These two webinars have been released for immediate download. They can be purchased at an introductory rate–details are on our announcement page. If you ordered and did not get your download, email me at the email address in your receipt. Thanks!
When using any sort of record for genealogical research, ask yourself–who gets in this record? Is it just landowners? Is it everyone who was alive in a certain place on a certain date? Is it just men of a certain age? Is it anyone who dies in a certain location? Is it just people who can vote? Is it people who have sufficient assets? Is it members in good-standing of a certain denomination? How people get into a record matters when you are interpreting the information you find in that record and how you go forward when someone is not located in that record.
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When was the last time you checked the FamilySearch catalog for something you didn’t think was in there? Last night–while giving a presentation no less–I discovered court and probate records were online for a county in Nebraska where I have people. Been a while since I looked for it in the catalog, but I need to routinely do this. Not every hour, not every day, not ever week…but maybe every couple of months or so review the catalog for those areas where I thought there was nothing.
Is it necessary to research your fifth cousin’s third mother-in-law whose daughter he was only married to for a few weeks? My thought on this is no. There are rabbit holes and then there are genealogy paths that are essentially three thousand light years from your research. But when I mention that not every remotely connected person does not need to be researched, I get people who tell me that they do. I still say they don’t. Most genealogists have not really thoroughly researched their much closer relatives—like direct ancestors, siblings of ancestors, and first cousins of ancestors. I find that really seeing all I can locate about those people usually keeps me occupied—with the occasional diversion to the second ancestral cousin who has an interesting record. I […]
Due to a schedule conflict, we’ve had to change the date and time for these presentations. They are not on Wednesday, 12 March. Details on our announcement page.
One reason for tracking all the deeds of land-owning ancestors is that there can be residential clues in land records. If your relative didn’t finalize a land transaction until after he moved, that deed of purchase may contain clues as to where he was living. Deeds often style the buyers and sellers as being “of” a certain area in the portion of the deed where their names are stated. Sellers usually had to acknowledge the deed in front of a local official (notary, justice of the peace, judge, etc.) in the area where they were living when the deed was signed. The official in front of whom they made the acknowledgement will typically indicate the jurisdiction in which they were permitted to serve–that’s a residential clue. Even if […]
Always think about the family that was left behind when someone died? Were there children who would have needed looked after? Was there a spouse who would have needed some assistance? Was there an adult child who would have been unable to look after themselves? Who would have been nearby to help these individuals? Were there court records, guardianships, or other records resulting from issues when the person died?
The trip my relatives took to visit family in Minnesota made not one, but two, local news columns in the newspaper published in a nearby town. Two separate issues of the Warsaw [Ilinois] Bulletin contained references to the trip. Not surprisingly there were differences between the two references: The two references also indicate the importance of mixing up those search terms when attempting to locate newspaper references. Fannie Neill’s name was usually spelled “Fannie” instead of “Fanny” and a search for “Charles” will not locate the reference to “Chas.” That must have been a cold drive to Minnesota during the winter time in 1931 or 1932.
I am giving online presentations on these three topics next week. Check out our announcement page and attend live or pre-order a recording.
One of the things I find occasionally mentioned in the gossip columns of the weekly newspapers published where my family lived are references to trips they took to visit out-of-town relatives or times when out-of-town relatives came to visit. I decided that it might be a good idea to keep a spreadsheet of these trips (with columns for who travelled, when, where, source of trip information, and miscellaneous details). Why spend time doing this? Because these trips are often when photographs get taken and knowing who visited whom and when may help with some of that photo identification. And who knows what else it may help with?
When evaluating information, genealogists usually categorize that information as primary or secondary in nature. The difference is not just academic. The 1937 military application headstone card for John Ehmen indicated that he died in Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois, on 12 November 1864. Ehmen’s compiled military service record contains two contemporary documents indicating he died on that same date in a military hospital in Quincy, Adams County, Illinois. The headstone application card’s death information would be considered secondary since the application was made in 1937 and the information was likely copied from somewhere–it certainly is not a contemporary record. The death information in the compiled military service record is listed on two separate original documents created shortly after Ehmen’s death (one is a hospital record that indicates his treatments […]
This is one of those charts that I find helpful when reviewing my DNA test results. It’s a chart of marriages where one person is an ancestral sibling (no further back that great-great-grandparents) and their spouse is also a relative. Double connections can frustrate DNA results. I can remember most of the aunts or uncles who married a relative, but the relationship of the spouse occasionally eludes me and this chart saves me the time of looking it up repeatedly. The chart is not detailed, but there’s enough information in it for me and that’s what matters. I also realized in seeing it while writing this post that I forgot to list my great-grandmother Ufkes’ sister who married a relative of my great-grandmother Habben. Reviewing things that have […]
Have you thought about keeping a list of place names you encounter in a specific geographic area so that you don’t have to search for them every time you find a reference to them? I have several maps for the county where I grew up and for various other areas where family members lived. When looking at maps for one specific area, many have the same place names listed. But there is some variation in which place names are on which map, depending upon the time period and the purpose. I’ve also encountered references to place names in newspapers and other print sources. A list of place names in a specific region, their location (as specific as I can get), the time period, and the source of the […]
Today you can still save $10 on More Genealogy Tip of the Day our second book. The announcement says just 2 March, but we’re extending it through the 4th for readers of our blog. Details here.
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