There are times where it is helpful to have multiple copies of the same record. Those times fall into two categories. The first is when you need a better image of the record than the one that you have. Getting another image or copy make it easier to read that name or word that is giving you difficulty. The second time is when it’s not really the same record. A birth certificate may have additional details that were not put in the birth register. A birth reference in a church record (usually mentioned in a baptism) may include details not on the actual civil copy of the birth record. But getting another copy of something you already have because you did not know you had it is not […]
Not all of us with rural families in our background have ancestors who owned real property. Maps of property owners can still be helpful in our research–particularly if we don’t know where in the county or region our ancestor actually lived. See if you can locate neighbors of your non-land owning rural ancestor on a property-owner map. If you find them on a map, your relative is likely living nearby. This can give you an idea of where the county where the family lived and help you determine possible cemeteries and churches to check for additional records. Tenant farmers and farm laborers do not leave behind as many records as landowners do. But the neighboring landowners (in census and other records) can help you narrow down where in […]
Do you know what the approximate contemporary population was for the town, county, and state during the time period your ancestor lived there? How did the population change over his life time? Knowing the rough population helps to provide perspective. And if you don’t know the population, what other things about the area do you not know? County histories, state histories, newspapers, government websites, gazetteers, and other sources may contain this information. Your reference librarian at your local library may be able to help as well.
Sound research of land records requires that one locate the records of acquisitions and dispositions–how land was acquired and how it was “unacquired” by the property owner. Establishing both ends of the land transaction can lead to genealogical discoveries as deeds of purchase and sale can suggest rough migration times, potential associates, etc. The problem is that some times both ends of the transaction do not result in a clear, straight-forward, paper trail. That’s more likely to be true when the deed that has been located is a quitclaim deed where the person of interest is the grantor. In that case they are transferring their claim to the real property to the grantee. Quitclaim deeds are common in situations involving inheritances, divorces, and boundary disputes. The quitclaim deed […]
I’ve been working on some of my New England families and have used a few compiled genealogies as “a starting point” and something to give me some direction. I know they can contain errors and omissions. Errors and omissions can always create research frustrations. Perhaps the one that is most frustrating to me is the reference to a female that includes her date and place of birth and death, but only lists one marriage–the one deemed “relevant” to the genealogy being compiled. Researchers can overlook things, but if the only marriage listed is not the “last one,” it makes me wonder how they found the death or probate information without knowing her last name at death. Chances are either they copied the information from someone else or neglected […]
Determining the denomination with which a minister was affiliated can be difficult–particularly if the ministry was not the individual’s full time job and the person has been dead for several centuries. The usual place where one learns of an “untethered minister” is on a marriage record. One approach is to search for the individual’s religious affiliation is GoogleBooks. Try searching that site for the name of the minister and the county where the marriage took place–just the name of the county and the state. If that is not successful, consider: Using only the last name of the minister. Use the name of the county seat. Include the word “minister,” “preacher,” “pastor,” etc. Include the word church. Include one word to guess at the denomination “Lutheran,” “Methodist,” “Presbyterian,” etc. […]
This presentation discusses what do to when you’ve located that elusive document. The bulk of the presentation will include ways to get the “most” of the document, making certain to interpret it in the historical, legal and other contexts. Also included will be a discussion of the problem-solving process, organizing research plans, and organizing what’s confusing. The presentation will wrap up with a discussion of how to create further research plans based upon what has been located. This is over. The recording and handout can be ordered for immediate download.
Just a few reminders: Cite sources as you find them. Don’t fuss about format–no one’s genealogy was ruined because of a comma. Interview relatives you have not interviewed. Digitize home sources that have not been digitized. Work on identifying old photographs. Try and learn about a new genealogical source or method. Not all sources are available online. Get the Genealogy Tip of the Day book.
There may easily be more than one copy of your relative’s birth record. There could be the original birth certificate. There may be a register or summary record that includes a transcription of what was on the original certificate. There could be local and state copies of the birth certificate. Because birth registration is governed by state statute and has changed over time, what is true in one state at one point in time is not necessarily true elsewhere or at a different time. New England states usually keep these records at the town level. Local registration of records generally begins before state registration. Determine what registration was taking place where your ancestor lived at the time of their birth. “Where to Write for Vital Records” has links […]
A distant relative indicated that a naturalizing ancestor was the apprentice of his father-in-law in the 1850s. I was unaware of the apprentice relationship and asked her how she knew. She said that the father-in-law had been a witness on the naturalizing ancestor’s naturalization. The father-in-law was vouching for his age, character, etc. when he naturalized. My correspondent indicated that the witnessing meant there was an apprentice relationship between the two. I gently asked where she had learned this. I never heard back. The witness on a naturalization is testifying to what’s stated on the document: generally that the person needed to be naturalized, was of legal age (sound mind, etc.), and of good character. The witness needed to be a citizen themselves of legal age. That’s it. […]
These comments generally apply to US research on those individuals who were sent to a state “asylum” for the “insane.” Keep in mind that the general meaning of that last word has changed over time. Access to state hospital records is normally set by state statute–so if a court order is required, it’s required and the process in one state may be different that the process in another state. Records of the committal are typically county court records and those may be open–you just need to find out what court handles those sorts of cases during the time period in question. In some areas, they may be town records. There may also be references to the case in the newspaper–not as likely, but possible depending upon the situation. […]
Several years ago I worked through a set of DNA matches and reached a conclusion about the paternal grandmother of the testee. I felt strongly that my reasoning and conclusion were correct. As more matches have come in for this test, they have all been consistent with that original conclusion. That’s not the problem. I never wrote up my analysis and recently a correspondent, new to genealogy and from a different part of the family, asked me about the testee’s relationship to the paternal grandmother. The correspondent very nicely asked me “how I reached my conclusion.” She wasn’t doubting it, she just wanted to know how–partly so she could see if my conclusion was correct and also I think to help her with another part of her own […]
The 19th and early 20th definition of “insane” differs from how the word is used today. Great-grandma’s admission to the “insane asylum,” may have meant that family members were simply unable to care for her at home any longer for one reason or another. Having her admitted to the county or state home or hospital may have been the family’s only option given her situation and theirs. Records of these committals are local records–usually county court records, but that can vary from one location to another. There may have been a separate court to hear these cases, sometimes called an “insanity court,” or they may be filed with other court records. The person being committed/admitted is typically the defendant in these cases. The records of these committals, if […]
The Family History Library’s website has many online indexes to digital images of records. But there are more images on FamilySearch that are unindexed and online–essentially rolls of microfilm that can be viewed digitally. The best way to find these items is to search the card catalog for the town/village, county, and state of interest and then browse through the items. Do not forget to search the catalog for all political jurisdictions into which your area of interest falls. The catalog can be searched at: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog
It’s often the case that we don’t know as much as we think we do. Research is best done to find everything there could be instead of confirming what we think we know. Family tradition indicated that a relative and her husband had three children. No mention was made of other children and their obituaries both indicated that they had four children. A search of birth records for the entire duration of their marriage located a first child who died shortly after birth. No mention was ever made of this first child. Such situations were not uncommon. Many families, for one understandable reason or another, did not mention children that died at birth or shortly after birth. These individuals can easily be overlooked if we only look for […]
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