We’ve released recordings and handouts for my two latest webinars. Details are on the announcement pages: Fold3.com webinar US Local Land Records webinar Downloads are immediate and handouts are included. Presentations can be viewed more than once.
There are several things to think of or do yourself before even seriously contemplating hiring a researcher to assist you with your research. organize what you already have–completely. A professional researcher will need to know what you have an organize if for you if you have not already done that–so they can see what you’ve already done and what you know. They will charge you for that time. You may even realize when organizing your information that you still have things you can do yourself. ask others for help. It may be that someone on a message board, Facebook group, etc. can give you the suggestions you need to jump start your work. Keep in mind that some problems require serious study, in depth work, or access to […]
The pastor of an immigrant church may have written most of the church records in English, but sometimes he would slip and write in the script of his native language. The pastor a rural Illinois church in the late 1800s wrote most of every entry in English script, but occasionally he would render something in a somewhat Germanic style. This made it difficult to transcribe some names and easy to interpret them incorrectly. Don’t always assume the entire entry is in the same script–especially if the church has many immigrants and the pastor is one of them.
In some United States jurisdictions in some time periods the estate of a person owning real estate may not have gone to probate. When Riley Rampley died in Illinois in 1893, he owned real property. Instead of probating his estate, his oldest son filed an affidavit (recorded with the deed records) swearing that there was no indebtedness on the property and that Rampley’s final bills had been paid. It would be fifteen years later before any action was taking involving title to the property. If the estate of your land-owning ancestor was not probated after his death, see if an affidavit or similar document was filed in with the land records.
We’ve just released the recording and handout for my recent “Pond Crossing” webinar. This presentation discusses way to determine the “across the pond” origins for 18th and 19th century immigrants to the United States. The focus of this presentation is on sources and methods and are not specific to any country of origin. The bulk of the presentation discusses situations where the place of birth is not as easy as simply locating the immigrant’s death record, obituary, etc. Our discussion concentrates on situations where multiple records need to be used and where the establishment of the extended kin network is necessary. Orders are processed immediately and presentation can be viewed as often as needed and is for personal use only. Order here for immediate download.
The best discoveries are sometimes made off the beaten path–without a map. That’s true with genealogical records as well. Indexes, inventories, and finding aids can be incomplete. This “family entry” from an Illinois Lutheran church was found by browsing images of the church’s records. The names were not index and the inventory did not indicate these items were included. Sometimes one simply has to browse things in order to make certain that everything was seen.
There is still time to join me in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, at the Allen County Public Library this August! Our group is informal, relaxed and focused on helping you when you need or want it. We don’t schedule other “non-genealogy” activities and other than our morning session and an “optional” evening meal, your time is your own to research, ask questions of me when you need to, etc. There are more details on our website.
If insects or weather could negatively effect your ancestor, it could have a financial impact. Did your ancestor only mortgage the farm once–right after a year of drought or an infestation of locusts? Did your ancestor move because there were several years of extremely uncooperative weather in a row? Newspapers and county histories may mention such events and they could be timed to documents that indicate your ancestor was under financial stress. In severe cases your ancestor may have moved, lost the farm, or both. Always keep an open mind for things outside your relative’s control that may have impacted his behavior. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Check our their July offer for “Tip of the Day” fans–offer ends 30 July.
Registration for this week’s webinars is ending on 11 July 2017 at 10 PM central time–to make things easier for our registration staff. Registrants who have not received links to attend 24 hours before a scheduled start should email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com so I can take care of it. Topics are: Pond Crossing German Research Fold3.com Elements of Citation Land Records Basics Registrations can be processed on our announcement page. Thanks!
When I saw the stone of John H. Ufkes, I noticed that the name and dates appeared to be a newer, “cleaner” cut than the rest of the stone–particularly the verse on the bottom that I could not read because it was nearly weathered away. When asking someone about it, I was told that his grandchildren had “gone in together” and had the name and vital dates “recut” into the stone. It almost looked like the name area of the stone had been “cut away” slightly so that the name could be reinscribed. While I’m not certain of just how it was done, I should make a note that part of the inscription has been “redone.” If it appears that a stone has been some how modified or […]
Are you entirely certain there is not another genealogist hiding in the list of your relative’s descendants? My tree is online at Ancestry.com. I blog about my ancestors on a regular basis. I have tested my DNA. My ancestor table is on my website. And yet today at a family reunion, I discovered another descendant of my 2nd great-grandparents who is interested in our mutual family history. If it’s been a while since you looked for interested kinfolk, is it possible that someone has recently developed an interest?
Genealogy marketers use potential “famous connections” to generate interest and sell subscriptions. Apparently it works. The fact remains that most of us have ancestors who are very non-famous. Normal people living normal lives–with the occasional colorful “black sheep” thrown in the mix. And that’s fine. Most family genealogists are not famous themselves, so why should they expect their ancestors to be any different and to be any less human than they are? What genealogists are more likely to encounter are relatives who were impacted by a historical event, the enactment of a law, etc. For those with an interesting in reading more thoughts on the “famous” subject: “Accurately Searching for Ordinary Ancestors“ “Just a Farmer“
Indexes make locating records easier, but there are limitations to them. Handwriting can be difficult to read and indexers make mistakes. Indexers may only index key names in a document, leaving out the names of others who are mentioned in ways that can provide significant information on them. If you have reason to believe a person should be in a record and they are not in the index, search the records manually. Learn how the records are organized to create more effective manual search strategies. If there is a person you have not found in a record and you have tried alternate spellings and names, review ways in which the records can be manually searched. Sometimes a manual search is more practical than others and not all records […]
Some probate records will indicate where notices of final estate settlement were posted. Usually one of those is in the county seat, often the courthouse. The other places probably are near to that part of the county where the deceased did business or lived. In some cases that can be a residential clue which can be helpful if other information about residence is not available. The example suggests that the deceased lived fairly near to the county seat–based upon where the notices were posted. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Name irregularities is one reason why manual searching of records is sometimes necessary. An early 20th century probate document give the last names of the heirs to an estate as “Tooker” when it should be “Fooken.” One typographical error is bad enough, but two just makes it worse. Any transcription of this record should transcribe the document as it and include a notation about the error. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
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