In the United States someone who has a “minor naturalization” means that their naturalization process was different because they immigrated when they were a minor. There’s more about minor naturalizations in this article on the topic. Check out GenealogyBank‘s offer for our fans.
Sometimes we assume that county boundary changes are during the “early” days of settlement in an area and involve large areas. That’s not always true. One of my ancestor’s property “changed counties” when the county boundary was moved from an arbitrary straight line between two points to a creek–which made it easier. The amount of acreage was relatively small, but it was large enough to move my ancestor’s property to the neighboring county–simply because of the side of the river on which his farm was located.
In his early 19th century will, a Maryland ancestor appears to disinherit a daughter when he leaves everything to her two children and appoints a guardian for them. The man writing the will might have not so much been disinheriting the daughter as he was avoiding a son-in-law. In the very early 1800s, when this will was written, a man would be able to exercise control over real property that his wife inherited. By leaving the real estate to his daughter’s children, and appointing a guardian, the testator was providing for the children while circumventing the son-in-law. And you thought that only people today who had to use creative ways to get around things.
United States Homestead applications may mention off-farm employment like this one from the 1880s for a homestead in Dawson County, Nebraska does. Applicants were supposed to be living on the homestead, but some did have off-farm employment.
Thomas Chaney willed the “remainder” of his real and personal property to his son William in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in the 1850s. That’s likely why there is no land deed for Thomas selling his property or for William acquiring his–the will served as the “deed.” Deeds for William should be referenced as they may indicate how Thomas acquired the property and provide a little more detail about the property acquisition. Or they may not. But I won’t know until I look.
Just because you see a “fact” written in 1,000 places does not mean that it is true. Genealogical analysis can’t be covered in a short tip and we’re not going to try, but remember: Different records that say the same thing may have had the same original “source” if Grandma Barbara was the one who always gave the information. Just because she repeated it over and over does not make it true. 1,000 online trees that agree does not mean they are correct. It just means that they probably have the same original “source,” right or wrong. Whether a written reference to a “fact” is “wrong or right,” depends upon our perceived reliability of the record and the informant. Not how many times it’s been repeated.
Records won’t always describe the individuals involved, but sometimes they do. This 1799 inventory of an estate from Maryland indicates who the appraisers are (fairly typical). It also indicates that the inventory has been acknowledged by two men who are “Kindred” and two men who are creditors. Appraisers can’t be relatives or creditors–so that’s a clue right there. The relationship to the kindred is not stated, but it is reasonable to conclude that they have an inheritance relationship in the estate. The creditors also have an interest in the estate.
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At the risk of oversimplifying, a “life estate” in property (generally a widow but not always) is the right to use the property and receive income from the property during the person’s lifetime. They do not have the right to bequeath the property to someone, to mortgage it, or to sell it. Oftentimes a widow is given a “life estate” in a piece of property from her husband and in so doing, he specifies to whom it is to pass after her death.
When a researcher is “hot on the trail” of an elusive ancestor or relative, it is tempting to research as fast as possible to find the answers. Avoid that. Chances are the relative for whom you are looking is already dead, so time is not of the essence. Leave a trail of exactly what records you looked at and, more importantly, why you looked at them. Do this as you are doing the research when it is all fresh in your mind. Failure to do so may leave you wondering later where there records were from or what made you connect them to the same person.
I’ve decided to focus more on genealogy research, writing, and blogging. To that end, I’m closing out my webinar sales effective 6 April. Downloads are immediate, items can be viewed multiple times once they’ve been downloaded, and replacements can be sent if necessary. Coupon code 50PERCENT will reduce your order charge by 50% at checkout. DNA webinar list Other genealogy webinars
In reviewing your relative’s estate settlement, pay close attention to individuals that owed the deceased person money. They could be relatives (by birth or marriage) or close associates of the deceased. Sometimes–but it’s always worth some investigation.
If you are researching in an urban area, are you aware if the house numbers were changed at any point during your research time period? Are the contemporary numbers different from what they were during the time your ancestor lived there? Location matters. And if you don’t have the answers to these questions, start with the reference section of the town/city library and go from there.
If certain details of your ancestor’s wife change, but the first name remains unchanged, have you considered that he had two wives with the same first name?
Even if you think divorce “never happened in ‘our’ family,” check for one anyway. It’s possible the couple divorced and no one in the family mentioned it. It is possible a divorce case was initiated and not completed. It’s possible that there was a court case for “separate maintenance” (where there’s no “divorce,” but the couple lives apart). In all three cases, the testimony and details in the court packets may be similar (particularly in terms of possibly providing a date and place of marriage). Children may or not be mentioned in these cases, particularly if they are of legal age. And it’s possible that there was no court action of any type, but the couple maintained separate households. My great aunt and uncle did that until their […]
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