If you are “stuck” on a specific ancestor, have you completely researched all the way through their grandchildren? There may be direct clues in records on those individuals to help you on the grandparents, or there may be indirect clues (associates, etc.) that may help you on the actual ancestor you are working on. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Have you contacted the local historical or genealogical society in the county where your ancestor lived? They may have unique sources or knowledge that could be helpful to your research. Don’t fail to make contact with these organizations. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that city or town dwellers who owned their home should appear in land records as well as farmers who owned property of larger sizes. These transactions may help pinpoint a migration time for your ancestor and deeds drawn up after the surviving spouse died may help you locate missing children. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
My webinar on the probate process (focusing on American records) was recorded today. Geared towards the advanced beginner or intermediate researcher, it covered an overview of the process and looked at selected documents from two probate settlements with a discussion of the pitfalls to watch out for along the way. Probate records are an excellent genealogical source–regardless of the time period in which you are researching and may contain clues about your ancestor, where he lived, his occupation, etc. The recording (and handout) are available at an introductory rate of $6. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Your great-great-grandparents probably have other descendants besides you. They may easily have several hundred descendants. Any of those individuals could have the family bible, pictures, or other items of genealogical interest. Don’t just look to your immediate family for this information. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
My webinar “Researching Female Ancestors” was recorded today. In giving the presentation live, a few ideas for my own research crossed my mind as well. This presentation discusses approaches and techniques for determining an ancestor’s maiden name and locating “missing” females. Geared towards the advanced beginner or intermediate researcher, it focuses on American records and sources. The content is not specific to any one time period and many of the approaches can be refined for different locations or types of records. If you are stymied on your female ancestors–and half your ancestors are female–consider purchasing the webinar (and handout) at the introductory price of $6. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
The appraisers of an estate cannot have a direct interest in the estate they are appraising. This eliminates heirs and creditors of the deceased. What this means is that children cannot be appraisers, but other relatives can be–as long as the deceased did not owe them money. It is possible that relatives of the widow were appraisers. Or they just could be neighbors. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you think your ancestor was dropped off by a UFO, look closely at those people with whom he associated in the first records you have found him in. Who did he first buy land from, if that’s the earliest thing you have? Who witnessed his marriage, if that’s the first record? Often (but not always), others on these “first records” knew the ancestor in the previous area of residence. There may be clues in those other names–research them as well. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When interpreting information on a document, think about who created it and why it was created. Those reasons impact how accurate the information is. Taking every document at face value may eventually leave you with genealogy egg on your face. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
March 2012 Fundamental WebinarsRescheduled due to illness–see new dates below Our fundamental webinars are each approximately 20 minutes in length. These short session are geared for beginner or somewhat experienced beginners who would like to learn more about the following topics. Each presentation includes the 20 minute or so presentation and the handouts. Downloads of previous fundamental webinars can be ordered here. Quick Google Ideas—this is geared towards the advanced beginner to intermediate genealogist as all the fundamental webinars. Our focus will be on searching, what to search for and how to search for it. Runs on 13 April 2012 at 2:30 PM Central. Register for $2. · Organizing Census Searches—querying census databases to locate hard-to-find ancestors is necessary. Organizing the search is necessary as well. Through three quick examples, get ideas […]
In the early 1860s, Elizabeth Freund was appointed adminstratrix of her husband’s estate. There was no will. Yet in every other reference to Elizabeth throughout the estate papers, she is called the executor. Repeatedly. Numerous times. Yet she was not the executor of his estate as there was no will. It is likely that the attorney for the estate or the clerk incorrectly referred to her as the executor in one of the earlier documents and the mistake simply got repeated over and over. Sometimes mistakes are mistakes. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Before the time when death certificates list cause of death, it can be difficult if not impossible to determine how an ancestor died. Is it possible that there are clues in your ancestor’s estate settlement to his or her final illness? The probate of Paul Freund in Davenport, Iowa, in the early 1860s indicates that several prescriptions were purchased from a local druggist in the month before he died. These are all listed by prescription numbers, except for one–juniper berries, which were purchased the day before he died. How much of a clue it is his case is not known, but it’s made me go back and look at a few other estate settlements to see if types of drugs are listed in the final set of bills […]
If there was a court case after a relative died, make certain you have looked up every name of every heir in the court indexes. The estate being settled might be the estate of John Smith, but it could easily be that son-in-law Gideon Johnson is the lead plaintiff in the court case and grandson Barton Hanson is the lead defendant. Because of this Smith’s estate fight will probably be in the plaintiffs’ index under Gideon Johnson and in the defendants’ index under Barton Hanson. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Do not assume something that looks incorrect is. It may be right. The image that is a part of this post comes from a marriage record in Union County, Iowa, that indicates the bride Emma Pollard was getting married for the fifth time. The temptation might be that somehow this is incorrect–it does seem high. Turns out it was correct and this marriage from 1883 was her fifth. Don’t assume what looks wrong is. Sometimes it is correct. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Did your ancestor have a spouse to whom they were married for only a short time (perhaps because the spouse died young) and had no children? Have you completely researched the family of this spouse? Often the temptation is to perform little research on this “short-term” spouses, particularly when there was no issue of the marriage. There could still be clues in the choice of this marriage partner. They could have known each other overseas, “back East,” or had mutual acquaintances–all of which could be clues to tracing your actual ancestor. Just because no one descends from the “short-lived” spouse does not mean they should not be researched just as thoroughly as the spouse from which you descend. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day […]
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