My wife and I both have a set of ancestors who were immigrants and I think the groom wrote back and said “I need a bride.” One might be tempted to think that the bride and groom were born in the same village. In both cases, that’s not what happened. In the case of my ancestor, her father was a “windmill mechanic” and moved occasionally for his work. In the other case, the bride was working as a hired girl in the village where the groom was born and raised. Sometimes romantic visions of our ancestors need to discarded. It makes for good fiction, but not necessarily good genealogy. And oftentimes the real story is more interesting anyway. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day […]
If your ancestor uses the phrase “now wife” in his will, it does not mean that he was married before. If Johann gives his farm to “his now wife and after her death to my children,” it means his wife at the time the will was written. This was done to see to it that if this wife died and the testator remarried that the children and not the current wife inherited the property. Without the word “now,” “wife” is vague. “Now wife” was done to clear things up, but it has confused many genealogists. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
The first son was named for this, the second son was named for that, etc. Keep in mind that these patterns are trends and social customs that your ancestor might have followed. They are not law. Your ancestor does not have to follow any of these “social mores.” What your ancestor does have to do is: Figure out how to get born. Figure out how to get married (or at least reproduce) Leave behind at least one record Dying usually happens whether your ancestor planned for it or not. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
My wife’s great-grandfather William Frame Apgar was born William Frame in Chicago around 1888. Around 1918, he disappears, estranged from his wife—my wife’s great-grandmother. Perhaps he enlisted in the war, perhaps not. None of my wife’s immediate family knows what happened to him. It is possible that his siblings might have known what happened to him and passed that information down. My answer to where William Frame Apgar went might rest in the descendants of his siblings. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Look at that brick wall ancestor. Have you completely documented all of his or her children and grandchildren? Doing so may solve your own specific problem. Or it may help you locate a relative who knows the answer. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
What do you really know about your ancestor’s occupation and how he or she probably lived their life? Learning about the tools of their trade or what life was like for the typical cotton warper, mill worker, tailor, etc. may give you some additional insight into your ancestor’s life. Even if you think you know, you might not. I grew up on a farm, but farm life when I grew up was different from when my father did (we never had horses for one), and it was certainly different from when my great-great-grandparents were farming. The first time I read of a “stationary baler” in a pension file, I did not know what it was. Hay balers, as far as I were concerned, were never stationary. Then it […]
Has someone posted a question to an email list that you can answer? Has someone requested pictures at a cemetery near where you live? Give back just a little and help someone else out. You never know when you may be in a position to need help. And sometimes when thinking about someone else’s problem, you have an idea about your own. That may be a selfish reason to help, but sometimes it really happens. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
You will forget.You will not remember it. And you will wonder where you put it or where you found it. Write it down. Do not use little pieces of paper. They get lost and you will lose your mind looking for them. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
On my great-grandmother’s 1935 marriage application, her place of birth is given. The problem is that it is different from places listed on other records. Why did she list that location? I’m not certain why and I’m not even certain she actually gave the information. Remember, her husband was there too and it is possible that he gave information on his wife. I wasn’t there when great-grandma got married to witness the giving of the information. The form doesn’t really say WHO provided WHAT. Keep that in mind. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Keep in mind that records do get misfiled. Packets of court papers do not get put back in the correct numerical order. Case numbers get written incorrectly in indexes. Page numbers get transcribed as they are typed or entered into an index. It will happen. Think about how something could get misfiled when you cannot find it in the place where it is “supposed” to be. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Do not correct documents when transcribing them. Copy them verbatim.If you must make comments, do so within brackets [] or use an asterisk and include your comment at the end. Don’t correct an 18th century document when transcribing it. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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 […]
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