library. Details have been posted to our website.
There may be more than one repository that has the exact same record. Some vital records were recorded at the local and state level. Some records may have been microfilmed or digitized and available in repositories other than the one that holds the original record. Those duplicated items may occasionally omit a record or have a blurry image. That’s a time to go back and view the original if possible, but many times the duplicate images are completely readable and usable. Those duplicates may be cheaper or easier to access than the original. Your source citation should always indicate if you used an image copy or the original–that way you don’t “go back to find the ‘original’ when that was what you used in the first place. Finding […]
One of the best ways to become more efficient at genealogical research is to learn something new on a regular basis. Learn about sources you were not aware of. Learn about inheritance law in the state where your ancestor lived. Read the act under which your relative applied for a pension. Learn something about your ancestor’s ethnic group. There is a lot to learn. Regularly learning was one of the “tightwad genealogy” skills I discussed recently in that presentation–but it certainly was not the only one. I even suggested keeping a “learning diary” of what genealogical items you’d learned. That would help you remember them and remind you of when the last time was your grew your genealogy brain.
Yesterday’s tip was about “baking the genealogy cake.” If that seems like too large of a task, try making genealogy cupcakes instead: write about one ancestor or one family–not all their descendants organize what you have on one relative go through one family’s pictures etc. It’s not necessary to do it all at once, and something is better than nothing. A great way to get started is to put the documents of one ancestor in chronological order and summarize what they say about that one ancestor. It’s not the most literary approach, but it is better than nothing.
In some cases your family history research may never be finished. It’s a fact of research. The best bet is to write up and organize what you have now, before it is too late. Even if your research is incomplete, leaving behind a written up discussion of your research process (with citations–even if not perfect–the world will not end) and your conclusions is better than leaving a pile (or a hard drive) full of unorganized and un-analyzed material. Later researchers can build upon what you have done. Just start putting things together. Genealogy is the cake batter that’s never “quite ready for the oven.” Sometimes you just have to bake it. This metaphor may be half-baked, but hopefully readers get the point. If you find more information, just […]
I spent a considerable amount of time working on the origins of a female relative in the county where she married in Illinois the 1840s. I searched the 1840 and 1850 census manually to see if there were potential relatives there. Not a one. It turned out that her family was only in the county for a few years–long enough for her to meet a man and marry. Shortly after her marriage, her parents and siblings took off for a new location. While looking in the area for her family was the right thing to do, sometimes you have to realize that they may have only been there for just long enough “to leave one record” and then move on. Some people do “flit” from one location to […]
“Heir-at-law” is usually a specific term defined in state statute. Who qualifies as an “heir-at-law” depends upon the family structure of the individual who has died and state statute. In this illustration the father is listed as an heir-at-law. Reference to state statute would be needed to be 100% certain, but parents are typically not heirs if the deceased left descendants. This reference to the father as an heir would indicate (at least initially) that Andrew Ramsey probably had no descendants. Andrew could have had siblings and they probably would have been heirs-at-law as well. Probably.
Remember that the census we use today was not the one on which the census taker took his “original” enumeration. The census copy that was microfilmed, and eventually digitized, was the “clean” copy that was written by the census taker after he finished taking the census. He used his field notes to make the good copy that we use today. Any chance there was something in his field notes he couldn’t read? And what was the chance that he went down and asked for clarification on an age or place of birth?
I almost overlooked the death certificate of her husband. The lady I was researching died in 1914 and was listed as a widow. I didn’t look at the death certificate for a man with the same last name who also died in 1914, thinking it could not be her husband. Turns out is was. They died 4 days apart. Don’t assume anything. Being listed as a widow only means her husband died before her. It could have been 2 days or 20 years.
If your ancestor was a landowning farmer and migrated from Point A to Point B, see from whom he purchased that first piece of property when he arrived in Point B. It might have been a relative or former associate, neighbor, etc. The owner of that property in Point B might have been looking to sell it and heard that his relative or former neighbor was thinking of moving. Worth a shot when you are stuck.
An extension for AncestryDNA users who use the Google Chrome browser has been released. It allows users to “tag” matches with up to eight colors and identify what these colors stand for. We’ve written two blog posts on downloading the extension (it’s free) and deciding what labels to use: Label Your AncestryDNA matches Another Thought On Labeling Your AncestryDNA Matches
We’ll be offering this presentation (live or available for download) on 21 September 2018. There are details on our announcement page. Join us.
The intervening ten years in between census records can seem like a genealogical eternity. Some families can move several times in the intervening gap from one enumeration to another. A family I’m creating a chronology for was in southern Illinois in the late 1840s, northern Illinois during roughly 1851-1855, Kansas in the late 1850s, and likely back in northern Illinois in 1860. A lot can happen during the ten years between enumerations. It can be helpful to look at: property records tax records military pension/benefit records etc. to try and document the moves. Always consider the possibility that all or some family members may move “home” for a short time, only to leave again.
If you cannot find your 1850 ancestor in the 1840 census–and you are certain he’s heading his own household–consider searching for his 1850 neighbors in 1840. Then look at their neighbors in 1840. There is a chance your ancestor is near at least one of his 1850 neighbors in 1840. And there’s also a chance that your ancestor is not the head of their own household in 1840, but is hiding in one of those tick marks for age categories. And it’s also possible he was overlooked entirely.
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