Digital images should be organized as they are taken. While it may be tempting to put off sorting those images of tombstones, census records, family photographs, doing so will result in a large sorting task later. That task may be so insurmountable that it never gets gone. Or all those images may still be sorted when your phone or camera is not the only thing that is dead.
Over 100,000 items from the Allen County Public Library’s genealogy collection have been digitized and placed on Archive.org. That collection can be searched on Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/allen_county
Normally an ancestor has to be dead to have an estate settlement, has to be born to have a birth certificate, etc. Think about what really HAS to be true about your ancestor or relative when you researching them. He didn’t have to get married to reproduce. He didn’t have to name his oldest son after his father. She didn’t have to get married near where her first child was born. He didn’t have to have a relative witness every document he signed. There are few “have tos” in genealogy. Make certain you aren’t using “have tos” to make brick walls for yourself. When this tip appeared originally, I used the phrase “when your ancestor wrote his will.” Of course not every ancestor was male and females had […]
In some states during some time periods, a person could marry immediately after a divorce. State statute may have dictated a specific amount of time as a waiting period before a divorced person could marry again. There also may be residency requirements before a divorce is filed, so a your ancestor could not have moved to a new state and immediately filed for a divorce.
An estate settlement for Michael Trautvetter indicated that his deceased sister Mrs. Ernestine Hess had three children, Wilhelmina Smith (her husband’s last name), Valentine Hess and William Hess. Just because Wilhelmina, Valentine Hess, and William Hess were children of Ernestine does mean they shared the same father. Valentine and William probably did, but it is very possible that Wilhelmina had a different father. Saying they are Ernestine’s children does not mean they all share the same father. Don’t read into documents what is not there.
Many name changes before the early 20th Century were not done by any sort of court order. The person could simply have chosen to use a different name. Sometimes these name changes presented later problems, particularly for individuals who later wanted to obtain a military pension. Probate and estate settlement records may also indicate a person’s former names, as may divorce records if the individual later divorced. Naturalization records may also document name changes as may passport applications.
If you cannot find your 1850 ancestor in the 1840 census–and you are certain he’s heading his own household–consider searching for his 1850 neighbors in 1840. Then look at their neighbors in 1840. There is a chance your ancestor is near at least one of his 1850 neighbors in 1840. A chance–not a guarantee.
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Grave markers, tombstones, and other memorials erected in cemeteries can be a great source of genealogical information. The problem is that not everyone buried in a cemetery necessarily has a physical marker for their grave. Some stones fall down and, like the remains of the person they memorialized, end up buried where they cannot be seen. Other stones disintegrate, break, or eventually weather away–perhaps even being destroyed by someone when they are viewed as being beyond repair. Other individuals never had a marker. There might not have been the money to pay for anything besides a burial and the grave remained unmarked. If the deceased individual left behind no local family members, a stone may never have been erected or maintained adequately. The genealogist is more likely to […]
When research in the United States gets back beyond a certain point, records are fewer and less likely to make direct statements. It is important to remember that any conclusion reached when the records are not clear may need to be revised if new information comes to light. Keep your mind open to the chance that you may be incorrect or may have not looked at all the records. Never assume that your initial “hunch” is Gospel Truth.
This tip originally ran in 2015. The middle entry on this page of 1838 baptisms from Aurich, Germany contains the entry for my ancestor. The fourth column contains the names of the sponsors. When I was trying to analyze the entry for my relative I thought the symbol in the middle red circle on the image were a part of the entry. Then I looked at the other two entries on the image I made and realized that the items in the circle were partially used to number each entry and were not a part of the names of the sponsors. If I had only copied the entry for my ancestor and not other entries on the same page, I might have missed that. Don’t copy only the […]
Apparently one of my great-granddad’s grandsons would visit him when the grandson was a small child. The grandson would be in the barn with great-granddad while the cows were being milked and would ask for either a “one-cow story” or a “two-cow story.” The type of story depended upon how many cows had to be milked before the story was over–one or two. Don’t forget to record your own stories–whether they are one or two-cow stories. Your stories don’t even need to involve cows at all.
Do you know where all the lines are on the map of your ancestor’s neighborhood? Property lines, county lines, state lines, they all play a role in your family history research. These lines change over time as new territories are created, county lines are debated and finalized, and as your ancestor buys and sells property. Getting your ancestor’s maps all “lined” up may help solve your problem. And keep in mind that while contemporary maps are always an excellent idea they should not be used by themselves. Maps created decades after your relative lived in an area may also be helpful as well. With maps–the more, the merrier.
Always make an image of the back of photographs. Even if the back does not contain specific identification of the individuals, place, or event in the picture, it may help you determine what photos were taken at the same event. I have a number of photographs that were taken at a wedding in the greater Chicago, Illinois, area in the 1950s. They were scattered throughout several boxes and folders of pictures obtained from several different relatives. The photographer’s stamp on the back at least confirmed that they were taken at a function associated with the wedding. That’s a clue to assist in identifying those people who are not personally known to me.
Remember that in many cases, the indexer indexing the record you are using was not familiar with the names in the area where the records were created. In most cases, they are reading the names “cold.” Keep that in mind when formulating searches and contemplating alternate spellings. You may know what it says. Someone else may not.
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