While preparing for an upcoming conference, I fired off a response to an email–answering the question the way it “usually” was answered for most conferences. The problem was that this conference was difference and my mistake was in reliance upon my memory. Is there a piece of information an ancestor provided on a document that might have been solely from his memory, given “off the cuff?” And perhaps his or her error was a very honest one, not given to deceive or confuse, but merely done so quickly “off the top of his head.” And 100 years later, his descendant analyzes it do death when it was originally a very simple error. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We’ve added one new webinar to our March 2012 series–and we’re really excited about it. Our new session is “Searching on Fold3.com.” This website (fee-based) offers a variety of military records from the United States. Fold3 has a large amount of material from the Revolutionary War and also includes digital images of National Archives microfilmed material from later United States conflicts as well. You can check out the information on Fold3 by browsing their website. Our Fold3 webinar is on 6 March 2012 at 1:30 PM central time. Visit our webinar registration page for more details and registration links. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If your ancestor was an early settler in an area, do you know where the names of the county, township and nearby villages were obtained? Those names could be clues as to your ancestor’s origins. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Have you read through something more than once? Did you jump to any conclusions that were incorrect? Did you overlook anything? This is a tip that is worth occasionally repeating–for all of us. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Always consider the possibility that that child born when a female ancestor was 55 years of age might not have been the ancestor’s child. While some women did have children “late in life,” it may be that the last child was actually the first grandchild–the child of one of the “mother’s” older children. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Those handwritten copies of the deeds in big ledger books at the records office are not original copies. Chances are your ancestor got back his original. The copy at the courthouse is a derivative copy–meaning it was a copy made from the original. Courthouse copies are usually considered the legal equivalent of the original and are often called recorded copies, but they are not the original. Just something to keep in mind. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
For our new fans and as a reminder to ones who have been around a little bit longer, I have the following blogs–all are free. Posting frequency varies : Daily Genealogy Transcriber–can you read the handwriting? Casefile Clues–updates on research for my newsletter Genealogy Tip of the Day–one daily how-to tip or suggestion Search Tip of the Day-tips for internet sites and search ideas Rootdig-opinion, attitude, and anything else that crosses my path ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is there a chance that one of the people you think are your ancestor’s parents is not actually their parent? Is it possible that the woman you think is your ancestor’s mother actually his step-mother? Or that the man you think is your ancestor’s father is actually her step-father? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Our March 2012 Genealogy Webinar schedule has been posted. Topics are: Probate Process Proving Benjamin Genealogy Proof Standard (rescheduled) Researching Female Ancestors Details are on our webinar page at http://www.casefileclues.com/webinars_neill.htm ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
The US federal government did not begin keeping passenger lists of arrivals until 1820. Any surviving lists in the United States were either kept by state or other government agencies or have been created using other sorts of records. Other records may be located, but there are no comprehensive lists of immigrants in the United States before 1820. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When you find someone on a census or any other digital image of a record, make certain you read the entire thing—not just what shows up in the “viewer” on your web browser. Have you scrolled through the entire image? Is the next image part of the record as well. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you have “lost” your ancestor at a certain point in time, put yourself in their shoes and see if it generates any ideas or leads. Think about: their age when you’ve “lost” them. what “stage” were they at in their life-newly married, lots of children, “empty nester,” etc.? what economic advantages did they have? what economic limitations did they have? who were they responsible for? how “easy” was it to just “pick up and move?” could “family problems” have impacted their decisions? did they move or associate with members of their extended family–either relatives by blood or marriage? And so on. No one operates in a vacuum. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If great-grandpa’s first marriage was in his late twenties or early thirties or even later, keep yourself open to the possibility that he was married more than once. People did wait to get married for the first time and someone might have married the first time in their forties. But keep in mind that what you think was the “one and only marriage” might not be–especially if information starts coming to light indicating that there might have been a marriage before the “first” one. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Your ancestor who supposedly “divorced” may never have bothered to go through the legal process. It was not as difficult as one might think for a couple to “separate” and eventually marry again. Civil War pensions contain numerous examples and it cannot only be war veterans and their wives who were a part of this occasional practice. Your ancestor may have separated and divorced. Or there may have been no divorce. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Recently I was reviewing some estate records I viewed several years ago at the Family History Library. A second look at the handwritten index indicated I had missed a reference to the estate. That second reference contained several names that may be crucial in my research. All because I went back and looked a second time. Is there something you can look at again on the off chance something was overlooked? If you are curious about what I located, there’s a blog post about it on the Casefile Clues blog. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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