I’m glad that others want to share Genealogy Tip of the Day with others. However, I do request that you share in such a way that credits Michael John Neill as the author and Genealogy Tip of the Day as the site of publication. We don’t require payment to reprint or re-use tips. Our suggested citation is actually pretty simple. This tip appeared in Genealogy Tip of the Day (www.genealogytipoftheday.com) by Michael John Neill on 25 September 2016 (or whatever date it was). That’s all. I’ve seen newsletters fill entire pages with our tips–which is fine–except there was no author name, date, or original source of publication. That’s not so fine. The tips are distributed freely (and I’m happy to do so), but they do help drive traffic on our site to things […]
Genealogists try to be specific when stating relationships between individuals. Your relative from Omaha might not be as specific when discussing family members. Grandma may have written “Cousin Myrtle” on the back of a photograph. If the person referring to their cousin is still alive, try and get them to be more specific about the relationship, if possible. Don’t suggest what the relationship is. Sometimes “cousins” were were actually cousins (just further down the line than you thought), were related by marriage, or were just neighbors with whom the family was close.
Always transcribe documents as written, making comments about accuracy outside the transcription. This 1921 court document indicated that a brother-in-law of the deceased was a sister of the deceased. It should be transcribed as “…brothers, and Minka Hobben[sic], Heipke Schone, …” The record should not be corrected when the transcription is made. After the transcription is complete a notation that “‘Minka Hobben’ is likely meant to refer to Tjode Habben, who was Mrs. Mimka Habben–oldest sister…” Avoid the temptation to correct the document when making your transcription.
It was not uncommon a husband to bequeath his wife a life estate in his real property upon his death contingent upon her remaining a widow. This life estate in the real property allowed the widow use the property however she saw fit and receive income from the property. She just would be unable to perform any acts that impacted the title to the property–she could not sell, mortgage, or bequeath it in a will. As long as she remained a widow in this case, she “had the power” over the property–and perhaps in a sense over anyone the husband had indicated would inherit it upon her death.
County recorder’s offices in the United States make official record copies of a variety of documents, most have to do with real and personal property. In some locations other agreements between individuals, powers-of-attorney, or other documents may be recorded in what is often termed a “miscellaneous record.” Don’t overlook it. There can be a variety of material in this record–including marriage contracts, personal property liens, contracts and more.
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This database on FamilySearch, United States Public Records, 1970-2009, is purported to contain over 800 million entries compiled from a variety of public records. While it can be difficult to tell what original record was used to create a specific entry, this database may help you narrow down where the person lived. Addresses and dates of birth are included. Keep in mind this information may have been obtained from a variety of sources, may be inaccurate, and in some cases may result from different individuals’ files being merged together.
A newspaper may contain the only reference to a court case that was dismissed. This packet of divorce papers cannot be found, likely because the case with withdrawn. Initial newspaper references to the divorce provide additional details, including year place of marriage. Newspapers can easily supplement what is in an actual court records–but what’s in the newspaper may be incorrect, so take care using this information.
It’s not actually true, but it’s worth remembering when searching for names in various records that vowels (a, e, i, o, u) can easily be interchanged, depending upon how the name is pronounced by the speaker and heard by the person writing the name in the record. Extra vowels can be added as well, so Dirks becomes Dierks and Smith become Smithe. Spellings can vary–very easily.
Every record fits in a larger chain of events and records. When you locate a document always ask yourself: was this document created as the result of some life event that might have created other records? were other documents created that might have caused this document to have been created? would this document have caused other records to have been created? what would have happened to my relative for this record to have been created? No record was created in a vacuum. Don’t analyze it in one either.
The General Land Office Bureau of Land Records website has digital images of federal land patents granted in the United States. The index generally includes the names of patentees and warrantees for these initial transfers of land from the federal government to private ownership. Users unfamiliar with these records are encouraged to read the pages in the reference center of the website.
When you upload a picture to a social media or other site, does that site create their own name for the file? Is that long name you created which contained information about the picture now a random string of numbers and characters? That’s why it’s even more important to include some identification or citation information on the image itself. The image in the illustration had a long name I had created for it that included the name of the person involved, the county where the estate inventory was located, and a packet number. When I went to Facebook to download the file to another device, I was reminded that Facebook created their own name for the file as shown in the illustration from the “file save” menu.
In response to some questions, we’re posting this newsletter clarification. There are two fee-based newsletters: Casefile Clues—This is my how-to newsletter discussing and analyzing sources, research process, problem-solving, etc. I’ve published over 156 issues of this newsletter which is sent as a PDF file to subscribers. A complete list of back issues is on our website as well as samples. Old issues are archived. Casefile Clues is now distributed approximately once a week. Subscriptions are for 52 issues. Weekly Blog Update–This was created for those who did not want to subscribe to the daily blog updates individually on each blog (which are free). This has been published since the summer of 2015, but they are not archived. This contains a summary of blog posts in the last week, along with […]
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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