[I posted this to my Rootdig blog, but am posting it here as well…thanks!] We are still working through a few issues after our transfer to WordPress for our blog management. We appreciate everyone’s patience. If you get this message, and have a free moment, please let me know–either by responding on the blog, or to the email. I usually write about whatever strikes my interest and don’t pay much heed to what may generate a lot of chatter or responses. I try and write things that I think people will read and get some help from–and often those are things that people don’t respond to. So….gentle reader, if you could let me know that I’m not operating in a vacuum, I’d appreciate it. Now back to our […]
Have you checked to see if there are employment records for your ancestor? Virtually all of my ancestors were farmers, so there’s no “employment record.” However my children’s ancestor worked for the Pullman Car Company in Chicago and the image accompanying this post is part of his employment record.
June is a busy time….we’re offering four new presentations this week. Join us! Courthouse Basics–15 June 2015–8:00 pm Central Standard Time Where Do I Go From Here?–17 June 2015–7:00 pm Central Standard Time What to Blog About?–19 June 2015–1:00 pm Central Standard Time Tightwad Genealogy–19 June 2015–3:00 pm Central Standard Time More details are available on our registration page at: https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/live-webinars
On my Rootdig blog, I recently mentioned that users of the free War of 1812 pensions at Fold3.com could help with that project in ways other than giving money. The pensions are only being indexed initially by name of pensioner and widow (if applicable). Users can create annotations for other names mentioned in pension files they use in their personal research, thus increasing the number of names that are indexed and searchable. An additional benefit of creating annotations is that it forces the researcher to read the entire pension file. And sometimes the best discoveries are made when a thorough reading of a record is done. Annotating a file may help you as well as helping someone else.
Your ancestor James Rucker cannot avoid a debt just because the person to whom he owes money has spelled his name as James Rucher. The legal concept of idem sonans is generally that if a wrong spelling sounds like the intended name, then it is the intended name. So if the bill at the garage says “Mike Neal,” I’m still probably liable for it.
The death of an ancestor can result in more than a death certificate, an obituary, a funeral, or an estate settlement. In some cases, the death of one parent can send an entire family into a financial tailspin, especially if the recently deceased parent was the sole provider for the family. Children may end up being farmed out to relatives or neighbors or have to quit school and go to work. Even in families where the children are grown the death of a parent can change the family dynamics.
I think we have the email glitch solved–some subscribers were getting two copies of the daily tip. Thanks for your patience as we continue to work through a few last minute issues due to our move.
When trying to correlate pieces of information remember that the simplest explanation is probably what happened. When deciding what to research next start with the most likely scenario. And remember that not all the details have to fit perfectly. Sometimes people can provide slightly different answers to questions on different records.
Names that contain a double “s” often are written in such a way that the double “s” resembles a “p.” Transcribers often interpret these letters incorrectly. Searching for Moss may requiring looking for “Mops.”
If you have an immigrant ancestor whose native language was different from the language where he settled, the last name you have for him may not be the name he used in his homeland. Some individuals would officially change their names, frequently when they naturalized. Others simply changed their name with no official paperwork at all. And then there’s the ancestor whose last name was Latin and he changed it to the German equivalent when he immigrated to America. One just never knows.
I’m not a big fan of “genealogy games,” but here is an activity that might get you to thinking. Pick a random date–at least 100 years in the past. Determine which of your ancestors were alive on that date, where they were probably living, and what stage in their life they were in (child, young adult, newly married, widowed, etc.). Also think about how you know what you do about your ancestors on that date.
The “title cards” from Family History Library are good things to make digital images of as they help you to remember from where you made images of actual records. But these cards by their very nature are somewhat generic and won’t be enough to create a complete citation. But they are a very, very good start.
I’ve got a busy summer planned. Here’s a look at genealogy-related events with which I’ll be involved this summer–consider joining me: LIve Webinars-LOC Newspapers, Virginia Land Patents, War of 1812 Pensions, Land Records at FamilySearch. Organizing Genealogical Information Class Research Trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne
For those who might have missed it the first time, we’ve reposted my thoughts on “The Genealogy Elite and the Genealogy Police.”
Some of what Grandma tells you will be incorrect. Some of it will be correct. Most of it will rest somewhere in between the “truth” and the “untruth.” Write it all down and make it crystal clear that it was what Grandma said–not information you “proved” in official records. The stories Grandma tells about her family say something about her. Record them. Then go and try and figure out what really happened.
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