Don’t assume your ancestor moved infrequently. Some people did move rarely and others moved every few years. It might have just been your ancestor’s wanderlust that kept him or her moving constantly. Or it could have been the local law, too. Seriously–a relative of mine whose Civil War pension file I have appears to have moved at least a dozen times between 1850 and 1890. And she very well could have moved a few more that simply were not documented in the file. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you’d like to receive a sample copy of Casefile Clues for Beginners–email me at beginner@casefileclues.com. Thanks. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I just assumed that a genealogist I had known for ages had correctly transcribed a date from a Virginia land record correctly. When I reviewed the record myself the date had been transcribed 10 years incorrectly. In this case, the year made a difference as it was used in part of an estimate of someone’s year of death. We can all easily make mistakes. It pays to check–your own work as well as someone else’s. Sometimes mistakes are minor and sometimes they are not. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that the only parent who has to be present at the birth of a child is the mother. The dad had to be around earlier, but could easily have been dead or moved on by the time the child was born. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Never assume that your relative was too insignificant to have been effected by historical events. A step-ancestor who was a native of Canada, decided that the American Civil War was the prime time to leave the state of Missouri and return to his native country. He just went “poof” and the Civil War was the reason why. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is that “S” an “L” or is that “L” an “S?” These two uppercase letters are easy to confuse. And that’s why when looking for Sargents I always remember to look for Largents as well. There are others as well. Could your Feather family be hiding with some Leathers? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If your ancestor had a guardian appointed, look at when the guardian was released. It should be a clue as to approximately when the person for whom the guardian was appointed had reached the age of majority–typically 18 for females and 21 for males. A clue as to approximate year of birth. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Think about who might have written the obituary of Grandma that appeared in the newspaper. Was it a family member with “issues?” Was it someone who wanted certain people left out? Was it someone concerned with being entirely accurate? Unless you were involved first hand in the planning, you might not really know who wrote the obit. And who wrote it makes all the difference. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
I was using an index to land records that covered the first fifty or so years of the county’s land records. One entry was difficult to read. The volume was legible–the page wasn’t. Afraid I’d have to go page by page, I viewed the volume and there in the front was an index to just that volume, giving me the actual page number. The clerk compiled indexes to each volume as they were recorded and years later, a more comprehensive index was created. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
You can obtain a lot of information via libraries, microfilm, published books, etc. You can get help from people who have never stepped foot near where your ancestor lived. And sometimes it is extremely helpful to ask a local. They may know about unpublished, local sources that are difficult to access or have other “tricks” up their sleeve based upon years of experience with local families. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Effective 8 June 2011, we’ll be ending the $7.50 6 month rate for Casefile Clues Beginners. To facilitate bookkeeping, we’ll be accepting year-long subscriptions for $17.00. If you’d like to try Casefile Clues Beginners, subscribe before the change goes into effect. Thanks! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Make certain the county or record agency does not also have copies of delayed certificates. Sometimes if a certificate was not filed when the event took place, one will be filed later. This is is most commonly done with birth certificates and generally when the person “needed” their birth certificate and realized that they did not have one. There may be copies of affidavits or statements as a part of the delayed record and these records may be filed separately from the originals. These are usually filed where the birth took place, but there are always exceptions. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
There is still time and room to join me on my annual research trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. We have a great time and work on problem-solving and research while the library is open. For more information visit our original blog post at http://blog.casefileclues.com/2010/06/ft-wayne-library-research-trip-11-15.html ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Even if an entry in a death certificate or other record appears to be incorrect, keep in mind that, on the surface, it can be hard to determine what’s right and what’s not. A relative’s death certificate listed her “mother’s maiden name” as “Mrs. Little.” Confusing–and I originally thought that maybe the “mother” had married after the father’s death and that “Mrs. Little” was her name at death instead of her maiden name. Turns out Liddell WAS her maiden name. And the “Mrs.” reference? Who knows. It easily could just have been an error. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t forget that there was a special 1890 US census enumeration that included Civil War veterans and Civil War veteran’s widows. Unfortunately returns for states whose name begins with the letters A-K were mostly destroyed. These have been microfilmed by the National Archives, NARA microfilm M123 and are online at Family Search. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Recent Comments