There’s a difference between being a descendant and being an heir. Descendants of someone are their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. Heirs are typically those legally entitled to inherit real or personal property from someone. If a person has never had children, then their heirs could be their siblings or children of their siblings. Their heirs could be their first cousins if the deceased person had no siblings. If Riley had two children that survived him, Alberta and Barbara, and a child Charles who had died before Riley, then Albert, Barbara, and Charles’ children would be Riley’s heirs. Alberta and Barbara’s children would not be Riley’s heirs because their parents were still living. Alberta and Barbara’s children would still be Riley’s descendants.
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FamilySearch has a digital version of the 1850 United States Mortality Census (United States Census (Mortality Schedule), 1850)-for those who died in the 12 calendar months preceding the date of the census (June 1849-May 1850).
The suit to partition the estate of a Bernard Dirks in Adams County, Illinois, was not initiated until 1924–after his wife died. A “quick reading” of the papers located a list of heirs as of 1924. Bernard died in 1913. A careful re-reading of the court papers found a reference to grandson who survived Bernard, but who died without descendants of his own when Bernard’s wife, Heipke, died in 1924. This grandson had no descendants of his own and did not have to be listed in the 1924 final list of heirs. But buried in the court filings was a list of Bernard’s heirs as of 1913–there was the grandson, along with a notation that he died before his grandmother in 1924 leaving no descendants of his own.
This Albemarle County, Virginia, deed appears to have had a “correction” written in the deed book after the deed was transcribed and before the microfilming was done. It would be less consequential if it were not the name of the grantor. The “correction” appears to have been written in a different hand by a different writing utensil. My transcription of this document should indicate that: “…Between [illegible word with the word “Peter” written over it in an apparently different handwriting] Rucker (Son…”
These cards (as United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918) are free to search on FamilySearch.
This site has over 38 million newspaper images. Many are from New York State, but there are others from across the United States. It’s not just about postcards and the site is free.
In some of my families, first names are repeated. And repeated. When writing about these individuals, clarification is necessary–to keep the reader and the writer from getting confused. Pick a style and stick with it. A few options are: James Rampley (born 1803) James Rampley (son of Thomas) James Rampley (born 1803, son of Thomas) In some families the third option might be the best as there could even be repetition of father-son relationships. The key is to be clear. Sometimes when writing the person to whom you are referring is obvious. Sometimes it is not. Clarify, clarify, clarify.
For those who were unaware, FamilySearch has a database, United States Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890, that may help those whose Union veteran (or widow) who lived until 1890. The census is not entirely extant and only includes states alphabetically from Kentucky through Wyoming.
If you know your ancestor owned real property at their death and you can’t find a probate, check for a partition suit among the heirs. Those suits should list all the heirs and may clearly delineate the relative portions of the estate they received. Even if the portions they get are not listed, the relative amounts of money they get may help you determine relationships. In the United States, these would local county court records. This partition suit from 1924 is being analyzed in an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues.
When dealing with geographic and political regions where your ancestors lived, do you have an idea of the relative size of the parishes, townlands, hundreds, townships, counties, etc. in which you are working? If you don’t, it could be easy to assume places are closer than they really are or not as close as they actually are. Without a sense of distance, your senses may be off.
FamilySearch has a database of Ireland Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958 which includes over 23 million names. There are no images, but parents’ names are a part of the database.
Irish civil records indicate that several members of my Neill family lived in Derry Beg in the north of Ireland in the 1850s-1880s. The handwriting in the records being used made it look like “Derrybeg” so I assumed it was one word. I had a difficult time finding it on a map in the appropriate place (parish of Drumachose) until I realized that it was Derry Beg–two words. There were several other places in Ireland named Derrybeg as well. I knew I they were the wrong ones because the county was incorrect. There can easily be more than one place in a country with the same name and when searching for places, spaces matter.
A few years ago I discovered a probable sister of an ancestor in Ireland. In reviewing the information later I wanted to make certain I had not overlooked any other probable siblings of the ancestor. The problem was I could not remember how I found the name of the sister in the first place. My concern was that I got so excited about finding one sister that I researched her before I made certain there were not others as well. It took me half a day to “recreate” the original search to “refind” the sister. All it would have taken was two sentences in my notes on this person and I could have saved half a day. My notes just needed to include a brief synopsis of how […]
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