When looking for documentation of a court action (divorce, guardianship, foreclosure, partition, probate, criminal action, etc.) make certain you are looking in the records of the right court. In some time periods a jurisdiction may have had more than one court–each court hearing specific types of cases. A county may have had a criminal court, a probate court, a guardian court, and other courts that heard other cases. Each court would have its own set of records and indexes. Make certain you are looking in the right court–or at least in the right records.
Using Online Trees This recorded session discusses using information and sources found in the “online trees” that some genealogists love and some genealogists hate. We discuss ways to analyze information in a tree, sorting out maybe good trees from probably not-so-good trees, keeping downloaded information separate from your “good information,” tracking the trees that you’ve used so you don’t waste time reviewing them again, times to use what you find in a tree in your own database, dealing with compilers, handling incorrect information, and more. The download of this presentation includes the fifty-minute presentation and the handout. A recording of this session is being offered at a special introductory price of $8 to celebrate our 80,000th fan for Genealogy Tip of the Day on Facebook. Offer ends on 11 […]
If a relative goes “poof” and appears to have dropped off the face of the earth, were they later an heir to a deceased relative? If that relative owned property at their death, the missing relative may have “reappeared” or at least may have been mentioned in the estate settlement. Arsulus Rampley disappeared in the 1920s somewhere “out West.” When his bachelor brother (who had no children) died in the 1940s, Arsulus had to be addressed since he was an heir. Arsulus never was found, but there was discussion of his disappearance in the court record and the court declared him dead before his brother–so the estate could be settled. He was never found, but at least the court record gave me more about his disappearance and the […]
GedMatch is a great site to get more from your DNA test results. My first webinar on using GedMatch is available for download and registrations are still being taken for our second upcoming session on using the Tier 1 options of GedMatch. Our announcement page has more details.
The man’s name was actually Mel Verslius. His World War 2 draft card accidentally listed him as Melver Sluis before they made the correction. Any chance your ancestor’s name “got split” in the wrong place?
You may not share the same DNA with all the descendants of a set of great-great-grandparents (or more removed ancestor) Not everyone inherits the same DNA “pieces” from a set of common ancestors. There’s only so much “space” in your DNA and different children from the same set of parents get different “pieces” and only half of their DNA from each parent. There are four descendants of my Neill great-great-grandparents that have had a DNA test done. They all share some DNA with me. They all share DNA with each other. But we don’t all share the same DNA pieces, we don’t all “match” each other, and we have different “shared matches.”
We are excited to offer another session on using GedMatch.com for analyzing your DNA results. This session discusses Tier 1 features of GedMatch. Additional details are on our site.
One way to potentially get around your genealogical sticking points is to review what you “know” about your ancestor and determine if you can find a source or record to support that statement. Also make certain that the source is reliable as well. There’s more to genealogical analysis than having a source and determining it’s reliability, but those two key elements are a great start.
Moving around census time, working away from home, and being at school are just a few of the reasons someone can be listed in a census more than once. Be open to the possibility that your relative could have been counted twice and don’t assume that person with the same name is a different person. But…don’t just assume they are the same person if the names match–find a reason. My grandmother was “working out” in 1930 and was enumerated with her parents and in the household where she was employed.
I’ve just finished my first webinar on Using GedMatch.com to analyze your DNA results Discussion included: overview of GedMatch why you should use GedMatch basic GedMatch DNA analysis tools-free ones only one-to-many matches one-to-one compare matching 1 or 2 tests downloading reports matrix comparisons segment matrix Basic DNA terminology is not a part of this presentation. Focus is on being practical–presentation is down-to-earth and easy to understand. Order securely here using PayPal or a major credit card. Download is immediate. Handout included. Email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com if you ordered this presentation and did not receive it.
Your genealogy map collection needs to contain not only modern maps, but also maps contemporary to the time period being researched. Jurisdictional lines lines change, names of streets change, names of political entities change, new counties are formed, etc. It also never hurts to remind yourself of the distance scale–so you know how far apart two places really were. That’s especially important in a time when travel was not via motorized vehicle.
Some US county recorders of deeds in states that are federal land states have tract, lot, or parcel indexes to land records that index land deeds based upon where the property is located. For rural areas these indexes usually are as specific as the quartersection. In towns they usually are for the specific lot. There can be exceptions. These indexes require the precise location of the property be known. They can be helpful finding transactions that slip through other indexes or don’t include all family names. The deeds for the Trautvetter family in the illustration will be indexed in two different sections of the tract index: some will be in the southeast quarter of section 3 others will be in the southwest quarter of section 3
My grandmother and her mother took care of my grandmother’s father at their home near Loraine, Adams County, Illinois, for the last two years of his life after he had a debilitating stroke. By the summer of 1934 his condition had deteriorated to where they could no longer handle him at home. He was sent to a state hospital where he died in August of 1934. His obituary stated that he died at his home. Family tradition always indicated he died at home. The death certificate says otherwise. There was a sense of shame that he had to be sent somewhere and so it was never mentioned. If you can’t find your relative’s death certificate in “the right place,” try looking for a death in a nearby hospital […]
FindAGrave is a neat site and makes it easier for genealogists to locate burial information. One suggestion if you are taking pictures for a memorial on FindaGrave: Get some perspective Include an image or two showing the relative position of nearby stones. Consider labeling who those stones are in the photograph and indicating which stone in the picture is actually for the deceased person in whose memorial you posted it The relative position of stones can be helpful in determining who may be related. Not every adjacent burial is a relative, but sometimes they are.
The 1880 US agricultural census asked the farmer about his land tenure–indicating whether the farmer: owned the land–there may have been a mortgage–“free” or “encumbered” was not asked. rented for “fixed money rent”–cash rent in today’s jargon. rented for “shares of product” Could be a clue as to whether land records need to be searched.
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