Never include in a database that which you do not know. If the only record you have on an ancestor is a newspaper death notice which says: Mrs. Anton Flagstone died on the 5th of August [1890] then you don’t have her first name. You don’t have her maiden name. The newspaper may not even provide a location of death or burial. There is one thing that you do know. You know that the wife of Anton Flagstone died on 5 August 1890. Don’t enter in her last name as “unknown,” “[—–],” or “who knows?” Leave it blank. You do not know it. Do the same thing for her first name. Do not enter her first name as “Mrs,” “Mrs. Anton,” or anything similar. It is fine to […]
It is not the size of your genealogy database or how far back you can extend your family tree that matters. What matters is that you tried to document the lives of your ancestors and relatives as accurately as possible. Try and record your relatives’ lives as carefully as you would want someone to document yours. Would you want someone to have you married to the wrong person, born in the wrong place, and having children before you were born? If that means you have a small tree that only goes back to the 1820s, then so be it. There’s nothing wrong with being stuck in 1820 if that’s as far back as the records allow you to go. ————– Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank. Their […]
I’m looking forward to returning to Southern California for the Southern California Genealogical Society’s Genealogy Jamboree. I’ll be giving three lectures at this annual genealogy extravaganza: Reconstructing Families in pre-1850 Census Records Abraham’s Not There in 1840. How Ohio Land Records Explained a Missing Census Enumeration Restacking the Blocks: Organizing Your Information If you’ll be at Jamboree, please come up and introduce yourself after a presentation! If you’d like me to present at your seminar or conference, email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com.
Create a chart summarizing the census enumeration for your family of interest in every census 1850 or after in which they are listed. The chart will help you to visualize the family structure better and estimate approximate years of birth for the family members based upon the census. These enumerations may be inaccurate, but for some of us they are the only age estimates we have. ————– Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank. Their latest offer for Tip of the Day fans/followers is an annual rate less than $5 a month.
Memory is not as constant as some may think. When I was younger, I could “sing” “The Gambler” from memory. It was on the radio yesterday and my attempt to sing along was mediocre. My words were slightly different, the tune was not quite how I remembered, and I was certain the rhythms had changed. If your relative heard a story one time when they were a child, what’s the chance they remember a few details differently from what they were told? If I can’t remember a song I heard numerous times, the odds are good that I’m going to remember less of something I only heard once.
There are many ways to use a pedigree chart to see something other than relationships and dates. I chose to color code each entry on this pedigree chart with the burial location of each individual. One could see a trend of where individuals tended to be buried. I also noted two burials in the same cemetery that were more coincidental based upon residence than anything else.
Sometimes estate accountings can seem like an endless list of mundane items and their corresponding amounts. Occasionally a clue can be buried in that detail. This 1870 era accounting from Illinois references a mortgage in Kentucky. Following up on that reference lead to the discovery of the family’s residence in that state for nearly ten years–and even more records.
Don’t overlook state census records, even if they only list age ranges of household members. Peter Bieger is enumerated in only one United States census: the 1855 Illinois state census. Even if you have other records on your ancestor, the state census may supplement what you know. It could even reveal a huge clue.
Make certain that you determine if the United States county where your ancestor naturalized kept naturalization petitions. These petitions may include a copy of (or information from) your relative’s declaration of intention and that may provide a clue as to where your ancestor originally settled.
If after your ancestor died and his widow later married a Civil War veteran, her pension application may mention that first husband and provide information on him. This application for Mary Butler gives the date of her first marriage and the date and burial place of her first husband’s death in 1876–before that state kept marriage records.
We are offering a new section of this popular course beginning in March of 2016. There are more details on our informational page.
Most of us have asked someone a question or said something to someone only to have their response to us make it clear that they did not understand what we said. Is that why your relative gave “off-the-wall” answers to the census taker, records clerk, etc.? A person’s difficulty in understanding the question can be compounded by age, hearing difficulties, cognitive abilities, native language, etc. Do not assume that your relative really understood what they were being asked.
In the attempt to “prove everything,” some genealogists assume Grandma was wrong about everything she said. The reality is that the truth sometimes rests in between. My own Grandma insisted she “remembered” her baptism. I never argued about it, but people raised in the Lutheran or similar faiths typically are baptized as infants. That makes remembering difficult. When I located the record of Grandma’s baptism, it turned out she could have remembered it. She and two of her siblings were all baptized on the same day when she was five. The minister even came to their home to perform the ceremony.
If your relative’s last name is a word that is easily translated (such as a color or an occupation), is it possible that some records refer to him by that translated version of his name? Was your ancestor with the last name of White actually a German with a different original such as Weiß? Was your ancestor with the last name of Baker actually a Spaniard with the last name of Panadero?
Individuals who immigrated to the United States as minors were subject to a slightly different (shorter) naturalization process than those who immigrated as adults. As a result these naturalizations were sometimes filed separately from “adult naturalizations” in a separate book. In some counties, the minor naturalizations may be filed in a separate part of the book that contains the “normal” naturalizations. Individuals under the age of majority could not naturalize of their own accord.That’s not the way “minor” naturalization should be interpreted.
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