This is from a post (in part) I wrote in 2015 on my Rootdig blog. Are you making “genealogical statements?” Genealogical statements can be seen as being about an individual or expressing a relationship between two individuals. Genealogical statements about individuals usually are relatively specific as to time and location: Johann Schmidt was born in 1845 in Schteenytinystadt, Germany. Thomas Rampley purchased property in Coshocton County, Ohio, in 1818. James Rampley is buried in Buckeye Cemetery, Hancock County, Illinois. Riley Rampley served in Company D of the 78th Illinois Volunteer Infantry from 1861-1865. Genealogical statements between two individuals generally express a relationship between those two individuals (precise times and locations may not be known but they are helpful in distinguishing individuals from others of the same name): James Rampley […]
Don’t assume the first couple whose names are “close” to the ones of interest are actually yours. In 1880 in rural Walker Township in Hancock County, Illinois, there’s a family headed by a Michael and Franciska Trautvetter and one headed by a Michael and Franciska Turnhoffer. Both are of German descent. They are two entirely different couples. Similar names do not always imply the same people. ——————— Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors.
When ancestors “disappear” from records after they’ve reached a certain age, it usually is suggested that if they “didn’t die where they were supposed to,” that one look for them living near or with one of their adult grown children. Several of my ancestors who “disappeared” were actually living near one of their children after their “disappearance.” Melinda Newman and her husband were living in White County, Indiana, after their children had left for other states. When I could not find Melinda after her husband’s 1861 death, it was because she had moved to Linn County, Iowa, to be near several of her grown children. But…. Not everyone does that. Melinda’s own son, William Newman, did not. After his children had all left the nest, William and his wife […]
Your ancestor’s civil marriage record may contain the name of the preacher who married your ancestors or the church with which he was affiliated. Try and see if the church has any extant records. Church records may provide more information about your ancestors. Or they may not. Or your ancestors may have been married by a Justice of the Peace–in which case there won’t be a church record of the marriage. ——————— Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors.
When there are multiple marriages for multiple people, a chart may make it easier to visualize the relationships. In this case, the middle children are half-siblings to the left children and the right children, but the left and right children do not share a biological relationship. In this example the children from the very first marriage and very last one shown did not live near each other and probably never met, but many times that is not the case. [note: the typo in the image has been fixed] ——————— Genealogy Search Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors.
Make certain you have completely tracked children your step-ancestor might have had with spouses besides your direct line ancestor. After my ancestor‘s second wife died, she his second wife married again and she had a child with that husband. Tracking down the second wife, her second husband, and their child may lead to something that helps me search the actual ancestor. Or maybe not. But I don’t know if I don’t look. ——————— Genealogy Search Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors.
There are many ways your ancestor might have obtained federal property. Military service before the Civil War may have made him eligible for bounty land, he may have made a direct cash purchase, he may have been an early settler who filed a pre-emption claim, a homesteader who worked the ground the required amount of time, or someone who obtained property in another way. To search federal land patents–those deeds that transferred property from federal to private ownership, visit the Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office website.
We’re excited about our May 2016 webinar schedule: Irfanview for Genealogists Digital Media Organization American Court Records Federal Land State Property Descriptions: Sections, Townships, Base Lines and Meridians Barbara’s Beaus and Gesche’s Girls Visit our announcement page for specific schedule.
I first worked on my children’s Belgian ancestors years ago. When using the vital records from the 19th century, I used them the way I had other European records from the same time span. I looked in the “book” for and read through the entries for the years I thought included the person’s birth date. Then, if I had the correct person and had the names of the parents, I scanned the years before and after the birth to locate siblings. Imagine my surprise when I found indexes interspersed in the records. I had never encountered those before. While indexes are not perfect, they would have saved me a great deal of time. Moral-the first time you use any “new” record, familiarize yourself with the whole thing first, […]
If you’ve located an entry in local marriage records that a license was issued for your ancestor, have you determined if the license was returned? The issuance of a license means only that a license was issued and that a couple was intending to get married. Usually cancelled licenses are returned and “cancelled” is written somewhere on or near the entry in the record indicating the license was issued. But not always. Sometimes they are just not returned. Sometimes licenses that are used are not returned by the officiant, even if the marriage took place. ——————— Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors.
If you can’t find your relative in a database, consider switching the first and last names. These kinds of errors are not all that unusual, particularly with individuals with non-English names. ——————— Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors in their newspaper collection.
Join us for the following events this April/May (registration is limited): US land records class–discussion starts 1 May US probate records class-discussion starts 8 May Organizing Genealogical Information– discussion starts 9 May
If your ancestor was a landowning farmer and migrated from Point A to Point B, see from whom he purchased that first piece of property when he arrived in Point B. It might have been a relative or former associate, neighbor, etc. The owner of that property in Point B might have been looking to sell it and heard that his relative or former neighbor was thinking of moving. Or the seller could have been totally unrelated. But you won’t know until you look. ——————— Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors in their newspaper collection.
The man’s name was 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? ——————— Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors in their newspaper collection.
Just because your ancestor uses the phrase “my now wife” in his will, it does not mean he had to have been married twice. A man might use the phrase to make it clear to whom a bequest was being made. If his will said “to my now wife I leave my farm for her life and at her demise it to go to my children” that meant his wife at the time he wrote his will. He might have been concerned that if he remarried and his “then wife” married again that his real property might fall out of his family’s hands. ——————— Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors in their newspaper collection.
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