Remember when transcribing any document items should be copied as is. If you see an obvious error, you may wish to insert [sic] after it to indicate that the mistake was not yours. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Think about all that you know about your “brick wall” ancestor. Now, cross one of those “facts” as being not true–even if you really think it is. How would your research approach change? What would you do differently? Where else would you look? Now, is it possible that one or more “facts” aren’t true? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When finding anyone in a census record, remember to read the entire page. There may be notations in the margin and at the very least those columns on the “edge” sometimes do mean something. Remember that some early census records are spread over two pages. There may be clues lurking off to the side. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Did any of your aunts receive a Civil War pension, Revolutionary War pension, etc.? Don’t think it couldn’t help you in your research. If the aunt tried to qualify for a pension, she would have had to have proven her marriage–that place alone could be a clue because if your ancestor’s sister was living there, other family members could have been too. And if the aunt couldn’t find paper proof of her marriage, she might have had relatives provide affidavits testifying to the date and place of marriage and perhaps your ancestor made out one of those. Neat way to get information and an even neater way to get a signature. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t just use one database when performing searches. If there is another site that indexes the same data, their index might allow for different searches or might have included transcriptions done differently. You might not have to subscribe to one of the pay sites “forever,” but make a list of things you can’t find on the free sites and consider subscribing to a pay-site for maybe a month and doing your searches and then let it expire. But never rely solely on one site for all your indexes. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you see your ancestor as a party on a quit claim deed, pay close attention to whom he was buying land from or to whom he was selling it. A high proportion of quit claim deeds are among relatives, generally to clean up an inheritance. Not always–but it’s worth a clue. A quit claim means you are giving up your claim, something that heirs are likely to do among themselves after the owner passes away. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When analyzing any record, remember that it may be partially true and partially false. Most documents contain several statements. Rarely is a document entirely correct. One part may be true, other parts may be false. Some parts could be partially correct–the year of an event may be right, but the month may be wrong. The state may be correct, but the town may be incorrect. Keep an open mind to the very real possibility that most documents contain true statements, false statements, and statements somewhere in between. That’s why it is important to transcribe each document as it is written and do the analysis elsewhere. Don’t play proofreader when transcribing a document. The changes you make may not be the right ones. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for […]
For those who like “Genealogy Tip of the Day,” but don’t want the clutter of Facebook, there are other ways to get the Tips. Our blog site http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com has just the tips and links on the side to delivery options. If your desired delivery method is not there, please email Michael at mjnrootdig@gmail.com and we’ll see what we can do. Thanks for your support of “Genealogy Tip of the Day.” Please let others know about Tip of the Day. Thanks! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Take a good look at that tax list or pre-1850 census on which you found your ancestor. Are the names written in rough alphabetical order? Those people didn’t only have neighbors whose last name started with the same letter as theirs; the enumerator was attempting to organize the information. The end result is that some of the sense of neighborhood one gets from a tax record or census is lost. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Assume your ancestor is correct when, on 5 January 1850, he says he is 50 years old. What does that mean? He could have just turned 50 that very day, meaning he was born 5 January 1800. That would be the very youngest he could be on 5 January 1800—50 years and no days. He could turn 51 the very next day, meaning he was born 6 January 1799. That would be the very oldest he could be on 5 January 1800 and still be 50, one day shy of his 51st birthday. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Some descendants of Thomas Johnson Rampley assumed his middle name was his mother’s maiden name. While sometimes middle names that are “last names” are the maiden name of the mother, that is not always the case, the last name could have come from a neighbor, another family member, or a famous person. I’m not certain where it came from in Thomas’ case. Middle names that are last names may also be a patronymic name, one based upon the father’s first name as in the case of Anke Hinrichs Fecht whose father was Hinrich Fecht. Middle names that are “last names” can be clues to research–but don’t take a “clue” and make it a “fact” without something with which to back it up. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for […]
If you cannot find a naturalization record for an ancestor, keep in mind that he might never have naturalized. If your ancestor did not want to vote, he might not have found being a citizen necessary. Back during the time when being an “alien” wasn’t so much of a problem, “aliens” could own land, sell it, bequeath it, etc. If economics were the main reason for immigration, your ancestor might not have become a citizen. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that there might be more than one person who fits the details of the person for whom you are looking. I was working on a George Butler, born in 1848 in Michigan, the son of a Benjamin Butler. Turns out there were two completely unrelated George Butlers born in Michigan in 1848, sons of Benjamin. To top it off, the Benjamins were born in 1820 or 1821 in the same state. Look around when you locate a “match” and make certain there is not another “match” nearby. You may end up researching the wrong person if you are not careful. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that any relative, even the most well-meaning and reliable one, can occasionally tell you something that is incorrect. Verify everything Grandma (or Uncle Herman, etc.) tells you, using other sources as much as possible. Well-intentioned informants can be incorrect and the very process of verifying what they tell you may cause you to locate information you never dreamed of. People tell me that “I didn’t look at that record because I already knew what was on it.” You don’t know what is on it until you actually look at it. You may think you know and you may be correct. But there’s always the chance that you were wrong. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We all know that census records can contain incorrect ages. When searching online databases, besides having the years of birth for people I am looking for, I have their approximate age in 1850, 1860, etc. This helps me eyeball if I might have the correct people or not. Having only the years of birth in front of me is helpful, but having the approximate at the time of the census saves me a little bit of time and reduces errors because I “subtracted” wrong in my head. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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