The great thing about re-reading material or records is that one realizes how easy it is to remember things incorrectly. Are you making a research decision (particularly online late at night, or while researching in those last minutes in a library) based upon what you “think” a record says? Relying on our memory can be a big mistake. We often realize that great-grandma might not have remembered things correctly when the census taker arrived. Can we expect her great-grandchild to be any better? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In most US states, minors over the age of 14, could usually choose their guardian, subject to the approval of the court. If you see your ancestor choosing his guardian, it probably means he or she was over the age of 14, even if the record does not state that fact. You should check the contemporary state statute to be completely certain. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Your great-great-grandparents may have decided to live separately without ever divorcing because “we don’t believe in divorce, but can’t live together either.” In cases like this, there won’t be divorce records, but it is possible that a court action for “separate maintenance” might have been filed. This would have kept the couple “married,” but contain information similar to a divorce. Couples might also have lived separately without any type of court record or agreement. I had an uncle who lived on the farm while his wife lived in town and an aunt who lived across the street in a separate home from her husband. Her home did not have indoor plumbing–his did. When he would go to a nearby larger town to run errands, she’d go across the […]
Don’t forget that ads in newspapers, yearbooks, etc. can also be clues. They may provide information about your ancestor’s residence, occupation, or even affiliations. A 1925 yearbook in Chicago contained an advertisement from a relative (well beyond high school age) that showed his occupation and where his business was located. Too bad there wasn’t a picture. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I’m trying to track the movements of a relative who lived in both Chicago and upstate New York between 1900 and his death in about 1935. Fortunately he had over a dozen siblings who survived to adulthood, many of whom he survived. The next step in my research is to track down obituaries for these siblings and see where it says he is living–assuming he is listed as a survivor. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that in some jurisdictions there may be separate courts for different functions. There may be a criminal court, a probate court, an orphan’s court, a court of equity, etc. Make certain you have searched all the records–not just one court. It can be easy to overlook one court and not find what you are looking for. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Once in a while, non-deeds may be discovered with the actual land records. An ancestor died in 1893 in Illinois–no will and no probate. There apparently were no bills from the estate, other than funeral expenses. The oldest son filed an affidavit with the land records indicating that the farm was owned free and clear at the time of his father’s death. The affidavit partially explained why there was no estate settlement for the father either. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Sunday we’re offering a year of my weekly newsletter Casefile Clues for $12. Samples can be downloaded as PDF files here: sample 1 sample 2 Feel free to let others know about the offer–this blog post will be pulled late Sunday night–don’t wait. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that one document, a death certificate for example, may contain many statements. Those statements (about the birth, the parents, the date of death, the place of death, burial, cause of death, etc.) are not necessarily made by the same people. Each statement must be evaluated separately as the informant might not have been equally “informed” about every statement which they gave. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
There is more to “proving” a date of birth, a place of marriage, or a maiden name than finding it written on one piece of paper. At the risk of oversimplifying, the researcher should be at the very least be considering: how accurate that “piece of paper” probably is the likely informant of that “piece of paper” what other “pieces of paper” have to say how reasonable the information on that “piece of paper” is There’s more to making a case than this, but these are elements of analysis that should be considered on a regular basis. And if at all possible, try and find other “pieces of paper” that mention the same date, location, or relationship. Ideally those pieces of paper will have different informants-preferably ones who […]
If the members of a household were not all the children of the same father, keep in mind that the census taker might have simply assumed everyone in the household had the same last name, whether they did or not. Step-children might be listed with the step-father’s last name, even though he never adopted them at all and they never used his last name themselves. Grandchildren enumerated with grandparents might be listed with the grandparent’s last name, even though they never actually used that name. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Consider getting a separate email address for your genealogy research and correspondence. There are several places to get free email addresses, Yahoo, Hotmail, Google, to name a few. You shouldn’t have to change it if your service provider changes, space is usually fairly generous, and web-based interfaces make it easy to check anywhere. And for some of us, it helps to keep genealogy emails separate from those in our “other life.” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
As you use family sources, interviews with Grandma, and stories that were passed down in your family to begin your research, keep in mind that there might be key details that relatives either forgot or intentionally neglected to tell you. They can be as innocent as forgetting that great-grandpa lived in Idado for ten years and “came back home.” Or they can be intentional, as in forgetting that Grandpa had a wife before he married Grandma and that he had five children with the previous wife. Omissions can be inconsequential or serious roadblocks to your research. They can also be things Aunt Myrtle simply forgot or something cousin Harold never wanted you to find out. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I was using a burial register from England in my research. I had to constantly remind myself that the dates listed in the register were dates of burial, not dates of death. In most cases, the individuals probably had not been deceased long, but I need to make certain I record the information correctly. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Depending on the time period, the location, the number of nearby relatives and your ancestor’s financial status, your ancestor might never have had a tombstone. Don’t assume that every person buried in a cemetery had a stone, even at one point in time. It’s possible there never was one. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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