If your ancestor was a member of a religious denomination that practiced infant baptism, look at the names of the individuals who were sponsors for his or her children. In some ethnic groups and faith communities, sponsors were usually family members. Remember that it’s not just who the sponsors of your ancestor were, but also if there were any children for whom your ancestor was a sponsor. Finding those children may require a manual search of all the sponsors listed in a series of church records, which usually are organized by date of christening. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
A visit to a rural cemetery to visit my grandparents’ graves recently caused me to stumble a cross a couple who were using the back of the cemetery for an unintended purpose. In my case the encounter was harmless. Just remember that some cemeteries, particularly urban ones, may be in areas that today are unsafe. Find out first if the cemetery you plan to visit has any such issues. Is it better to visit in the day time? Is it wise to be there by yourself, etc.? Most cemeteries are safe places, but you never know. And always let someone know where you are going and have you cell phone with you, in addition to your genealogy supplies. ————————————
Microfilmed and digital copies of court packets usually contain the papers in the order they are when they were filmed or digitized. They may not be organized before filming of digitalization begins. Make certain you analyze the papers in the order they are dated or created. It will make more sense, make your analysis easier, and reduce the chance you misunderstand some things. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
The consideration in a land transfer is the money or other item that has been used to pay for a piece of real property. If it is a token amount, such as $1, or “love and consideration,” consider that there is a relationship among the buyers and sellers, even if a relationship is not stated. The relationship does not have to be stated for the document to be binding. And remember, the purpose of a deed is to transfer title to land, not leave a record of a family relationship. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Let your genealogy friends know about Genealogy Tip of the Day. They can view old tips on the blog at http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com. They can interact with other Tip Fans on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/genealogytip Or they can just get the tips in their email by subscribing on http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com. There is never a charge for Genealogy Tip of the Day and we really appreciate those who help to spread the word…feel free to forward this message to other genealogists, mailing lists, etc.—just don’t spam! Thanks–we appreciate the help in getting out the word! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
An administratrix is a female administrator of an estate. The term has fallen from use and is rarely used today. If you have a female relative as the administrator of an estate, see if certain women are unqualified to be administrators. In some time periods and locations, married women could not be appointed administrators of an estate. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Every so often I review various relatives and realize that I’m “missing” one or another in a certain census record. Sometimes I still don’t find them, but other times I discover that when I originally looked for them I must not have really looked all that hard. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When was the last time you made a backup of your electronic genealogical data? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t look at just the alphabetical names in a city directory. There may be directories of businessmen that could provide more detail about your ancestor who owned a small shop, was a tradesman, etc. Rural directories may list owners of specific types of livestock in special sections and some even list who owned what type of automobiles. City directories may also have reverse directories in the “back” of the book. The point? Get away from the alphabetical list and you may learn even more about your ancestor. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
The marquee said “DOS GUYS” in all capital letters. I never went to hear them perform, so I cannot really be certain what the “DOS” meant. For the longest time I thought it meant 2 guys–the “DOS” being the Spanish word for two. Later it dawned on me that “DOS” could have been an spelling for “those” based upon the way some people say the word “those” to where it sounds like “does” or “dos.” And “DOS” could stand for the old computer operating system referred to as “dos.” This might be a stretch, but someone familiar with Spanish might think the word means “two,” the person who says “those” like “dose” might think it means “those,” and the computer geek might think it stands for Disk Operating […]
Set a date to periodically review those families you have not worked on in a while. It can be easy to get wrong ideas, misconceptions, or incorrect memories about your families in your head when information has not been viewed in some time. New databases or websites might have become available since you last looked at the family or you might have learned more about research in general since you last worked on the family. Maybe your ancestor’s birthday, anniversary, etc. would make a good day to annually review your files–especially on those people you gave up on or thought you had “completed.” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Reading through every bill paid by your ancestor’s executor or administrator might seem as fun as watching paint dry, but I learned: My great-grandfather was paid $2 in 1918 for setting posts on his deceased father’s farm My great-grandfather was paid $3 for hauling manure on his father’s farm The fire insurance on the farm in 1918 was $32.50 A phone call made by the executor from Tioga, Illinois, to Carthage, Illinois, cost 20 cents–no mention of how long the phone call was. Looking at the chronology and to whom the phone call was made, it’s pretty clear the executor was calling the loan officer at the bank to inquire about the mortgage payment. All from a look at the estate accounting. Interesting stuff. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s […]
There was a time when in many states, married women could not make wills. If a female ancestor makes a will that is later proven in a probate court to be valid, determine what the law was in the state when she wrote the will. It could be a clue that her husband was dead at the time the will was written–depending upon the state statute in effect at the time the will was written. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
There are some points, in some places, some ancestors have been researched as far back as possible. If there are no earlier records it may just be that you have reached the end of the line. If there are no records, research is somewhat difficult. Make certain you’ve learned all you can about other ancestors in that same lineage–and the extended family as well. There’s probably research you can do, but extending the lineage further back in time may be impossible. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Ever wonder what the phrase “heirs and assigns forever” meant on an old deed? The intent of the phrase was to convey to the grantee a fee simple title, meaning that the grantee was able to keep, mortgage, sell, or bequeath the land as he or she saw fit. This type of ownership was different from a life estate, which is where the grantee only has use of the property during their lifetime. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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