I just finished my “Basics of Citation” webinar–I went over the allotted time and had good questions from attendees. We looked at several examples during the hour-long presentation and discussed the philosophy of citations in a down-to-earth, practical fashion. Our focus was on typical documents and sources researchers use. We did not focus on the arcane or unusual. One of my goals was to make citations less intimidating. I want people to cite their sources. It is not the end of the world if your citations are not in the technically proper format. My goal is to make researchers less concerned about minute details and more concerned about the importance of citations and what information is crucial for later research and analysis. I don’t want to people to forgo […]
When you find it, save it. Save the image or the text in a way you can view it later. Save it to your own computer, flash drive, jump drive, digital media, or other storage medium. Backing up to the cloud is fine, but make certain that your cloud storage is backed up to other media. That should be physical media over which you have actual control, media you know exactly where it is, and media you can actually put your hands on if necessary. You cannot put your hands on the cloud. If your files are stored one someone else’s server or site, there is the possibility you may lose access. The company may go out of business or you may be unable to afford to maintain […]
Many veterans of the War of 1812 received federal land as a benefit of their service. The patents (first deeds) that were issued based on their military service are online and indexed at the Bureau of Land Management website. We’ll have more details in a future tip post.
Sometimes we think our ancestors arrived from overseas knowing exactly where they were going to settle. That’s not always true–either for ancestors who were urban dwellers or farmers. They may have easily temporarily stayed with former neighbors, friends, or relatives who lived in a different city. And then, when they got their bearings, maybe saved a little more money, and found their bearings, they moved on to that place where they ended up staying for the rest of their life.
People disappear without a trace for a variety of reasons. That’s a different kind of “missing” that is more than simply being unable to find them in records. If your relative disappeared–either intentionally or as the victim of some type of crime–newspaper accounts or court records may provide additional detail. If the relative just up and left, there may be divorce records as well. It’s also possible that some reference to the disappearance may be mentioned in probate records for an estate in which the missing person was an heir.
When Michael Trautvetter came to Campbell County, Kentucky, he was in his mid-forties and married to a woman named Margaret. A woman with that name and consistent ages is the oldest female in his 1850 and 1860 census enumerations and appears with him on several land records. It turned out something happened to Michael’s first Margaret and he married another woman with that name between the 1850 and 1860 census enumerations.
The 1860 US census asks if the person was married within the census year. It can be easy to overlook this column, particularly if the person is someone you don’t think would have gotten married during the census year. This can be a significant clue, particularly in locations that do not have marriage records.
This 1932 death certificate from Pennsylvania clearly has been filled out by more than one person. The handwriting and ink are not consistent across the document. Do you always consider that more than one person may have provided information for a record? The handwriting doesn’t even have to be different for more than one person to have provided the information-it just means that one person wrote down all the answers.
Registration ends at 6:00 pm central on 26 January 2016. See below to register. Date: 28 January 2017–2:00 pm central. Session hosted via GotoWebinar. Citation does not have to be intimidating or something to avoid. Our focus will be on citation for the non-professional who realizes that they need to cite but does not want to become obsessed with it. In this hour-long presentation we will see how to cite: census records wills obituaries–both in the newspaper and one you found in Grandma’s old bible photographs tombstones family items and heirlooms vital records more as time allows Register here. Citation does not have to be a dreaded part of research. See how it can actually help and strengthen your research. Registration limited. Handout included.
Our post on the essential essence of citation was necessarily short. There’s one short way that it can be improved: when using your own memory as a source–include your name. Someone else later reading your material of your file may not know who is meant when you say “personal memory.” Include your name, “personal memory of compiler Susan (Longunusualgermanname) Smith.” And never refer to people as just Aunt Brenda or Uncle Horace. Use complete names.
Administrators do not have to be relatives of the deceased. Do not assume there were no relatives living nearby if a “non-relative” is appointed to administrate the estate. Administrators can be neighbors or others appointed by the court. In some locations relatives (including the spouse) may have to sign a waiver giving up their preferential right to act as administrator. The estate of Michael Trautfetter from Illinois in 1869 (shown in the illustration) was administrated by Julius Bierman. Bierman had no relationship connection to the family.
Citing sources frustrates some researchers. They worry about format, style, and the appropriate placement of punctuation. Don’t fret over such things. As we will see your concern should be over your cousin in Santa Fe. If you put a date of an event in your genealogical database, include the reason. It could be death certificate for John Q. Rampley in the Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois, courthouse birth certificate for Susanna Rucker in the Orange County, Virginia, courthouse family bible in possession of my aunt, Mrs. Donna Askme Questions personal memory–he died after I graduated high school personal memory–they married before we moved to Idaho Purists will frown at these citations. Let the the frown lines be their own reward. Are there a few minor details missing? Yes. Is […]
Do you devote some of your “genealogy time” to learning while you are not actively researching? While we all learn as we research it is understandably easy to let the research distract us. Are you devoting some of your research time to: learning about “new to you” sources learning about “new to you” methods learning about “new to you” technologies learning about the history, culture, and geography of where your ancestor lived Regularly learning something new generally will help your research.
The names of some locations may be informal and only exist in the minds of local residents. Official location names may be used in legal and other documents, but newspapers (particularly “gossip columns”), family letters and less formal materials may refer to places by names used by the locals. I know where the Habben Corner was and where the Meadow Slough south of Carthage, Illinois, approximately is, but these location names won’t appear in any gazetteer or geographic directory. Local libraries, historical/genealogical societies, or “old timers” may know the places to which these unofficial names refer.
Where do the “hint leaves” on your Ancestry.com tree come from? Generally speaking, most leaves result from: links other people have made in their own trees. That is, you link an 1880 census for Hinrich ReallylongnameIcannotspell. Another person who has linked that 1880 census entry to their tree’s entry for their Hinrich links that Hinrich to an 1870 census record for Hinrich ReallylongnameIcanspell. You may get a “hint leaf” suggesting the 1870 census record for Hinrich ReallylongnameIcanspell when you find the 1880 census record for Hinrich ReallylongnameIcannotspell. search results based upon broad searches for information in your database. larger databases. “Hint leaves” do not include every database on Ancestry.com My “practice” online tree is online at Ancestry.com.
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