In reviewing handwritten notes for an article, I looked at the way I had written the last name “Butler.” If I had not known what the word was, I really might have been inclined to think it was “Beetler.” I remember a time when someone told me that they way I wrote my last name made it look like it was “Neice.” Maybe if you are not having luck with spelling variants, try writing sloppy and have someone else read it! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Always keep in mind that there may be multiple records that may provide information on the date of an event. The date of your ancestor’s death may be in a county book of death records, an obituary, a church register, a tombstone, the family bible, his pension record, etc. There may be a note that he is deceased in a deed, a tax roll, or a probate journal. Not all of these records are equally reliable. Just remember that an event may be recorded in more than one place. And don’t neglect to check records just because “I already have that.” One never knows what additional information a similar source may provide. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Just because names are the same does not mean it’s one person with a variant name. My ancestor was Nancy Jane Newman. She had a first cousin Nancy Elizabeth Newman. To further confuse the issue, they married brothers. Researchers are frequently confusing them. It can be easy to do, but remember–just because you think the names mean the people are the same–check. Do your research and take care before determining you have the same person with two slightly different names. You may have two very different people with similar names. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Are you keeping track of the people who “weren’t” the right ones and WHY they weren’t the correct ones? Often a person will run into the “same wrong” people over and over. Tracking them in at least outline form and having that information handy may keep you from researching the same people over and over only to learn you already eliminated them a long time ago. And if it ever turns out that they are distantly related, you’ve already got some of the work done. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is there one or two “boarders” with your family in the census? Just because they are listed as a “boarder” doesn’t mean that they aren’t related. Boarders could easily be nephews, nieces, or other family members temporarily staying in the household. They may be a clue. Try and find them ten years earlier or ten years later and keep the names in case they appear in other documents. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
This has been a tip before, but it bears repeating. Sometimes in our haste to gather information, we fail to record why we did certain things and what led us to certain conclusions. Our reasoning may have been correct, or maybe not. If you don’t write down what you were thinking and your reasons as you do it, duplication of research is impossible and sooner or later you will wonder why you did what you did or someone else will ask how you arrived at that conclusion. Writing in my research notes why I did what I did as I did it reduces the chance I make mistakes along the way. It also makes it easier to review my thought process later and see how I was wrong—or […]
Remember that in order to do certain things, get married, write a will, buy property, vote, etc. a person had to be a certain age. Is an estimate of your ancestor’s age, hiding in a document because you didn’t make the connection? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Years ago, I made an extract from a document and incorrectly typed the year as 1850. I’ve repeated that year numerous times. For an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues, I retrieved the original document and in reading it realized that the year of the record was actually 1852. As the document is the first one that places the person in his “new location,” the year is crucial. Because I corrected myself, I have to go back and re-evaluate some conclusions that hinged upon the 1850 year. It pays to periodically review your own extracts and transcriptions. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t forget that the 1860 US census asks individuals if they were married within the census year. This might be a clue if there are couple with the same name or if you are unable to locate marriage records. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Consider a day (or two) of no actual research to locate new information. Instead, organize and enter into your database information you have already located. You may even make some discoveries in the process. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
The first time you use a database or website, make certain you know what you are using and understand where the data is from. Titles can be misleading. I thought a reference to a relative in Canadian border crossings was wrong because it was from the St. Alban’s, Vermont district. The person I was looking for landed in Vancouver. Turns out the St. Alban’s district extended from Vermont all that way. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Consider how much time you have spent trying to locate that one record. It might be time to work on something else. I have a relative for whom their life from 1847-1855 is documented in several records, marriage, land purchase, declaration of intent, 1855 state census, probate, and guardianship for children. Yet, I cannot find him in the 1850 census. In this case, it might not be worth it to spend days searching for him in the 1850 census. Just a thought. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If the sources don’t match, don’t assume that the information they provide is incorrect. If you have two different dates of birth, is it possible there were actually two different people? There are many reasons records can give differing information, but keep yourself open to the possibility that records you think are for the same person are actually for two different people. Don’t force everything to match. There may be two individuals hanging out in the same location at about the same time who are about the same age. This is a topic we occasionally visit in Casefile Clues in more depth than we can here in a tip. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
There is an old adage in genealogical research that “three sources are proof.” Not so. Remember that three “sources” of the same information may actually come from the same source–think about who likely provided information for the death certificate, the obituary, and the tombstone. They probably were the same person. Try (where possible) to get information from sources that likely had different informants. While that’s not always possible, three sources agreeing is not magic. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Years ago a distant relative interpreted the name of a child of an ancestor as “Pine.” Decades later another relative viewed the original record and determined that the old script did not read “Pine,” it actually read “Jane.” Needless to say, there are still databases today that insist the child was named Pine. Sometimes it pays to go back and doublecheck–even someone who you think knows what they are doing. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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