I’m not exactly certain what brought Andrew Trask to St. Louis in the 1840s, but shortly after his arrival he married Ellen Weld. She died shortly after the marriage and he married again and had all his children with his second wife. Research has focused on the second wife, because that’s the one with whom he had children. Clues as to Andrew’s origins could like in learning more about his first wife and his first marriage, particularly as it took place shortly after he arrived in St. Louis. Don’t ignore ancestral spouses that left no children behind.
I tried a research methodology on one of my Irish immigrant ancestors. That research was interesting, but did not help me answer my question. The problem is that I’m still going down that rabbit hole and learning things. Those things are interesting, but are not answering my question. How willing are your to admit that a new approach is needed?
We’ve released digital copies of these three new or revised webinars: Using Unindexed Records at FamilySearch Creating Effective Online Search Strategies Setting Research Goals and Organizing Your Research Process Download is immediate. Presentations can be viewed as often as needed. More details are available on our announcement page.
While there are no guarantees, there are some things a researcher can do when at the courthouse or records office to maximize the chance you are successful locating the desired records: be polite know the hours of operation know what records they have (or at least a general idea) have your information organized and handy so you aren’t rummaging through papers or your phone to gets dates, names, and places) find out their cell phone use policy look relatively professional (flip flops, belly shirts, and the like should be avoided) thank them for their help–even if you think they weren’t that helpful
When you are stuck, sometimes it can be helpful to get off the internet, think about what you are wanting to know and what sources could provide that information. One approach is to brainstorm, making a list of what could help, who to search for, why to search, and how to get it. When brainstorming, don’t search the internet and don’t worry about how to access the records. That can come later. Brainstorming should be just about making as long of a list as possible. This chart is a part of my “Creating Effective Research Plans” webinar.
This 1915 document gives the mailing addresses of heirs in a probate case without stating any relationships to the deceased. That is intentional. The purpose of this document was to verify that heirs had been mailed a notice regarding the estate. Other documents explained the relationships. Every document in a court record has a specific purpose and it is probably not to leave behind information for genealogists. Make certain to look at every record in a file. Papers that “look boring” may contain the most information.
“Near” relatives. That could be near in the geographic sense or near in the biological sense. Boston, Mass. and West Point, Illinois, are not geographically close. The obituary meant the sisters in Boston and the local niece were the only biologically close relatives the deceased had–not that they were the ones who lived nearby. Some words can have more than one meaning. Sometimes that is easy to forget.
We often use obituaries and biographies to create rough chronologies of our ancestors lives. This can help us search records. Keep in mind that obituaries and biographies may get details slightly out of order–enough to create confusion in the chronology. The father in a family may have died young before they moved out of state instead of after. The mother may have been the parent that died first instead of the father and the surviving spouse may have actually been the children’s step-mother instead of their mother. Keep yourself open to the possibility that there may be just one or two key statements in a biography or obituary that are slightly off. That can be all it takes to create a really different story from what actually took […]
I searched over and over for an Agnes Harper in various records. I could not find her in any United States record before 1900. I tried numerous reasonable spelling variations on the first and last name. Then I located Agnes’ stone on FindAGrave. The stone listed her name as Nancy Agnes Harper–not just Agnes. That was why I could not find her. Always consider the possibility that you have all the names a person used. That could be why you cannot find them.
Look through the list of bills paid out by your relative’s estate. Is there one for a funeral sermon? The name of the minister could be a clue as to what church they attended? Or it could have been the first minister they contacted who agreed to give the sermon.
Due to requests from some readers, we’ve put webinars on these topics on our January calendar. Join us! Due to other work commitments, we will not be offering as many webinars in 2017 as we have in the past. Following topics: Using Unindexed Records at FamilySearch Creating Effective Online Search Strategies Setting Research Goals and Organizing Your Research Process More details are available on our announcement page.
In the United States, there were three registrations for the World War I draft. Each used a slightly different registration card. First Registration. Conducted 5 June 1917. This registration was for men born between 6 June 1886 and 5 June 1896–who were between twenty-one and thirty-one years of age. Second Registration. Conducted 5 June 1918. Men born between 6 June 1896 and 5 June 1897 (those who had turned twenty-one years of age since the previous registration). Men who were supposed to register and had not were also included. On 24 August 1918 there was a supplemental registration for for men had turned twenty-one years of age since 5 June 1918. Third Registration. Conducted 12 Sept 1918 and was for men born between 11 Sept 1872 and 12 Sept 1900. This included men […]
There can be more to a probate record than what is in the packet of papers–if there’s even a packet of papers at all. Many reports and acts of the court were transcribed into various journals and ledgers. Sometimes they contain more details, sometimes they don’t. But sometimes they are extant when the case files are not or are more legible than the originals in the case file. Make certain you have looked at everything.
Photographic images can be a great way to jog the memories of family members. While pictures of family members are a great way to start, pictures of other items can stir memories as well. Pictures of schools, local landmarks, cars, homes, etc. can bring back memories in ways that questions or pictures of relatives sometimes can’t. Ebay is one place to locate such pictures (search for specific places) but there are websites, such as Google Images as well.
As problem-solving approach when you can’t find a family in census, write out what you think their census enumeration would look like and what information they would provide. Then you know for whom to search–and the creation of the likely entry may cause you to notice something you have overlooked.
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