Many US states took their own census in non-federal census years. If you’ve not determined when state censuses exist for your research areas, it might be worth your while.
The reason you can’t find your ancestor in the census index may be because the original is difficult to read or the “entry of interest” is hiding in a faded corner. A manual search may be helpful, but only if your interpretation and reading skills are better that those of the person making the image.
Many journals, registers, and ledgers maintained in local records offices have an index to the main individuals mentioned in those records. Is it possible that the handwriting for the name in the index is easier to read than the handwriting for the name in the record?
Census enumerations were sometimes reviewed and corrected after the enumerator had submitted their clean copy. This 1900 census enumeration contains a corrected age–the “2” in “29” does not look like other “2”s on the same page. Apparently in this case the census taker didn’t take the census date and the month of birth into account as there are numerous corrections on his enumerations.
Some abbreviations still make sense 200 years later. Others do not. If there’s an abbreviation that makes no sense to you, Google it, ask someone what it could mean, look for it in genealogical references, etc. But make certain you find out what it meant at the time the document was written. And avoid using abbreviations yourself.
The problem with websites that take us “right to the name we want” is that we miss things. To create a citation, I needed view the front of a marriage book from Coshocton County, Ohio. In the inside front cover was a note that there was a list of ministers further on in the book. The first few pages of a record book can contain unexpected surprises.
When was the last time you backed up your digital images and files? I realized today that I have a variety of photos taken around the time my mother passed away nearly five months ago that I have not saved anywhere other than my phone. When I charged my phone today it acted a little strange and I became concerned that something was wrong with it. Before I did anything else, I made certain I had moved those pictures to at least two other locations so that my pictures were safe. Don’t wait.
No matter how “odd” you think a name is, remember that there may be others with a very similar name. I have an uncle born in Germany in the 1850s whose name was Tamme Focken Tammen. He has first and second cousins named Tamme C. Tammen, Tamme Focken Tammen, Focke Tammen Tammen, etc. They were born at approximately the same time and in some cases settled in close proximity to each other and can be very easy to confuse. What you think is rare may not be.
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Whenever you find a minister associated with your family–be it on a marriage record or a funeral notice–determine with what church he was affiliated. Googling his name may be helpful in this regard, but don’t rely on it 100%. The church may have additional records on your ancestor, particularly if they were married in the church or buried from the church.
The best way to determine if the database works the way you think it does (and if you know how to use all the search features), is to search for someone you think is in there and see if you can find them. Here’s a couple of recent “problems” that I had: “An Estate With No Name“ “Are Focke, Fokke, and Fakke Similar?“
If your widowed ancestor was appointed the administrator of her deceased husband’s estate, who were her bondsmen? They could have been her sons, other relatives, or someone else who knew she could be trusted to handle the affairs appropriately. If you’ve never thought about those names on the bond, do so. There could be a relative hiding in that bond.
I’ve just finished up More on the Probate Materials on Ancestry.com (order here). I really enjoyed giving my first presentation on the probate materials on Ancestry.com and learned a lot doing it. Now that I’ve had time to get into the materials more deeply and have had questions from attendees, viewers, and blog readers, we continued our discussion and discovery with “US Probate Materials on Ancestry.com Part II.” Part 2 will cover: Searching the unindexed probate materials at Ancestry.com–remember that the index on Ancestry.com only scratches the surface of what is on the site Navigating the several search boxes and inventory interfaces Making certain you have gotten all the probate references for your person of interest that are on Ancestry.com Determining what additional may be on microfilm at FamilySearchand onsite at the courthouse Comparing Ancestry.com‘s coverage with that on FamilySearch. Ancestry.com does […]
When using foreign language records, make certain you know the gender of names with which you are unfamiliar. Ask someone who knows. Don’t just guess.
There is still time to join me for part two of my webinar series on the probate records on Ancestry.com. We are looking forward to continuing to see how to effectively and responsibly use the material in this collection–and to know what is not there as well as what is.
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