It was an honest mistake, but it makes a good point. My aunt moved several states away from her childhood home, but was buried “back home” with her parents in the “MapleGrove Cemetery.” The obituary for her in her local newspaper only indicated she was to be buried in the MapleGrove Cemetery. No city or state of burial was listed. A researcher saw the obituary and assumed that my aunt was buried in the nearest MapleGrove Cemetery she could find–in the state where my aunt died, not where she was buried. This cemetery was actually a hundred miles from where my aunt died, but in the same state–it was not within a few miles of her home. Sometimes papers leave out “obvious” details. Sometimes they simply leave out […]
Even if the essence of a document is true, it can still contain errors. Just because an item seems to have every detail correct, there may still be factual or typographical errors. This 1932 obituary contains two minor errors–the age at death and the year of the marriage. The date of birth is consistent with other records (there is no birth record or family bible entry for her birth) and the date of death agrees with the death certificate. Don’t assume that everything is right just because 90% of it is. At least they used her name and didn’t just call her “Grandma.”
Review the chronology of all the records you have on a relative. Is there a five year gap when you have no record on the ancestor and don’t have indirect evidence that he never moved during that time? Is it possible that he moved during that gap in time to another place where he might have left records that have not been located? Gaps in chronologies should always be investigated–just in case. The ancestor may never have left his residence, but you won’t know until you look. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Virtually every published source on Clark Sargent indicates that he died in 1847 or 1848 in Winnebago County, Illinois. The date appears in numerous online trees. It’s difficult to tell what late nineteenth century source is the “original” one that first published that date, but it seems reasonable that it was copied and repeated. It has made its way into numerous online trees. Clark owned a small piece of property that’s sold in the early 1850s by his wife and her second husband. There is no estate settlement for him. There’s no guardianship for his children. It’s too early for a death record in Illinois. There is no extant tombstone. It is almost as he didn’t die in the late 1840s. His daughter Emmar (Sargent) Osenbaugh indicated in […]
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Any document can contain an error. The clerk writing out this document forgot the “not” as it should say that the individual the statement “was not aided in any way…” Some errors are insignificant. Others are not. But any record can contain an error–at least records created by humans.
We have had some issues with the daily email of Genealogy Tip of the Day and are going to a different free service to send the tips out every day. This new system (through Google although you don’t need a Google account)also allows for better individual management of email subscriptions. This link allows you to add your name to our new list.The old service will not be supported beginning early the week of 15 May 2017. You will need to respond to a confirmation email that you will receive after you submit your request. You will not be added to the list until you do that. Thanks! Michael
The pension file for Civil War widow Nancy Rampley is rather large and contains numerous applications and appeals. For that reason, many of the petitions are repetitive. That’s good. In one application for a pension Nancy indicated that she was “married at my father’s house.” In another she indicated she was married at “William Newmans.” Had I only read one of these I would have missed the connection. Even when documents seem repetitive to the point of being excessive, read them all. There may be a clue in there if you look deeply enough.
I posted a series of “Ancestral Clues and Lessons” on my Rootdig blog. I’m working through one at a time various ancestors I have researched and included a handful of things I’ve learned about each one–some things are genealogical and some are not. It’s been a fun series to work on. A summary of the current posts in this series can be found on our site.
The pension record of your relative may contain information from the family bible as documentation. If civil records were not available, transcriptions of family information from the Bible or the actual torn-out pages may be included in the pension file.
There is still time to join me on my annual research trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana this coming August. Check out our more detailed post for details.
Try to be as specific as possible when referring to geographic locations in your research (use GPS coordinates when the location is is precisely known). For urban locations, street addresses are usually not a problem–but certain there have not been changes since the time the address was valid and the present. For property owners, a legal description of a piece of property should serve to precisely indicate a location. Try to avoid the description used by this postmaster in 1918. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Dates of birth can easily be off by a day or two, particularly if the birth was in the wee hours of the morning. What is recorded “at home” versus what appears on the original certificate. In this case the mother gave a different date of birth for her child than appeared on his birth record. She had to explain the difference to the pension department. Genealogy Tip of the Day is proudly sponsored by GenealogyBank. Try their “GenealogyBank Search” and see what discoveries you make.
Individuals who died at a veterans’ home or hospital may have been buried on the grounds instead of being sent home. If your veteran (or his spouse) is not buried near where he or she lived, see if they were sent to a veterans’ hospital.
Pension files may contain multiple medical reports on your ancestor. Read more than one. Some doctors tell the truth, some exaggerate key details, some lie, and some don’t know what they are doing. Different reports provide a broader perspective.
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