The lucky numbers don’t mean much to me, but the “You will always be surrounded by true friends” fortune cookie fortune I found on an isolated bit of pavement at a local lake struck me as ironic. It was all by itself. That reminded me that while many of our ancestors settled in areas where they knew people from “back home,” some did not. It is always worth looking at those people who interacted with our ancestor in a new area to see if there’s some connection they had in an area of previous residence. However sometimes there was no familial or friendship connection to people in the new area. Some people just struck off in an entirely new locations without human connection from the past. It is […]
Check out our upcoming AI and Probate Classes–details on our announcement page.
Need a writing prompt for your own memories? Is there a sound that reminds you of your childhood? For me it is a rooster crowing. My parents did not have chickens on their farm, but my paternal grandmother did and for some reason the sound of a rooster crowing reminds me of growing up more than anything else.
My forebear’s name was Hinrich Jacobs Fecht. In the 1870 US census he is enumerated with the first name of Henry (reasonable for Hinrich) and the last name of Jacobs. Fecht does not appear on his census entry. Took me a while to find him. If your ancestor has a middle name that is sometimes a surname, is it possible that a censustaker just used that as the last name? Check out our upcoming AI and Probate Classes–details on our announcement page.
The difficulty with pre-1850 census enumerations is that only the head of household are listed. It can be difficult to know who is represented by those tally marks. The most likely candidates for those other people are: Depending upon the ages, the first five are the most likely candidates and where your searches should initially focus. It may not always be possible to determine who is represented by each tally mark. When trying to determine and explain who is represented by those tally marks, track your research notes and process so later you are not having to re-do your work. If you are unfamiliar with varying family structures, look at a few pages of the 1880 census in the same neighborhood. While the time period will be different, […]
We’ve sent out issue 6-1 of Casefile Clues to those who are on the subscriber list. Casefile Clues comes out twenty-four times a year and focuses on genealogy methods, sources, and analysis while being written in easy-to-understand and follow manner. Learn more or get free issue.
We’re offering a new four-week class on “Genealogy Problem Solving Using AI” and “US Probate Records.” There are more details on our announcement page.
In genealogy research, correlation of records is important. But it also is important to analyze each document separately and see what it says completely by itself. Details can be overlooked if we are too hasty to make everything fit together or if we focus too early on trying to get the overall story from all the records that we have. Letting each record tell it’s own story before we try and merge things together is a great analytical tool.
From a while back… Did the census taker reverse the first and last names? It can happen with anyone, but the possibility increases if the individual’s name is in a foreign language and they are a recently arrived immigrant. This man’s name was Focke Meyer, but he was listed as last name Focke and first name Myer.
We’ve released recordings of my AI and Perplexity webinars for immediate download. Details are on our announcement page.
A diminutive is usually a shortened version of a name and one that, while not official, is commonly used for a specific name. Sally for Sarah and Peggy for Margaret are good examples of diminutives and diminutives are usually based on the actual name. Nick names are usually an alternate name for a person and are often based on something other than the name–hair color, size, or some other characteristic. Spelling errors are renderings of name based on clerical error, how the name was said, or how the name was heard. They aren’t a different name, just an incorrect or variant spelling. Diminutives and nick names are different from the name are usually do not sound exactly like the original name.
When reading a handwritten record copy of a will, deed, or other legal record in a volume of other such records, remember:
Your relative may have multiple tombstones, even if their physical remains are all in one place. My uncle has two tombstones. One in Illinois where he is listed with his first wife. One is in Florida where he is listed with his second wife. The Illinois stone only has his date of birth. The Florida stone has the dates of birth and death. He is actually buried in Florida. I need to indicate in my genealogy database on him where he is actually buried and what is listed on each stone. Some of our products:
Just because fifty online trees have the same parent-child relationship does not mean that the parent-child relationship is correct. Might does not make right. If the only sources are unsourced trees then those sources could easily be wrong. It is about the evidence and the analysis not about how many trees make the same statement. Some of our products:
It’s not a computer monitor in the foreground of this picture. That light tan box was used by the auction clerk to keep track of various tickets from items that had been purchased. But, as several have pointed out to me, it certainly does remind one of a computer monitor given its position on the desk and the angle at which the wooden box is positioned. That serves as a great reminder to researchers to be vigilant to avoid putting a modern interpretation on images and records that we view of the past. Times were different. And even while there were computers with screens during the time period in which this picture was taken, those contemproary devices certainly did not resemble the wooden box the auction clerk is […]
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