Is there a brick wall problem where you have an abstract of a record instead of the complete record? Is it possible the abstract includes a word of phrase transcribed incorrectly or a where a key phrase has been omitted? It’s possible that a detail the abstracter considered trivial (and left out) is key to your problem. Make certain you’ve got the complete records on all records for your “brick wall.” A small omission may be the key to your problem. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I’ve started a new blog to complement Genealogy Tip of the Day. It’s called Search Tip of the Day. The new site will focus on websites, online search techniques, and other ways genealogists interact with computerized data. The website is http://genealogysearchtip.blogspot.com/. You can subscribe to updates to that blog via the site. This new site currently has no Facebook page and allows for moderated comments and follow up ideas. Suggestions are always welcomed. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Look at information you have compiled or located. Look at it closely. If to make the story fit, you have to violate laws of biology (dead people do not typically reproduce, people who are not born do not have children, etc.) or the laws of physics (travelling 400 miles on land within two days in 1820, etc.), then there is a problem. Violating common sense is not usually advised either. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you think you’ve lost that female ancestor after her husband’s death, consider the fact that she might have married again. The story of the later in life marriage might never have been passed down in the family and she still might be buried with her first husband and the stone, if there is one, may not indicate a subsequent marriage, particularly if there were not any children. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In frontier areas, when livestock roamed without fences, farmers often had their own peculiar notch they used to identify their hogs or cattle. Records of these notches may be found at the local courthouse, recorded with other public records. In areas where branding livestock was a common practice, one may find records of brands. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If your male ancestor died with even a small amount of real estate (lot in town or more) or enough personal property, there might be a guardianship case for his children. The mother likely was the guardian of the child’s person, but someone else might have been appointed guardian of the child’s estate. Pay close attention to the name of this person. It might have been a male relative or in some cases a step-father and that relationship may never be spelled out in the documents. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When a husband sells property and is married, there should be an acknowledgment by the wife that she knows about the sale and releases her dower interest in the property. Pay attention to these acknowledgments. The absence of one usually indicates the wife is deceased–a potential clue. And a “new name” appearing on the dower release likely means that the previous wife has died and that the husband has remarried. Although keep nicknames and diminutives in mind when drawing these conclusions, however. A 1800 wife named Sarah may be referred to as Sally in 1820. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In some counties, the court records office may hold records of several different courts. Make certain you have accessed the records of each court you need. There may be an equity court, a criminal court, a probate court, and others depending upon the location and the time period. Find out what court had jurisdiction over the type of case for which you are looking–don’t assume you know, particularly if it is an area with which you are not familiar. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Sometimes called the record copy, this is the official recorded copy of a document, usually made in the local records office. This copy may be considered the legal equivalent of the original copy. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In some places during some time periods, it was common to “re-use” names of children who were deceased. You may find a family with three children named James. If this is the case, most likely the first two died young, before the next James was actually born. If you do find a couple with two children of the same name where the same-named children survived to adulthood, make certain the children actually had the same name and that the names just were not similar or ones that Anglicized to the same name. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Before you track someone across the pond, make certain they (and their children) have been researched exhaustively in the area where they settled and died. Clues as to previous areas of residence or origin may be directly stated or indirectly stated in a variety of records, not just the death record or obituary. Associates may be listed in probate records, christening records of children, etc. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Email to Tip of Day subscribers did not go out, so this will run through 2 PM on Monday 11 April. Year 1 issues—see list of topics-discount $10.50 Year 2 issues (30 so far)–see list of topics–discount $6.50 All year 1 and year 2 issues —discount $15.00 ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If your ancestor signs a deed, find out how old he had to be to execute that document. If an ancestor is on a tax list, does it mean he owned real property, was above a certain age, perhaps even under a certain age. Some records seem to tell very little. If that appears to be the case, find out as much as you can about why the document was created, who was “eligible” to be on the document, if the order of the names has any significance, etc. There may be clues you are not seeing! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Some records we use were not filled out by our ancestors–someone else, perhaps with less knowledge answered the questions. My big break on my wife’s grandmother came not from her death certificate, which was filled out by her children, but instead her SS-5 form. The grandmother filled out that form herself in the 1960s and gave a different name for her father than what her children had put on her death certificate thirty years later. If possible, find something the person actually provided information on. It may be different! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you get stuck on an ancestor, read a county or local history of the area. It probably won’t mention your ancestor, but reading and learning something about the history of the place your ancestor lived in will at least make you more knowledgeable about the location. And it just may spark a research idea. And if you’ve read the county history–read a local newspaper for a week if it’s a daily and a for a month if it’s a weekly. Reading the newspaper will provide a background the county history probably won’t. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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