There’s an online anonymous list of four generations of descendants of an ancestor of mine who died in Kentucky in the 1840s. I’ve used it as a clue to names and relationships. It does have errors–there are death dates that I can’t validate, locations of events that are completely incorrect, incomplete lists of children, and marriages that were not discovered. The names of the beginning ancestor’s parents cannot be validated with any record whatsoever, but the relationships in the succeeding generations were pretty much on the mark-aside from a few children who apparently were overlooked. It was not perfect. But it gave me an outline to use as a starting point. It did not give me a tree to copy without questioning any of it.
Is it possible that relative you can’t find “returned home” in their old age? A relative of mine left Illinois in the 1870s with his young family when he was in his thirties, living in Colorado and New Mexico. Sometime after the 1910 census, he returned to Illinois where he had some relatives (mostly cousins) and eventually died. Why he returned I don’t know, but his children were scattered throughout New Mexico and the western United States at the time of his death. Another uncle of mine lived throughout the United States while in the military and fifteen years after his retirement from the service returned to the county where he grew up to spend the rest of his life, even though his children lived elsewhere.
Join me for one of these research trips in 2025: Library of Virginia FamilySearch Library Allen County Public Library
When searching any database, ask yourself: Having answers to these questions will help you to use the database more efficiently.
For the first time ever, we’re offering “Where Did the Farm Go?” as a self-hosted webinar. This presentation discusses ways real estate may have left your ancestor’s possession and how to find those records. Learning how your ancestor’s property passed from their hands has the potential to provide significant genealogical information not always easily obtainable elsewhere. It’s not always as simple as searching for a deed of sale. Not every record can be located easily online and not every transaction was an actual deed signed by your ancestor. Our focus is on United States records from the 17th century through recent times. Detailed handout that parallels the presentation included. Join us live or pre-order: Michael has over thirty years of research experience with land, court, and probate records and […]
There can be much gnashing of teeth about what spelling is “correct.” It is important to remember that 20th and 21st century concerns over spellings and names matching exactly were not a concern in an earlier time. In some places they were not even a concern in the early 20th century. Documents should be transcribed as they are written, even if the name is not spelled “right.” If a census spells great-grandma’s name as “Fany,” that’s how I transcribe the document for my records. Because that is what it said. If my great-grandma’s birth certificate spells her name clearly as “Francis,” then that is what I transcribe the record as. I don’t change it. If great-grandma herself always signed it as Fannie and that’s what most of her […]
When you find that relative in a city directory, after you’ve saved their information and made certain you understand any abbreviations in the entry, check out the front matter. City directories often contain a variety of non-residential information in the front section of the book. Much of the information is geared towards helping individuals navigate city government, churches, libraries, and the like. But one never knows what will appear in the front section of a directory. This Colorado Springs directory from the very early 20th century contained a list of fire boxes. It also indicated all the various mail trains that ran to and from the city, when different courts were in session, and more. Always worth a look at the front matter.
We’ve changed the date for “More AI for Genealogy” to 19 November. Details on our announcement page. Still time to join us.
Tracking down those aunts and uncles who had no descendants is advised because it helps give the researcher a complete picture of the entire family and it helps all members of the family to be remembered. Those are excellent reasons. But there’s another reason. Some record on that relative with no children of their own could provide information on those relatives you can’t find out more about. This 1980 death certificate for my aunt listed a sister-in-law as the informant–complete with residential address in 1980. Had I been unable to track her down, the reference would have been extremely helpful. Any record on that relative with no descendants could tell you more about your relative’s life. It could also provide information on other family members as well. The […]
Subscribers to Casefile Clues should have received issue 5-9 today. If you did not, please let me know by emailing me. If you’d like to subscribe to Casefile Clues, visit our website to learn more.
In her 1901 divorce petition a relative indicated that she “heard” her estranged husband was living in Salt Lake City. It matters to me, in analyzing that piece of evidence, that she indicated she “heard” about his residence there. It means she probably did not have first hand knowledge of that information (firsthand knowledge would have included visiting him in Salt Lake). She also stated her date and place of marriage. That she had firsthand knowledge of because she was there when that happened as a participant. But when analyzing that bit of residential information for her estranged husband, I need to keep in mind how she acquired that bit of information. Her knowledge of his residence in Salt Lake City was secondary. Her knowledge of her date […]
A reminder from the past… If a relative was in the DAR, her application papers could provide valuable research clues, even if you have no interest in joining yourself. Older applications were approved with less stringent standards than today, but there may still be pieces of information contained in those applications that is unavailable elsewhere. Search for your potential ancestral connection at the DAR website. Search here for descendants of DAR patriots in the DAR database.
We’ve sent download links for those who ordered my presentation “Top Genealogy Tips of the Day.” These are the most popular tips from our website, based on traffic and interaction on Facebook. More details are on our announcement page. Email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com if you ordered one and did not receive.
For reasons that totally elude me, I’m picking up a new project: determining the educational level of various direct line ancestors and their siblings. It sounded easy, but it’s turning out to be more of a project than I thought. I’m fortunate that in the United States there’s the 1940 census that asked the question of last grade of school completed. That census caught all four of my grandparents and all of their siblings but one (my parents were not alive in 1940). That’s the generation where I’ve decided to initially focus as my parents and their siblings is a fairly small group (my father had one brother and my mother had no siblings who survived infancy). The 1940 census is one place to ascertain educational levels. Death […]
As I looked through the list of graduates from the 1926 class of Loraine (Illinois) High School, I noticed one thing immediately: five of them apparently preferred their middle name over their first name. It was interesting that the middle initial was even used and not omitted entirely but perhaps someone felt that at least some homage needed to be paid to their entire name. Is that name you have for an ancestor actually a middle name? Are they occasionally lurking in other records under their first name? Sometimes we are fortunate enough to know a person’s actual first name. Other times we are not.
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