Recently I requested a translation of a funeral entry for a relative. I really wanted the cause of death part translated and included the “occupation” part only to provide additional handwriting as a sample. Turns out the “occupation” portion of the entry contained genealogically relevant information about the relative’s daughters and their residence at the time of the father’s death. All from a part of the entry that I thought would not provide me with any information.
This presentation discusses approaches and techniques for determining an ancestor’s maiden name and locating “missing” females. Geared towards the advanced beginner or intermediate researcher, it focuses on American records and sources before World War I. The content is not specific to any one time period and many of the approaches can be refined for different locations or types of records. Concepts discussed will include: overview of women’s legal rights; property ownership; inheritance; citizenship; and strategies for making the most from what you can find. If you are stymied on your female ancestors–and half your ancestors are female–this presentation may give you the insight you need. Order a recording of the session ($19) for immediate delivery–includes handout. Regular price $25. If you ordered this presentation and did not receive your […]
Always look to see what the “consideration” is on a land transaction. It’s what is given up in order for the grantee to obtain the property. If there’s not an amount of money listed, try and determine what the relationship was between the grantor and the grantee. Whenever property is transferred without cash being transferred, that’s something the genealogist needs to look into.
I’m working on man named Rufus D. Stephens. As I work on Rufus, I become aware of the need to remember that I may not have the same person just because the name matches. The other details matter to. My problem is made slightly easier because the Rufus in which I am interested usually uses the middle initial “D.” But he could easily appear in a record without that initial. I have absolutely no idea what the initial “D” stands for. My first knowledge of Rufus is a 1850 census enumeration in Michigan where he is living near a married woman who is believed to be his daughter. As I find Rufus in other records in other states (he’s believed to have lived in Michigan, Illinois, and New […]
At the time her will was signed, Barbara Haase made “her mark.” Readers should note that simply making a “mark” does not mean the person was illiterate. They might have been unable to sign or perhaps were told to “make their mark.” That’s one reason why documents such as this have witnesses. Barbara could sign her name–she did so on documents in the 1850s and 1860s in a lovely German script. Not certain why she made three marks–although she did have three husbands (or two or four, depends upon how you count).
If your relative obtained a land warrant (usually veterans or their widows for US pre-Civil War military service) and assigned that warrant to someone else, the reverse of the warrant could contain valuable information: the signature of the warrant’s recipient and residential information at the time the warrant was assigned. The National Archives has these surrendered warrants.
Read through the list of receipts from your relative’s estate carefully. Are there any benefit amounts paid from a society of some sort? That membership could be a clue as sometimes membership was limited to a certain ethnic group or denomination.
think through a few things: Can I get it somewhere for free? Can I get it somewhere cheaper? Do I really need it? Do I already have it? You might also want to see if a relative or fellow researcher is willing to help you split the cost.
Does the county where your ancestor live have more than one courthouse? Some counties do. Is your ancestor living in an independent city that has its own set of records? Find out where the records are kept and if your research has moved into a new county, state/province, or country, make certain you’ve learned where records are kept.
Genealogists use digital scans of out of copyright books and records all the time. If the scan you have located online has pages or areas that are difficult to read, consider that another site may have scanned a different copy or the book or used a different scanning process. It may also be necessary to see if a library can make a photocopy of that “bad page” or if a better scan is available through the original holder of the record.
Indexes are generally only used to get the researcher to the record that was used to create the index. There is always the chance that the indexer made a mistake or that there is more on the record than is in the index. If the originals are gone as sometimes is the case, then the index is all we have. And occasionally an indexer will add information to the index that’s not in the original record. But no matter the situation, you should at least ask yourself: how do I find the record that this index indexes? Failing to ask that question could be your problem.
I’ll be giving an online presentation “Researching Female Ancestors” on 17 October 2019. More details are on our blog post.
What someone indicated was great-grandma’s “maiden” name may not have been the last name of her biological father. It could also have been the last name of her: step-father adopted father foster father first husband someone else that someone incorrectly thought was her father Sometimes what someone thinks is someone’s maiden name may not be, especially if the person in question (or her mother) was married more than once.
Church records are more than just baptisms, marriages, and funerals–often these records of these events document vital events in a person’s life-birth, marriage, and death. But there are more. Records of communion, membership, confirmation, etc. may also provide key information. Don’t only look “the big three.” You may miss quite a bit.
I am always a little hesitant to write about grammar, because it’s not really my thing. But we will give it a go here because these words are often used in genealogical materials and legal items. Their use is much less frequent today, especially in a non-academic setting. Old newspapers and obituaries often contain the abbreviation viz. Some genealogists wonder exactly what viz means, so in this tip we will look at three abbreviations that often are confused. Our discussion of them is not in regards to modern usage because we are generally talking about materials written or published before 1900. e.g. from exempli gratia – “for example” (common usage is that what follows e.g. is an example–or more–and not a complete list of items) i.e. from id est – “in other words” (common usage is […]
Recent Comments