Any document can contain an error. The clerk writing out this document forgot the “not” as it should say that the individual the statement “was not aided in any way…” Some errors are insignificant. Others are not. But any record can contain an error–at least records created by humans.
We have had some issues with the daily email of Genealogy Tip of the Day and are going to a different free service to send the tips out every day. This new system (through Google although you don’t need a Google account)also allows for better individual management of email subscriptions. This link allows you to add your name to our new list.The old service will not be supported beginning early the week of 15 May 2017. You will need to respond to a confirmation email that you will receive after you submit your request. You will not be added to the list until you do that. Thanks! Michael
The pension file for Civil War widow Nancy Rampley is rather large and contains numerous applications and appeals. For that reason, many of the petitions are repetitive. That’s good. In one application for a pension Nancy indicated that she was “married at my father’s house.” In another she indicated she was married at “William Newmans.” Had I only read one of these I would have missed the connection. Even when documents seem repetitive to the point of being excessive, read them all. There may be a clue in there if you look deeply enough.
I posted a series of “Ancestral Clues and Lessons” on my Rootdig blog. I’m working through one at a time various ancestors I have researched and included a handful of things I’ve learned about each one–some things are genealogical and some are not. It’s been a fun series to work on. A summary of the current posts in this series can be found on our site.
The pension record of your relative may contain information from the family bible as documentation. If civil records were not available, transcriptions of family information from the Bible or the actual torn-out pages may be included in the pension file.
There is still time to join me on my annual research trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana this coming August. Check out our more detailed post for details.
Try to be as specific as possible when referring to geographic locations in your research (use GPS coordinates when the location is is precisely known). For urban locations, street addresses are usually not a problem–but certain there have not been changes since the time the address was valid and the present. For property owners, a legal description of a piece of property should serve to precisely indicate a location. Try to avoid the description used by this postmaster in 1918. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Dates of birth can easily be off by a day or two, particularly if the birth was in the wee hours of the morning. What is recorded “at home” versus what appears on the original certificate. In this case the mother gave a different date of birth for her child than appeared on his birth record. She had to explain the difference to the pension department. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Individuals who died at a veterans’ home or hospital may have been buried on the grounds instead of being sent home. If your veteran (or his spouse) is not buried near where he or she lived, see if they were sent to a veterans’ hospital.
Pension files may contain multiple medical reports on your ancestor. Read more than one. Some doctors tell the truth, some exaggerate key details, some lie, and some don’t know what they are doing. Different reports provide a broader perspective.
I’m updating my genealogy speaking schedule for late 2017 and beyond. If your group sponsors a seminar or workshop and you need an engaging, entertaining, and informative speaker, look no further–there are details on my speaking page. I’ve taken something of a speaking hiatus for the past several years for personal reasons, but am back to booking dates on my calendar. I am looking forward to returning to Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank, California, to give 3 speeches in June–look for me if you’ll be there!
The context in which a document was created and the purpose for which it created matter. A widow in 1901 lists people who attended her wedding. She lists three of her husband’s siblings and one in-law–clearly leaving people out of the list. That’s because the statement she was making was part of her Civil War pension claim and the court was interested in additional people who were living nearby and could confirm her story. She was not providing a comprehensive list of attendees. Dead people cannot testify and those who may have attended but lived a distance away could not easily have given testimony. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
In most United States courthouses, land records are usually indexed twice. Once index entry is for the first seller. The other is for the first buyer. If there are multiple sellers listed on the deed the others probably will not appear in the index. The same applies to the individuals acquiring the property. Always look for names of relatives and associates in land records for this reason. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Don’t just look for a relative’s name in the alphabetical directory if you know they operated a business of some sort. It is possible they had an advertisement in the directory as well. Advertisements in city directories can give clues about your ancestor’s occupation, business location, and more. This 1880 advertisement in a Denver, Colorado, directory indicated that the relative’s business also operated out of a Kansas City, Missouri, office as well. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
The place of birth from this World War II draft registration card was difficult to read, so the indexer left it out of the transcription in Ancestry.com‘s “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947”. Because of that if one searches for births in Iroquois County, this record will not come up. When searching any database, consider the possibility that some of the data was not transcribed and if you use it as a search term (on an “exact” search), you won’t find it.
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