Many genealogists are self-taught for a variety of reasons. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as long as a person realizes that there may be gaps in their knowledge–of sources, methods, local history, culture, sociology, etc. Even genealogists that are not self-taught have gaps in their knowledge if they are willing to admit it. It never hurts to read a book or guide to the area you are researching in, even if you skim it quickly–especially if it has been a while since you have read such material. You may pick up a new thought, idea, source, or suggestion–or may even think of how you would have done the book differently. And if you find a suggestion or reference in the book that you think is wrong, double […]
Consider this your periodic reminder to digitize those photographs, especially new ones that you may have recently obtained. This image of Virgil Rampley was purchased on Ebay. Digital images of it were made as soon as I took it out of the envelope. Don’t delay making those digital images.
When an index or manual searching takes you to an ancestral entry in a census, tax, or other list entry in an original record, take times to look at the neighboring names. Are the names in rough alphabetical order? If so neighborhood clues can’t be inferred from the proximity of names. That is unless all the “B” surnames lived in the same part of the county.
It is never enough to take just one picture when at the cemetery. I try and take at least the following types of shots while there: The entire stone as a closeup–including a variety of angles if legibility is an issue. Closer closeups of any inscriptions that are unique or difficult to read. Closeups of immediately adjacent stones. An overview picture showing relative position of stone of interest to nearby stones. Do this from several angles to get all nearby stones. A broader view that shows the location of the stone within the cemetery–near large trees, mausoleums, etc. A picture of any notes I made while looking at the stone. A picture of the entrance to the cemetery with the cemetery’s name.
It’s really a math website, but it will do a variety of things that a genealogist might find helpful, including: Calculate the days between two dates–sample. Specific number of years, months, and days before a certain date–sample. Specific number of years, months, and days after a certain date–sample. What day of week a date was on (and other historical facts about that date)–sample. When a holiday was in a certain year–sample. Popularity and other information about a first name–sample. Doesn’t work so well with unusual names. Popularity and other information about a last name–sample. Doesn’t work so well with unusual names. Information on a town in a specific state–sample. Geographic conversions–sample. (Google’s good at these too) Cousinship questions–sample. Their chart isn’t the best, but it gives an idea. […]
There are a variety of ways school could give you clues to your family. Old pictures of a school a relative attended could help jog their memory of school and other events and people. Knowing where someone attended school as a child could help find the family in a census or local church records, particularly for urban ancestors. And you could always document a chronology of school attendance as well.
An uncle of mine died in the 1860s leaving no descendants and his siblings or the children of his deceased siblings as his heirs. The administrator of his estate was someone whose name I did not recognize and someone whose name also did not appear among the list of heirs. After much research, I discovered that the administrator was married to one of the daughters of an heir of the estate–making him a nephew-in-law. I had initially thought he was a creditor of the deceased as those individuals sometimes get appointed to settle up the estate. That was not the case here as the administrator’s name did not appear on the list of individuals to whom my recently deceased uncle owed money. He was a relative by marriage […]
We are offering a 20% discount on my new “Errors in Records” webinar or the 1950 census webinar. Details are on our page–the coupon has been extended through today–despite what it says on the announcement page.
It is important somewhere to keep track of your research logic as you progress. Otherwise you might not remember “why” you are researching a certain person or why you concluded a specific reference was a match to your person of interest. It is especially helpful to track those reasons when the record you think is your person may not be so obvious later. I decided an 1850 census reference was to the person I was searching and who I had located in a 1870 census entry and other post-1870 records. The person could not be found in 1860 despite repeated, documented attempts. My research then continued with discoveries on the guy who was in the 1850 census, including details I had located on the wife of the 1850 […]
If you are unfamiliar with how wildcard and sound-based searches work on a website, then what you should do first is practice. Find an entry in the database and determine if you can find it using wildcards. It’s key that you know the entry is in the database before you practice. Wildcard information for some genealogy sites: FamilySearch Ancestry.com GenealogyBank
The recording of this presentation is now available. Additional details are on our announcement page.
I ran across a reference to a Hessian soldier whose last name was Trautvetter. He may or may not be connected to my family. But the moment I locate this and download the information to my own media, I also need to put this information in my genealogical database–even if I do not know how he is related. Otherwise I might forget I found it, not be able to locate it, etc. Johann Frederich Jacob Trautvetter can be entered in as an unrelated individual in my file. I can enter his biographical data, sourcing where I found it–and be certain to include his military service as a Hessian solder as that may make it easier to find him in my database later. Because he will be a sea […]
I’m looking for a woman named Wilhelmina Senf who immigrated to the United States between 1846 and 1852. Sometimes her first name is rendered as Mina and sometimes her last name is spelled Senf, Serf, Senft, Serft, Zenf, Zerf, Zenft, Zerft, etc. I need to make certain that my searches are covering all these possible variations of her name. To do that I made a chart with the name variants spelled out. The problem is that soundex and “sounds like” options for Senf may not catch all the variants that begin with an “S.” The same thing is true for the variants that start with a “Z.” The “n” being read as an “r” creates that problem. I also need to make certain that while she’s usually listed […]
I may never find the US passenger list entries for Wilhelmine (Trautvetter) Zenf and her children, but it will not be for lack of trying. It will also not be because I did not keep track of the entries that were eliminated from consideration. To keep myself from looking at the same entry over and over (easy to do if one is using several different websites to search passenger lists), I’ve made a chart that summarizes the entry and why I eliminated it as being Wilhelmine or her children. The reason is important. That way if I discover what I “know” about the family is wrong, I can easily review my previous conclusions and look again at those entries that may now match what I know. Additional columns […]
Files of loose court papers are frequently out of order. If you are having difficulty understanding the case being tried, organize the papers chronologically. After that, extract every date listed in the papers and create a chronology. That may help you to understand what lead up to the case and how it played out. Organization of the papers may also suggest there are some holes in your understanding. Either way, you have made progress in your understanding of the case. For court records it also can be helpful to begin your work by looking at the initial filing of plaintiff and defendant in addition to the conclusions that were reached. All of those items (if available) will help provide a broad overview. This is also a good idea […]
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