Is it possible that your relative’s naturalization was published in the local newspaper? Not all newspapers published notices of this type–newspapers where my people lived unfortunately did not publish these notices. But you never know. In locations where local records have been destroyed, newspaper notices of legal activities can often be helpful. Genealogy Search Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank.
It is always advised to search every record–even when you don’t think it will tell you anything you “don’t already know.” US census records are not supposed to be more specific than state or country of birth. In some instances they’ve put towns of birth or areas of Europe that are more specific than the country. It never hurts to look–even when you know it all.
There is still time to join me on my 2017 trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Additional details are on our group page.
In all those genealogy files you have on deceased relatives, don’t neglect to include some biographical information on yourself. It’s not necessary to write a complete “tell-all,” but a discussion of some of your life experiences, what had an impact on you, mistakes you made that you feel comfortable telling, etc. are all good things to consider writing about.
Is your ancestor’s ship mentioned in the newspaper on the day it arrived? The Weser landed in New York in November of 1873. It’s arrival is mentioned in a Philadelphia newspaper on 3 November. My ancestor Focke Goldenstein was on the boat. Names of passengers rarely are mentioned, but you may be fortunate enough to get a weather report. Genealogy Search Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank.
Whenever you discover a “new” last name, make a list of all reasonable variants for that name. The little amount of time spent will be worth it. Sometimes when we are “hot on a research trail” with a name recently discovered, we don’t think of all the possible variations there are.
I will be giving three presentations on Veterans’ Day: Military Benefit Records Using Fold3.com BLM Tract Books Details are on our announcement page.
Divorce may have been forbidden in certain families and religious tradition, but that does not mean that married couples always got along or continued to live together. Your relatives may have never divorced, but instead may have lived separately based upon some legal arrangement. You may find a court case for separate maintenance or a land record separating their marital property. They technically aren’t divorced in those cases.
Have you tracked the ex-spouses of your ancestor or relative after the divorce? Sometimes it may not really “help” with your research directly, but there are times where it may directly benefit you on other family members. I realized that I have nothing in my files on my great-uncle’s wife after their early 1930s divorce. She and he had no children, so it’s not like this would help me trace down descendants, but it will complete my files and…one never knows what one will find until one looks.
Interviewing relatives should never be a “one time and you are done” thing, even if the person insists they cannot remember anything else. Use documents you have located to get the interviewee’s memory going. The name of an informant or a funeral home on a death certificate, the name of neighbor in a census, a street address of a home, and other details can easily jog someone’s memories.
I’ve always downloaded images to my own computer of records I’ve located online. I may not always be able to maintain the subscription to have online access to the image. The site you subscribe to may eventually lose the ability to host the image even if you don’t let your subscription expire. And there’s always the chance that you are unable to find the image again. If you’d like to help support Genealogy Tip of the Day, visit our “support us” page.
Errors are sometimes nothing more than accidents. This 1946 newspaper clipping incorrectly refers to Wilbur Johnson as William Johnson. Situations like this are why it is important to leave some search terms out when searching and search for all the names that may be in a record. And errors of this type are why if one record differs from every other record it could be a simple mistake.
We all have family skeletons and sometimes what we may think of as a minor indiscretion a relative may see as a major tragedy. Before you push too hard with questions or publicize a past incident too much, consider what sort of a response you might get from other family members. Some stories (particularly if you were personally involved in the event) may need to see the light of day, if only for our own healing and mental well-being. But if it happened in 1880 and could jeopardize your relationship with living family members, think twice. The decision is still yours, but just remember that one has to live with the living.
Scanning documents is great and an excellent way to preserve them. But transcribing serves a purpose too. It forces you to actually READ the document. That is a great way to notice phrases or words that sometimes get overlooked. And there are times when that one word or phrase can make all the difference. Transcribe something today.
Remember that just because your ancestor appears on a 1830 real property tax list for Coshocton County, Ohio, it doesn’t mean he lived there. Real property ownership in a location does not necessarily imply residence in that same location. People on personal property tax lists are more likely to have lived in the location. But as for the real property tax lists, your ancestor might have speculated on property, inherited it, acquired it through military service, etc. and never actually lived on it. Most property owners lived on or near the property, but don’t use your ancestor’s name on a real property tax list as your sole proof that he lived there.
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