When you discover a “new” event in your ancestor’s life, do you consider that it might have generated newspaper coverage? Deaths and marriages are pretty obvious items for possible newspaper menti on, but there are other events that may have generated newspaper coverage as well. An ancestral acquaintance was convicted of manslaughter in 1858 and pardoned a few years later. I thought to look for a newspaper account of the trail, but should have looked for mention of the pardon as well.
It’s easy to locate an obituary in one newspaper and move on to another research task. In some locations, there may have been several newspapers in the area that might have published a death notice or an obituary on your ancestor. One may have easily included bits of information that were not mentioned in others. Ask yourself: “are there other newspapers that might have published an obituary?” You never know what you will find until you look.
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Before the repairman comes to do any work in the house, I always make certain everything is “cleaned up and out of his way.” There’s no need to pay a plumber to clean out under the kitchen sink to reach the garbage disposal when I can do that myself. It’s the same with hiring a professional genealogist. Before someone else can work on your problem, they will need to organize and “clean up” what you have already obtained. That organization of information is something you can do yourself and is preferred to simply sending the researcher a random collection of documents. If the researcher you hire has to organize our information before he can even begin, you will be charged for the time spent organizing your unorganized information. After all, […]
Never avoid reading the “boring legal pages” of a court record. There may be a spelling clue buried in all that legal talk.
Sometimes one has to realize when it’s time to refocus and move in a different research direction. I’m about there on the second husband of an ancestor whose first husband (my ancestor) died in late 1855 in Warsaw, Illinois. She and the second husband were married by May of 1856 and they were parted by the end of that month when he left for parts unknown. All I know is George’s name and that he was old enough to serve as a guardian/administrator of an estate in May of 1856. That’s it. And the one signature I have of him looks to be in German script. And his name is written as Fendler once in the record instead of Fennan. It still may be time to really think […]
The reverse side of many legal documents typically contains the title of the document and details about its being filed and recorded. There may be other clues as well. This document indicates the letters of administration were revoked. If all the papers in this file had not been extant, this reference may have been the only clue the administrator of this estate was removed from his position.
Publication notices are pretty pro forma in United States settlements in the mid-19th century and later. This one served to remind me that I had not looked for an obituary of Samuel Neill in this paper where his estate notice was published. The papers were not available to me years ago when I initially researched Samuel and I never thought about them later. A local paper may have a better obituary for him than the ones I have. Always be on the lookout for clues and reminders–even in legal notices.
Even within one document, handwriting can vary–even from one word to the next Always be open to the possibility that writers may make the same letter in more than one way.
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In reviewing information on one of my “brick wall” ancestors, I realized that I had not researched the origins of the second or third husbands of that ancestor. While it’s possible that information on these two men does not contain information on my direct line ancestor, it’s also possible that something on one of these men does contain some clue. I won’t know until I look.
Never query a database or search a set of records using information that came “from memory.” It is the best way to waste research time and potentially trace an incorrect lineage. Review your known material before searching that recently discovered database or record.
There is no doubt that the Family History Library in Salt Lake City has a wealth of material–much of it on microfilm and more becoming available online daily. However there are locations where the Library was unable to do much filming. Even in locations where records have been filmed, other records were left unfilmed. Never assume the library has everything for a location. Always check the actual record keeping agencies in the location for additional information.
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The biography of an ancestor lists his ten known children. Based upon extant records, it appears the first three are listed in order of birth. Using their known years of birth I concluded all ten children were listed in order of age and have used that as the “birth order” for the children in the ancestor’s family. In my research notes, I have explained why I chose the birth order for the children that I did. Years later, I may wonder why I listed them in that particular order and if I don’t notate my reason I probably won’t remember.
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