If a will lists a wife and children of the testator (one who wrote the will), it is possible that the wife is the mother of: none of the children some of the children all of the children With out other information don’t immediately jump to any of these conclusions. What’s probably safe to say is that the testator is the parent of the children because that’s what is stated in the will. ————————- Don’t forget our webinar prices will go up on 20 January. Details on our page.
For years, I just assumed that a set of immigrant ancestors who married in Illinois in 1874 met in the United States–because it made sense. He immigrated in 1869 and she immigrated in 1873. They were born in villages 25 miles apart. Seemed logical that they met in the United States. Later research revealed they had known each other in Germany. When she was a young girl her father had moved from the village where she was born to the village where her future husband was born. He worked on the windmills in northern Germany and was more mobile than I had originally thought. Good to remember that people in Europe also move around as well. ————————- Don’t forget our webinar prices will go up on 20 January. […]
I’ve kept my webinar prices low since their inception several years ago, but various fees associated with hosting and distributing the presentations have forced me to raise the prices. Effective 20 January 2016, the price of individual webinars will be $20 each at a minimum. Prices for most presentations now are mostly in the $8 range. Orders are processed immediately–downloads are immediate. Once downloaded, you “have” the presentation to view whenever it is convenient. It’s just the order that has to take place before 8 am. on 20 January 2016. There are more details on our webinar page.
Always check and make certain that the date of birth, date of death, and age agree on a death certificate. There’s always a possibility that they don’t. The date of death is most likely correct as it is usually contemporary to the death certificate being recorded. Usually the age is calculated from the date of birth, but not always.
Roughly every week I send out a blog “update” summarizing postings to my blogs since the last issue went out. This option works for readers who may find the daily update more than they need. The latest issue of the blog update is posted on our site. The weekly blog update is available for a nominal subscription which helps us cover distribution costs. Subscribers to “genealogy transcriber” who like to play along may wish to keep their daily subscription to that site. The daily subscriptions are free and can be managed on any of the specific blogs: Genealogy Tip of the Day Genealogy Search Tip Rootdig Thanks!
There are a variety of places one can obtain evidence of variant names for an ancestor. Court documents are one excellent place as a judge will want to know why a person’s name appears differently on different records. This relative’s names were similar: John M. Habben and John M. Hobben, but the judge still wanted it addressed. Sometimes name variants are not so close. It pays to read all that text in those legal documents.
One problem-solving approach when analyzing a document or a record is to ask yourself, “how did this record and the information it contains get to me?” Sometimes the answer is not as simple as you think. That age for Grandma on the US census you’ve obtained on FamilySearch, probably went through a process very similar to this one: Someone provided that age for Grandma to the census taker–it may or may not have been Grandma. The census taker thought about what he heard. It may not have been what was actually said. The census taker wrote it down in their notes. Their handwriting might have been sloppy. The census taker later wrote up their notes for the actual census. They may not have been able to read them. That census record sat […]
The word infant is often used in legal documents. When it is used in legal documents (court records, land records, probate records, etc.) is is being used in the legal sense–someone under the age of majority. This historically has been twenty-one years of age, but US states typically now end the legal definition of infancy at eighteen. Readers who have questions about use of the word at a certain point in time should search contemporary state statute. The key to remember is that someone referred to as an infant in a legal document can easily be sixteen years old. ————————- Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank––check out their latest offer for our readers–an annual rate of less than $5 a month.
Not all websites are created equally. Consider reading more than one “how-to” blog or site in order to get a different research perspective. The site author may have experience in a limited area and not realize that their experiences can’t be extrapolated to other locations. Or it’s possible that their instructions simply are not phrased clearly. And it never hurts to get advice from more than one person. ————————- Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank––check out their latest offer for our readers–an annual rate of less than $5 a month.
Estate settlements should be checked for more than wills and an inventory of property. Other papers may provide additional information as well. Accountings of amounts paid to heirs can help to determine relationships and, if payments extended for some time, may mention additional heirs born as the estate was being settled.
There are several angles from which to analyze the accuracy of information on a document. One is to ask yourself: “What was the punishment for being incorrect?” In some records, nothing. In other records, there my be a fine. In some cases, the punishment may be more severe. And the potential for punishment needs to be weighed with the chance of being caught. ————————- Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank––check out their latest offer for our readers–an annual rate of less than $5 a month.
Publication notices of court actions may help to supplement what is in the actual court record. They can be especially helpful in counties where records are not extant due to fire, flood, or theft. Newspapers in the county seat usually published these notices but they may also appear in papers in the town where majority of the parties lived as well. ————————- Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBank––check out their latest offer for our readers–an annual rate of less than $5 a month.
[I’m “cross-posting” this from my Rootdig blog so subscribers of both have already seen it.] We’ve picked up quite a few new readers since the start of 2016 and we welcome them to the Genealogy Tip of the Day blog. A few general comments follow. Longtime readers should already be aware of these “editorial concerns.” For those who are new, here goes: I don’t post genealogy “news” here–at least the vast majority of the time. I don’t copy and paste press releases to make blog posts. I don’t even use press releases to make blog posts. We don’t copy and paste old tips, but there will be some overlap occasionally as there are only so many tips one can write. I don’t write about any and all topics just to generate traffic and […]
Only record what a record provides evidence of. Sophia Trautvetter’s stone at the Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois, cemetery does not mean she died in Tioga. She could have died in a nearby village, township, or county. Practically speaking, she likely died within a reasonable distance of where she was buried. However our entry for her death place should not say she died in Tioga. The stone does not indicate that.
I have a certified copy of my birth record from the county in which I was born. It is signed by an official in the county recorder’s office and has the county seal affixed. It “certifies” that there is a record of my birth (with the date and name of my parents) contained within the birth records of the county. That’s it. It is not an actual reproduction of my actual birth record. It does not include all the information from my actual birth record. Certifications are created to “certify” that the record exists. They are usually sufficient for situations where it is simply necessary to prove the event took place and was recorded. Genealogists usually need a reproduction of the actual record. That makes certain all the […]
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