If you’re needing a genealogy activity and your ancestral research stymied, consider making a map of the locations where your ancestors were living at one point in time. For those whose ancestors lived in areas that took censuses, pick a year and map out where all your direct line ancestors lived. Ancestors living in other countries could also be mapped if you have an idea where they would have been at that point in time. At the very least it will cause you to review your records and who knows what omissions you may find out that you have? If you’ve got them all mapped out, think about how their descendants moved around until you were the result? This can also be a great activity to do with […]
The “Timber Culture Act” was pass in 1873 and was intended to encourage the planting of trees in Great Plains and western parts of the United States. In some places it worked as intended and in others it did not. The requirements to obtain land under the Act changed over time, but always centered on planting trees on a requisite number of acres. In some areas settlers or others completed their timber claims and obtained title to the land–generating a patent that transferred title to the property. In many other areas claims were not completed, either because the land simply was not suited to grow timber or the claimant was trying to gain use of the land for a time. Incomplete, relinquished, or abandoned timber claims would not […]
City directory work can be tedious. If you are stuck on a family (and even if you are not), tracking them through every extant city directory could answer some of those nagging genealogical questions. Entries could reference deceased spouses, contain an employment reference of which you were unaware, document a short term move across town, or provide other details about your urban relative. Don’t forget to look in the “back” of the directory for reverse directories (people listed by address), business directories, church directories, and whatever other gems an editor decided to include. Occasionally cities have multiple directories for the same year printed by different publishers. Make certain you’ve seen each one.
Before you hire a professional researcher: Decide what it is what you really want to know about your ancestor or family. Organize the information you already have. Cite the sources. Ask questions about your family in appropriate online groups or forums. Don’t necessarily hire someone who responds to your question. In many groups soliciting customers from those who ask questions is not allowed. Make certain there’s nothing you have overlooked accessing yourself. Decide specifically what it is you cannot do yourself that you need someone else to do for you. Grow your research skills with the Genealogy Tip of the Day book.
The online trees I tend to use the most for research “suggestions” are ones that contain sources–that cuts down on the number quite a bit if you also eliminate those that only cite other online trees. Sourced trees may reference items that I have overlooked in my research or that I simply have not yet had the time to look for. Online trees can be full of errors–sometimes. There are times where the compiler has merged people with similar names into one person or has taken several people with similar names and melded them into two individuals. Other times the compiler has pulled one record from beyond left field to be included in a person’s file when the rest of it is spot on. And occasionally the compilation […]
Determining relationships of your DNA matches can be problematic if you don’t have all the relatives of your great, great-great, and great-great-great-grandparents traced down. One place to get some help with that are intestate probate records for relatives who died without children of their own. Siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc. may be mentioned–usually by married name. If recent enough, addresses may also be included. This case from 1972 documented all the living descendants of a couple who were married in 1881 and died in 1913 and 1932 respectively. A great help tracking down long lost relatives.
Genealogists often lament the fact that documents fail to include “extra” details that they would like to know. The deed between two men with the same last name that does not state their relationship. The newspaper item that mentions someone from out of town visiting a local resident without stating their relationship. Frustrating, but it is worth remember that, in the case of the deed, legal documents are created for a specific purpose–not for leaving behind details of the relationship between the individuals signing the document. If the relationship is germane to the transaction (they were both heirs to the property, for example) then it may be stated–but not always. The newspaper is about “news” and the “news” is that someone visited–not what their relationship was. Ask yourself […]
Due to a scheduling conflict, we’ve moved our Beginning Irish research webinar to 30 October at 2:00 pm central. Registration details are in our original post.
The second you do not understand something in your genealogy research is not the moment to fire off a question to several Facebook groups about it. Take some time to think, reflect, and do some of your own research to see if you can discover more about the subject. You may learn more in the process of doing that than you thought you would. And, if asking a silly question concerns you, there is less chance of you doing that if you’ve tried to get the answer yourself first. It also gives you some time to ask a better question or get all the details of your own situation in order before you ask a question. Remember as well that not everyone who responds to your question will […]
In working on organizing some family materials, I noticed that I was constantly mixing up various family members and needed a list to keep them straight. But for me the best list was not one sorted by last name. Instead I made a list where they were sorted by first name. That was because partially some items I had in my possession only had their first name listed and partially because I found myself having an easier time remembering their first name. The list was for my personal use only and included the first name, middle names or nicknames, last name (maiden and married [if they had one] for women–in that order), names of parents, and years of birth and death. The sorting by first name reminded me […]
We’re offering our first ever Beginning Irish Research webinar on 23 October. Register to attend live online or pre-order a downloadable copy of the presentation. 30 October 2020 at 2:00 pm central time–note date change This session will focus on starting your Irish genealogical research. This session will begin with an overview of the importance of completely researching the Irish immigrant in the United States.Ireland-specific topics will include: Irish civil records–overview and search strategies Irish religious records–overview and search strategies Irish political jurisdictions, their relationships with each other, and what you need to know Overview of record destruction–sorry, it’s a reality Overview of Irish names Overview of Irish migrations Reaching out to others who may be able to help and networking strategies Intended for those who have not […]
The grantor on a deed is the seller, the one who is transferring their interest in real property to someone else. The grantor may be getting money, other property, or nothing at all. It just depends on the type of transaction. The grantee on a deed is the one to whom the interest in real property is being transferred. The grantee may be paying for the interest in the property or may not be. Again–depends on the situation.
If your ancestral background is pretty homogeneous, like mine is, it can be easy to get in a research zone and think all research is like yours. When I first began working on my children’s ancestry years ago (and now that of my sons-in-law), the first challenge I had was working with urban individuals and immigrants from countries with which I was not familiar. But that stretched my research skills. Who knew cemeteries had phone numbers you could call? And city directories published virtually year after year? The ability to “search the whole town” for my person of interest was no longer as practical as it was in my rural ancestral areas. I had to learn other skills and develop other techniques. That helped me when I went […]
If your ancestors were movers who frequently owned property, make certain you have obtained copies of all their local land records. Deeds where they are grantors (sellers) may provide some details about where they moved. Transactions on their property in the area they left from may not have been finalized until after their move. The deed of sale may indicate their new county or area of residence or acknowledgements of the deed in front of a local official may indicate where that official was permitted to act. Either way it could help you determine where they went.
United States military pension applications (both veterans and their spouses) are usually made “under” a specific pension act. The name of that act and date of its passing is usually referenced in their initial paperwork. See if you can find the text of that act by searching for it online. Read the act. Your ancestor believed the met the qualifications. For the veteran that meant in terms of their service. For the spouse, it meant that the veteran met the service terms of the act and that the spouse met the marriage requirements of the act. That information could be helpful in your research–particularly if the amount of information known on the ancestor is minimal.
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