Before sending a message, putting information in your genealogical database, or posting family history information online: proofread–one more time. Make certain you’ve copied that date and location correctly, double check that interpretation of a word or a phrase, re-evaluate that conclusion, and see that words are spelled correctly. Grammar errors are not really the end of the world, but errors of a “factual” nature can be difficult to remove once they’ve been posted online and someone has copied them. One last read over never hurts.
Applications for US military pensions often mention the act under which the veteran (or his widow) applied. The details of that act may explain why the veteran waited until then–and that reason could be a clue. Men or women who applied for federal property usually did so under a certain act. If you have records of your ancestor having “applied” for anything, look to see if the act under which the application was made is referenced. Learning about that act may tell you something about your ancestor that is not stated in the application. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank.
The appraisers of an estate are not supposed to have an interest in the estate. That precludes heirs, beneficiaries, or creditors from appraising the estate. Appraisers can be relatives of the deceased (or of the spouse of the deceased), but cannot be directly interested in the settlement of the estate.
In doing some work on Catherine Belless, I came across an 1867 receipt in her husband’s probate case file from Fulton County, Illinois, where she made her mark. I was convinced she had actually signed documents in her Civil War widow’s pension file around the same time. I was certain of it. I was wrong. What I remembered was that the handwriting was different–Catherine had still made her mark. Before you write from memory–check. Otherwise you may be propagating incorrect information yourself.
When women witness events or documents, especially before the early twentieth century, I usually wonder why? Not because women were unreliable but because of societal norms. Women were usually witnesses when men were unable to testify to the events in question. In 1865, Elizabeth Belless testified that she had been at the birth of all of Catherine Belless’ six children and Sarah James was a near neighbor to Catherine and had seen her within hours of each birth. These women need to be researched to determine any relationship to Catherine. WIth Elizabeth Belless the potential connection to Catherine Belless is suggested by the last name. A little more work needs to be done on Sarah, but her statement strongly hints that she’s more than a neighbor.
One of the challenges researchers encounter with images of records is knowing just what they are looking at. “Mega” genealogy sites include many images of records that can be sometimes easy to locate or stumble upon–but researchers may fail to review source information that accompanies the image. Sometimes that source information is not clear and sometimes the researcher may not be familiar with just really what the records are. Google searches often locate images with nary a clue as to what was used to make the image. Questions to ask yourself about any image (or record) you locate: what was the purpose of this record? who created this record? was it a part of another record? what is this record? There are other questions about a document that need […]
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The Union Civil War widow’s pension application indicated the soldier died in Memphis, Tennessee. Another document in the pension application indicated the soldier died in Springfield, Illinois. The soldier’s compiled military service record also indicated he died in Springfield. The document in the service record was created close to the time of his death–within a few weeks. That’s more contemporary to the event than the documents in the pension file. Generally speaking, for there are always exceptions, one wants to get a document that is as contemporary as possible.
If it’s included, don’t crop the photographer information from digital images you make of photographs. That information at the very least can help you to date and place the picture. Removing it could remove key information about the picture. Check out our webinars: genealogy sources genealogy DNA
Most of us wish our ancestors had left behind more stories, but few of us have letters, diaries, or other personal records of daily events in our ancestors’ lives. Don’t forget to record your own stories as well as working to document the lives of those who came before you. Those who come after you will be glad you did. The stories do not need to be profound or life-changing. Sometimes mundane events can be just as interesting–like this one I wrote on a china set my daughter obtained for a wedding present.
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A newspaper reference to a relative’s 1911 marriage in a local newspaper stated that she was the daughter of “Mrs. Susan Smith.” No father was listed. One might assume that Susan’s husband was dead or divorced because she was listed with her first name and without her husband being mentioned at all. Not in this case: Susan and her husband were separated (they ever divorced) and he was very much alive. Whether a woman was “named” with her own first name or was listed as Mrs. HusbandFirstName HusbandLastName varies over time and sometimes there are regional differences as well. The best bet is to copy the item as it is written and only infer what it says–that the mother had a certain name and was alive at the […]
Obituaries often mention survivors of the deceased person. In some cases a distinction may be made between full, half, and step-siblings. In others, no such distinction may be made. If the obituary is the only source for sibling information and you have reason to believe one or both of the deceased person’s parents were married more than once, it is possible that “siblings” in listed in the obituary may not have had the exact same set of parents. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it. If you’d like to get our genealogy tip daily in your email for free, add your address here.
While DNA passes from parent to child, each child only gets half of each of their individual parent’s DNA. Consequently, as a lineage is worked back in time, there will be ancestors in your genealogical tree with whom you might not share any DNA. It doesn’t mean that the ancestor is not your ancestor. It simply means that their DNA did not makes it’s way all the way down to you. While DNA is microscopically small, there’s only so much your body needs. Some suggest (for example, Blaine Bettinger in his The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy) that once a lineage is traced back to the 4th great-grandparents that there are paper genealogy tree ancestors with whom you do not share DNA. That’s why you […]
Names can easily be spelled more than one way–even on the same document. When viewing other names on that census page for possible relatives, consider that names that are “kinda close” may be relatives with the same last name. The last name of Behrens in this 1860 census enumeration from Adams County, Illinois, was spelled four ways on the same census page. None of them were Behrens. The variants were due to handwriting irregularities and how the census taker likely heard the last name.
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