When I got married, one of the questions on the license was mother’s maiden name. I knew I was going to have to spell it, after all, I wasn’t getting married in the small town where I grew up. I had to spell it three times before he understood–and it was only five letters–Ufkes. Chances are your ancestor was not asked to spell the information he provided on a record. And if you think he did spell it to the clerk, how can you really be certain? After all, you weren’t there when the clerk ask great-great-grandfather for the information on his marriage. And if you were there—there were a lot of questions that I bet you wish you asked 😉 ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip […]
Did Grandma give the “wrong” date or place of birth for herself? Did she possibly do it because she actually thought that is where or when she was born? Keep in mind that on many records where our ancestors provided information on themselves that they were not actually asked for proof. The clerk just wrote down what they gave. My own Grandma, who would have been 99 today, always gave the same place as her place of birth. Problem is, her birth certificate and other contemporary records give a different location. Grandma just had a misconception about where she was born. Sometimes errors are actually mistakes, not intentional lies. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We are not talking about the high school prom. If you have a date of birth, death, or marriage for an ancestor, you had to get it from somewhere. Sources should be cited. If the date is an approximation from an age at death, state so. If birth date is an approximation based on the marriage date, indicate that. Just don’t drop dates in willy-nilly without a source. And if you don’t know where you got your prom date, well that’s another story entirely. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I will admit it. Even after 25 years of research, occasionally a microfilm machine will confuse me. Sometimes I hesitate to ask for help. After all, I should know how to use one. And then I remember, waiting only wastes time. If there is something at a library or archives that confuses you or you do not understand, ask. Staff can usually help you operate the equipment. If it is a record or document they cannot help you with, it might be because it is unusual and something with which they are unfamiliar. In that case, consider asking the question on a genealogy mailing list or at your local genealogical society meeting. Someone there probably can help you or point you to someone who can. ———————————— Check out […]
Make certain you are getting the entire record. I was using marriage records for Champaign County, Illinois, recently. They were on microfilm at the Champaign County Archives in the Urbana Free Library. For the time period I was looking for there were actually two series of marriage information. One was the marriage applications and the other was the actual license. If I had been in too much of a hurry, I might have easily overlooked one of the records. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Do you have maps of all your ancestral locations at a time contemporary to your ancestors? It might not be possible to get maps for every ancestor you have, but review what maps you have and ask yourself,” is it possible there are more maps” or” is not having a map hindering my research?” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Does your local library have access to databases not specifically genealogy that might help you in your research? Libraries that have Proquest may have access to digitized newspapers, fire insurance maps and more. Ask your local librarian what databases they subscribe to. If you have any academic libraries nearby, ask them the same thing. Or check out their webpages. You may have access to more information than you think. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
A death certificate for a potential relative indicated he died in “tumway, Iowa.” I had no idea where that was. I didn’t try the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information Site it, but it wouldn’t have made any difference anyway. Googling “tumway iowa” told me that it wasn’t probably “tumway” at all. A search for “tumway iowa” resulted in references to Ottumwa, Iowa. I should have thought of that. If the gazeteers don’t bring the desired results, try Google. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Keep track of the individuals that you have eliminated as being your ancestor, his parents, his brother, etc. That way you do not research them again. And that way you have the information if it turns out your initial conclusion was wrong. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I almost overlooked the death certificate of her husband. The lady I was researching died in 1914 and was listed as a widow. I didn’t look at the death certificate for a man with the same last name who also died in 1914, thinking it could not be her husband. Turns out is was. They died 4 days apart. Don’t assume anything. Being listed as a widow only means her husband died before her. It could have been 2 days or 20 years. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I wanted to locate children of a relative in census records after her death. The names were somewhat common and I didn’t have too many details about them. Maybe I had better wait until I get the obituaries and estate records of the parents. Those may provide me with enough clues to find the children in census records and make certain I have the correct ones. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
For those who did not know, the 1925 Iowa State Census asked for names of father and mother. Ancestry has included those as search terms.Might be worth a try if you had extended family in Iowa in 1925. They asked where the parents were married too! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Keep in mind that your ancestor may have moved back and forth. Not everyone followed a general path in just one direction. I’m working on a person now who was in Iowa in 1856, Missouri in 1860, Iowa in 1870-1895, Missouri in 1900, Wyoming in 1910 and in Missouri in 1912. Oh, and she was born in either New York state or Canada. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
My latest “Casefile Clues” column was posted Sunday. It discussed a preemption claim in Missouri in the 1850s. Readers who aren’t subscribers can subscribe and get this issue sent to them upon subscription even though their subscription will start on 23 August. Just mention when you subscribe that you are a Genealogy Tip of the Day reader. More tips are coming. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
This free online index is just to some Missouri newspapers, but it might help those with ancestors in the “Show-Me” state.http://shs.umsystem.edu/newspaperindex/ Copies can be ordered for $1.50 a page. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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