Your person of interest could easily have had more than one obituary or death notice. Don’t stop when you find the first obituary. Different local newspapers may have printed slightly different versions of the death notice or obituary. If your ancestor was an immigrant, a local “ethnic” newspaper may have printed an obituary or death notice–perhaps with more details than the English language newspapers. Religious, occupational, or trade publications may also have published an obituary with information not included the regular newspaper’s notice.
It is easy to make an error that simply is an unintentional error. The typographical error in the example is easy to spot “Indinan,” but errors of this type can impact dates of birth, places of birth, etc. Always consider the possibility that when one record is different from all the others that the explanation could be as easy as a simply mistake.
If your ancestor moved from point A to point B, consider asking yourself the following questions about your ancestor and the move: What brought him to that new location? What evidence do you have for thinking that was the motivation for moving? Did other relatives, friends, etc. migrate before him? Did other relatives, friends, etc. migrate after him? Answering those questions (or at least trying to) may give your research a little jump.
Some relatives are reluctant to talk to the family genealogist for fear that every detail of a family skeleton or scandal will be broadcast for the world to hear. Ask yourself if you really need to know every detail of every family squabble. It may be sufficient to know that two uncles fought over money when their father died and never spoke again. It may be sufficient to know that a mother and daughter didn’t speak for the last twenty years of the mother’s life without going into excruciating detail of exactly what precipitated the falling out. Sometimes, if the person to whom you are talking actually “lived through the family drama,” it may be difficult to get answers to questions because the entire situation is painful. Tread lightly. […]
Is it possible that your temporarily “missing” relative headed west for a short time only to return home? I had a relative live in Nebraska in the 1880s just long enough to complete a homestead claim before he returned to Illinois. Another ancestor only spent a year in Nebraska in the 1870s before returning home. And several crossed the pond from Europe to the United States only to permanently return some time later.
Before entering information into a genealogical database, consider writing the information down and charting the relationships on paper to make certain you understand them and can visualize them. In families where individuals were married more than once or had children with more than one person, it can be easy to enter relationships incorrectly.
In the 1850-1870 United States census, relationships to the head of household are not given. Remember that the “children” in the household may be children of both the oldest man and oldest woman, children of just the oldest man, children of just the oldest woman, or neither. What the census indicates is that a group of people were living in the same household. Try confirm conjectures regarding the family structure using other records.
The 1820 United States Census contains two age categories that overlap: males of 16 years but under 18 years males of 16 years but under 26 years
If your relative is selling a fractional interest in a piece of real estate, ask yourself: “How did my relative obtain partial ownership in this property?” The usual answer is that there was some type of inheritance. While it is possible there are other reasons, in the majority of cases fractional ownership results from an inheritance. Property tax records and land records may help you determine who the previous owner was. They may also help you determine who the other fractional owners of the property are besides your ancestor.
Never wait to write up research notes from your trip. Write up your temporary conclusions, things you notices, items you need to pursue further, etc. as soon as you can. You will forget why you looked up certain items and those unclear notations you made that you “would never forget” will be forgotten. Time spent writing up your notes is not wasted. Wasted time is what is spent later trying figure out why on Earth you did certain things or in spending an hour to reach the same conclusion you did earlier a week ago when you were actually researching.
We’ve updated our webinar schedule to reflect our rescheduled presentations. There’s still time to join me for one of the following presentations in June Irfanview for Genealogists Digital Media Organization American Court Records Research in Federal Land States Barbara’s Beaus and Gesche’s Girls Details are here.
When searching the Bureau of Land Management website, make certain you remember the general difference between a federal land warrant and a federal land patent. A federal land warrant is good for a specific acreage of property in the federal domain–without stating precisely where the property is at. A federal land patent is a document that transfers title in a specific piece of property from the federal government to an individual.
I always knew that my Trautvetter family settled immediately in Illinois upon their arrival from Germany (based upon the ship manifest and the property purchase date). It was much later that I would discover that several of my Trautvetter’s brothers had spent approximately ten years in north-central Kentucky only to move to Illinois shortly after he did. I assumed they all went to the same place at the same time. That was wrong. Sometimes settlement is not immediate and sometimes people make a pit stop along the way. ——————— Genealogy Search Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors.
A transcription of a tombstone should only include what is on the tombstone. That’s what makes it a transcription. Any parenthetical information preferably needs to be entirely separate from the transcription itself and clearly indicated as material that is not on the stone. Brackets should be used to indicate there’s a portion you cannot read or a part of the transcription at which you are guessing. Parenthetical information may be helpful to other researchers, but only indicate something is on the stone if it actually is on the stone. ——————— Genealogy Search Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors.
Some rural cemeteries, especially very small ones that are no longer used, may require crossing private property to access. If this is necessary, obtain permission from the landowner before attempting to access the cemetery. Cemeteries that are along a roadside or have public access are a different story, but there also may be restrictions about “visiting hours,” decorations that are allowed, etc. ——————— Genealogy Search Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank—search for your ancestors.
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