If there is a period of time where you are not certain where your ancestor was living or what he was doing, then you have an opportunity. Short gaps where a person is “missing” could mean military service, an out-of-state job, a short-lived marriage, a trip in search of gold, etc. Or it could simply mean they never moved and simply didn’t leave any records for a three year time period. But if you never look one thing is certain–you’ll never know.
Spouses, siblings, and others can be hiding in the et al. that is used in some indexes–particularly recorder’s indexes to land and court records. That’s why it’s important to search indexes for the whole family. A deed where all the heirs are grantors is indexed only under the first name. The other grantors are hiding in the etal reference in the index-they should be named on the deed. The same thing goes for clerk’s indexes to county court records.
A derivative citizenship is one that is derived from the citizenship of the parent, usually the father. In the easiest of cases, foreign born children under the age of majority when their father naturalized would be considered naturalized themselves and would not have to go through the process themselves. If your ancestor immigrated as a child, indicates he is naturalized but you cannot find any papers in his name, then consider the possibility that he had derivative citizenship through a father’s naturalization.
We are excited to again offer our 5-week session on United States land records in May 2018. Land records can shed a fair amount of light on your genealogical research–as long as they are understood and thoroughly researched. Learn more about these records, how to research them, and how to analyze and interpret them. Michael has researched his own family extensively in land records for over thirty years, both in federal and state land states. Content: Week 1–discussion of different types of deeds, terms and definitions, record keeping practices and procedures, types of land ownership, and women’s property ownership changes over time. Week 2–discussion of metes and bounds legal descriptions, property descriptions in metes and bounds states, pre-Federal land records, and general research strategies in those states. Week […]
Wills can get things wrong. This 1903 will from Hancock County, Illinois, refers to a granddaughter as a daughter and another relative as Lanne Ensmer when her name was Lena Ensminger. Other information in the probate file may contain the correct relationships and other details. Testators may say names in ways that make it hard for the actual writer of the will to get it correct. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it. If you’d like to get our genealogy tip daily in your email for free, add your address here.
Always read those “aside” comments that occasionally get made in records. Clerks and records officials don’t add them because they are bored. There is usually a reason and working to determine that reason could lead to additional discoveries.
Before interviewing that relative, see if you can determine the names of any near neighbors. Names of those neighbors may generate memories of events you never would have asked about otherwise. Census records that are public (if the person is old enough) are one place to get these names. City directories are another (particularly if they are searchable by address). Telephone directories may also help, particularly for those ancestors who were rural. Ask about your interviewee’s neighbors. You may get more than you bargained for.
Local court cases usually only index the name of one defendant and one plaintiff, regardless of how many people are involved in the case as defendants and plaintiffs. Witnesses and others who may be mentioned in testimony and other court cases will not appear in indexes either. For this reason it is important to search for names of relatives of your direct line ancestor in defendants’ and plaintiffs’ index to court cases. Otherwise you may easily overlook something involving your ancestor, especially if he and his siblings were sued and the name of his sibling is the one under which the case is indexed. Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank. Search NewsBank’s GenealogyBank for your ancestors.
When using a record set with which you are not familiar, think about how someone gets into the record, how the information in the record is obtained, how the record is organized, and how the original record got from its original state to you. All of these issues get to how we use and analyze the information contained in the record. Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank. Search NewsBank’s GenealogyBank for your ancestors. What to do while waiting for your DNA test and results.
If you are unable to physically visit an archives that holds the only copy of something you need, consider other ways to potentially access that information: call them, email them, write them a letter. Many archives will communicate with patrons who are unable to visit onsite. Recently I’ve obtained digital copies of materials by email communication with archival staff in Colorado and Nebraska. A few reminders: Be polite. Try and be specific in your request. Do not send rambling emails with extraneous information–the archivist is there to help you find a document not a solution to your personal problems. View online inventories and finding aids, if available. Use online indexes and databases, if available. Be patient–you are not the only patron. Images or copies of records may not […]
Some documents clearly state who was the informant. Many though do not provide this information. When considering the accuracy of information on any document, consider the probable informant and how likely they were to know the information being provided. Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank. Search NewsBank’s GenealogyBank for your ancestors. What to do while waiting for your DNA test and results.
Just because a record is “official” does not mean that every detail it contains is correct. A death certificate probably has the date of death and burial correct, but the date and place of birth could easily be incorrect. And there is always the chance that a death record has the wrong date of death or place of burial. An official record does not guarantee the information is accurate. Remember that in most records, the information is only as accurate as the informant and that in most records information submitted came from someone’s mind and was not verified with another source or official record. Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank. Search NewsBank’s GenealogyBank for your ancestors.
If you had relatives who were college graduates, have you contacted the school’s archives to see if they have information on your relative? You might not find a textbook like I did, but you never know until you try. Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank. Search NewsBank’s GenealogyBank for your ancestors.
Recent research reminded me of the importance of recognizing assumptions and validating what you “think you know.” I knew cousin William Ehmen was a Lutheran minister in Nebraska in the 1880s. I just assumed that he attended seminary as “a young men” before he was married. Wrong. He did not go to seminary until he was in his late twenties, had been married for seven years, and was already a father. He worked for the railroad for a time in Illinois and I learned he had lived in Mendota for a while–I assumed it was because he was working there for the railroad. No. He was attending seminary at what is now Wartburg College in Iowa. In the 1870s it was located in Mendota, Illinois. I didn’t know […]
Name spellings that interchange vowels with consonants (or the other way around), usually create spellings that have a different soundex code. A Soundex search for Chaney will not catch the Chaney spelling. The exceptions are for names that have more than three separate consonant sounds after the initial letter. Letters after the third consonant sound (after the first letter) are ignored in Soundex searches.
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