Keep in mind that in some parts of Europe, when a family moved to a new farm they got the last name that was associated with the farm. That might explain why their last name changed or a family had two last names. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you see that your ancestor is listed in a document as “choosing” their own guardian, it typically means that they have arrived at the age of discretion. This age is typically 14. Your ancestor may still be listed in that document as an infant. An infant is usually someone under the age of consent, which is often 18 for females and 21 for males, but there are exceptions. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Last week I had my first webinar on Using Archive.org. We talked about the basics of file types and formats, but I’m not the sort of presenter who goes on and on about that sort of thing. We looked at ways to search for what is on Archive.org–both digital books and digital images of microfilm. The cataloging on Archive.org is not all that easy to use and various ways to find things were discussed.The Allen County Public Library has allowed many of their out of copyright books to be digitized as well as their NARA microfilm. There is a wealth of material on Archive.org–all free. Digital images of books can be downloaded as PDF, text, EPUB, and a variety of other formats or readable online. Digital copies of […]
Keep in mind that some documents may have several dates, each of which serve a separate purpose. A land record may have a date of execution, when it was signed; a date of acknowledgement, where it was “acknowledged in front of an official;” and a date of recording, when it was filed for record. Those dates may all be the same–or they may be stretched out over several years. It just depends. But there is a difference between the dates. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In some church registrations of vital records, christenings of children born out of wedlock may be recorded at the end of the year of entries instead of their “correct” chronological spot. So if an ancestor was born in February of 1832 with parents who were not married, the entry of the child’s christening might be recorded after the December of 1832 entries and before the 1833 entries. Or sometimes these entries may be written upside down or in the margin in an attempt to indicate they were “different.” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In some denominations, if it was believed an infant was in immediate danger of dying, a family member could baptize the child in place of a minister or a priest. There may be a notation regarding this emergency baptism in the church records. Obviously not all children who are baptized under emergency situations die. While these types of baptisms are not common, they are not unheard of either and the church record may make a note regarding the unusual nature of the baptism. My wife’s great-great-grandfather baptized his granddaughter in the early 1900s when it was believed she was near death and would not survive until the pastor could be summoned. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We’ve just released the recorded version of my Illinois Research webinar which discusses research in local records in the state of Illinois. Geared towards advanced beginners and intermediate researchers, it focuses on local records, what makes Illinois different, and larger statewide facilities. The media file and handout can be ordered for $8.50 here. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
A complete discussion of copyright is beyond Tip of the Day. However, you cannot copyright the fact that James Rampley was born in Harford County, Maryland, in 1803. Facts cannot be copyrighted. However, if there is no record of birth for James and you analyze fifty records that provide indirect evidence of his birth and you write up a several paragraph argument showing why he was born in 1803, then that argument and that phrasing of words and ideas you have copyright to. But if you were the first person to “prove” James was born in 1803, you cannot copyright that fact and get paid every time someone uses it. Otherwise, yours truly would copyright the fact that two plus two is four. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer […]
Don’t immediately conclude that just because your ancestor left his daughter a dollar in his will that he was “on the outs” with her right before he died. It may very well have been that he had provided for the daughter earlier, perhaps at her marriage, and the dollar bequest was to simply include her so that it could not been said she was “left out” or omitted from the will. Sometimes the $1 bequest means there was some sort of falling out. And other times, it simply means that everyone was being included. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Our last new January webinar will be on January 28th at 11: 00 am Central time (noon Eastern and 9 Pacific). This webinar is being RESCHEDULED for 3 February 2012 at 11:30 AM–Central–9:30 AM Pacific. Registrants who cannot attend will be sent a download link for the presentation-questions can be sent to me at mjnrootdig@gmail.comIt will be a demonstration on how I searched for Virginia Land Patents (on the Library of Virginia website) on a specific ancestor and then how those patent were platted in Deedmapper and fit together to establish a partial neighborhood for this ancestor. The property involved is in what is now Orange County, Virginia. The webinar will discuss (through live demonstration) how the site searches were conducted for the specific ancestor and his neighbor, […]
If great-aunt Martha says she has no pictures, clippings, etc., has she looked in her bible? People often stick paper mementos in their bible and, depending upon how often they use it, they may forget those things are even in there. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you are stuck on a record, learn something about every person named on it, particularly those who you do not think are related. Witnesses and other people mentioned in the document may provide clues to your ancestor and his life. It is not always necessary to learn complete life histories about everyone name on a document, but some research on others named cannot hurt. If your ancestor signed a deed, who were the witnesses, who was the notary or Justice of the Peace in front of whom your ancestor acknowledged the record? Finding out a little about the others named in the record may help you learn more about the record and your ancestor. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Many local records are unindexed. Often these materials are organized chronologically, by the date of the event. There may be indexes, but they may cover a small time frame, perhaps one index per year or an index for every ten years. In these cases, it will be necessary to estimate the date of the event–birth, marriage, death, etc. Before searching these records, use other materials to estimate the date of the event. It may be possible to narrow down the range of years before a manual search is conducted. And remember, that not every set of records has an index…and even though new indexes are being created to some records, it may not be for the ones you need. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the […]
Happy New Year to Genealogy Tip of the Day fans and followers. I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions–but this might be a good general suggestion: For any brick wall ancestor, problem family or research challenge, make a list of your assumptions about the ancestor, their family, their lifestyle, etc. Writing down all your assumptions may be just the trick to get around your problem. And it’s an easy resolution to keep! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
January 1 was not always the start of the new year. If you are unfamiliar with Old Style and New Style dates and the calendar change of 1752, take a visit here http://www.cree.name/genuki/dates.htm. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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