I was asked recently if I track everything I do in a research log. Everything. The answer to that is “no.” There’s no need to lie about it. When I find something I don’t track what I did as I have the document to indicate what I found and the citation to explain where and how I obtained it. But when I do not find something, I need to track what I have done–because I don’t have that document or record as evidence of my search. So I track the database I use and how I searched to find a certain person (name, search options, and the like). If I perform manual searches of records, I include that as well. I may even include why I tried the […]
I prefer to put my identification and provenance on the bottom or side of my images. One can also put it in the metadata associated with the photo as well. This is about as much as I put. The intent is not to write a novel. Grandpa raised registered Angus cattle and he and his sons showed cattle at several locations in western Illinois–but there’s not room on the photo to include all of that. But it is something to document. I could create a word processing file with various photographs I have, newspaper clippings my Grandma had, things I found in newspapers related to showing the cattle, and the like. Join me for three days of research at the MidWest Genealogy Center. Download our Charts Webinar or our Full-Text Searching […]
If your relative has property values in the 1850 and 1860 census, analyze them in context–not in isolation. The only thing the value tells you by itself is that the relative owned property. Context matters. How does their property value compare to that of their neighbors in both these enumerations? By what percentage does their property value change from one enumeration to the next? Does this same change seem to be taking place with their neighbors as well? An increase in property value could mean more property was acquired, property values in that area went up in general, or improvements were made on the property. A decrease may mean property values declined or property was sold. No matter the value of real property listed in the census, locate […]
It can be easy to waste “research” time by mindlessly looking at online sites for one thing or another. Some ways to avoid these time wasting activities are: Chasing some research leads down those “rabbit holes” can be a good thing–sometimes. But it can be easy to waste an inordinate amount of time chasing after half-baked, uncooked leads on your computer, when you’ve got three perfectly good cookies sitting on the counter. The only problem is that you have to get off your chair to get them.
Corrected Links Presentations on farming ancestors tend to focus on those who owned real estate. It can be a challenge to research those farmers who rented their ground, worked as sharecroppers, or those who worked in agriculture as farm laborers. In this presentation we focus on these types of individuals. Farm renters, sharecroppers, and farm laborers tend to leave fewer records–we’ll focus on research strategies directed towards them. They can be challenging to research in a way that landowners are not.
From a while back. I’ve been searching local newspapers in Hancock County, Illinois, where I grew up and where most of my family has lived for generations–using telephone numbers to find classified ads placed by my parents and grandparents. I found the typical fare: eggs for sale, straw for sale (on the rack and bale your own), bulls for sale, etc. But I found several references to my parents phone number that I knew were errors including one for a Kiwanis breakfast and for inquiries on a home for sale. The references to my parents’ phone numbers in these cases were simply errors where likely two digits were switched (a transposition error) or a digit was keyed incorrectly. Before I get suggestions that these were actually references to […]
Presentations on farming ancestors tend to focus on those who owned real estate. It can be a challenge to research those farmers who rented their ground or those who worked in agriculture as farm laborers. In this presentation we focus on those two types of individuals. Farm renters and farm laborers tend to leave fewer records–we’ll focus on research strategies directed towards them. They can be challenging to research in a way that landowners are not.
If the ancestor is not in a set of records and you expected them to be in that set of records, then ask yourself: Join me for three days of research at the MidWest Genealogy Center. Download our Charts Webinar or our Full-Text Searching at FamilySearch Webinar.
Normally an ancestor has to be dead to have an estate settlement, has to be born to have a birth certificate, etc. Think about what really HAS to be when you research your ancestor. He didn’t have to get married to reproduce. He didn’t have to name his oldest son after his father. He didn’t have to get married near where his first child was born. He didn’t have to have a relative witness every document wrote. There are few “have tos” in genealogy. Make certain you aren’t using “have tos” to make brick walls for yourself.
Overwhelmed by common names like Smith or Jones in your family tree? This presentation offers advanced strategies and techniques to help you effectively use FamilySearch’s full-text search and find those elusive ancestors. Download immediately for $40. Save 30% on Cyber Monday use code cyber2025. Full-Texting the Smiths and Jones: Strategies for Common Names Using FamilySearch’s Full-Text search is easier when the name is relatively uncommon. It’s more of a challenge when the last name is Smith, Jones, Brown, or something similarly common. In this presentation, we will look at approaches to maximize the chance you find that common-named person. No approach is full-proof and we will not be so brazen to guarantee success. No genealogist should ever do that. What we will do is help give you some […]
It can be tempting to think that if one keeps looking and tries hard enough, that there’s “got to be” a document somewhere that answers all your questions. Sometimes. But most of the time there’s not. To be certain, I’ve found a page of court testimony that outlined the family relationships and military pension affidavits that answered many of my questions. But in most situations, determining the relationships required looking over all the snippets of information I had from a variety of records, analyzing those snippets, and trying to determine what they said in the aggregate. No clue is too small. There might be that one piece of paper in a courthouse that will answer all your questions, but likely there’s not. Chances are it’s quite a few […]
When using a record or source that is new to you, here are some things to think about to make the best use of it: There are other questions to ask about the record as you analyze the information it contains, but the answers to these questions will hopefully make your search easier. Download our Charts Webinar or our Full-Text Searching at FamilySearch Webinar.
I doubt if my second great-grandmother or her brother ever met their step-mother or the child she had with their father. Great-great-grandma and her brother were born in Germany in the 1840s and immigrated to the United States in the 1860s. In the 1870s, their father–who remained behind in Germany–married again and had a daughter. He died in the late 1870s and his widow and young daughter immigrated to America. The widow settled near her sons by a previous marriage and over a hundred miles from where the step-children she had never met lived. It’s unlikely they ever met and I’m doubtful they ever had any sort of relationship given the distance. The family of the brother and sister never knew what happened to their step-mother or their […]
Never change the order of any names in a document. Children could (but not necessarily) be listed in order of age in a will. If an older child is listed last in a census enumeration it may mean that they weren’t really living there or had moved back home (or it could just be an “error” on the part of the census taker). In a pre-1880 US census (with no relationships stated), those out-of-age-order children maybe married children and their spouses or other relatives. Heirs may be listed in order of age on a quit claim deed (or they may not). The order may be a clue, but try and use other documentation to back up any conclusions you make about the order. And remember that order, sometimes […]
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