Repeated names can be clues to names of earlier family members. Repeated names are not guaranteed to mean that any given ancestor had a particular name, but names used over and over may mean something. I was looking over a list of heirs of Barbara Haase who died in 1903 and realized that out of her twentysome grandchildren, two were named Kate. I had never noticed that before. Does it mean anything? At this point, I’m not certain. However, if I eventually get “candidates” parents of Barbara, I’ll work first on any couple where the wife is named Katherine or the name Katherine appears frequently. Don’t just look in your direct line of descent for name clues. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Genealogy Tip of the Day has been nominated for one of the Family Tree Top 40 blogs. Remember that Tip of the Day is not about being long-winded, selling stuff, or dreaming up things we’ve never done or used. Just quick tips. Give us a vote–and pretend you’re from Chicago–vote often. That’s it for the plug–now back to the tips! Thanks for the nomination. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
It does not matter how “odd” the name is, even if one detail fits. A very distant relative of mine claimed online that my aunt died in Chicago in 1935, because he found someone with her same name dying there. Problem is that the Chicago person isn’t the relative he thinks it is. If he had done research in the local records where the family actually lived (a distance from Chicago), he would have located the person’s probate file which indicated she died in the 1950s. The same’s the same doesn’t mean the person is. When in doubt, check it out. And if you aren’t in doubt, get that way. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
While tracking a relative through census records, it appears that she left Missouri shortly before her first marriage. Forty years later, after a divorce, she appears in that county in one census record. If I had not known where her family was from, her residence there would have seemed pretty random. Now I’m reminded that occasionally when a residence seems “random” that there might just be something I don’t know. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Keep in mind that if your ancestor “translated” his or her name they might have used conventional translations others from their ethnic area used or they might have made up their own. Some non-English names had common translations (Jans and Johann for John, for example) and others did not (the Greek Panagiotis, for example). Some individuals just might take an English name that had the first letter as their original name. I have relatives whose names were actually Trientje. Some used Tena because it had part of the same sound. Others used Katherine as the names have the same original root. It just depends. People had options of what name they could use if they chose to translate. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day […]
Remember that Grandma is not considered someone who can provide primary information about her own date and place of birth. It’s not that she is necessarily wrong, but that most people are not typically considered to be firsthand witnesses of their own birth. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We often suggest to researchers that people move in groups and settle where they know someone. And most of the time people do. Keep in mind that once in a while people move where they know absolutely no one. One ancestral couple could not be located. They simply evaporated. They were not near any of their chidlren, any of his siblings, or any of her siblings. They migrated to an area of Missouri where no one they knew lived. Sometimes it does happen. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Have you contacted the local library in the town/county where your ancestors lived? Is it possible they have access to resources that aren’t available elsewhere or aren’t online? Or do they know of any unique suggestions for research in their local area? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t assume that just because the names are “close” that they have to be a match. I was looking for information on a William Bell who married a Martha Sargent in Iowa. Turns out there was another William Bell in the same part of Iowa who married a Lorinda Sargent. Totally two separate couples from two separate families. How many William Bells can marry a Sargent and live a few counties away from each other? Apparently two. Two distinct ones.Remember that sometimes there is a relationship and sometimes there is not. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Are you really reading, thinking about, and interpreting the information you have found? Or are your eyes merely passing over the words, looking for that obvious clue? Sometimes the biggest clues are not “obvious.” Go back and re-read and think about what a document says. Are there clues you bypassed the first time you “sped read” that record? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When a child gives information on their parent, it comes from second hand knowledge. It also could be given decades after the event took place. This information can be incorrect, but keep in mind the child did not witness parental birth information first hand. Even erroneous places should not be ignored however as there may be a reason for the wrong place of birth. Children of one ancestor always said she was born in Illinois, which was correct. Except for one record which said she was born in Ohio. Years later, I learned the parents met in Ohio, married there and immediately moved. Ohio was wrong, but it was a clue. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
When using a search option at an online database, do you know how that site implements wildcard searches, Soundex searches, and other search options? Getting creative with search terms is often necessary, but if you don’t know how they are really working, you are not being effective. Experiment and look at your results and see if you are getting what you think you should. A Soundex search for the last name Smut on a site with English language last names should result in a large number of hits. And if you don’t know why, then review what Soundex really is. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Are you spending too much time looking for a specific record that might not really even help your research all that much? There’s a couple for whom I cannot find their mid-1800 passenger list entry. After some thought, I’m not really certain I need it. I have a good idea of where the family is from in Europe as I know where the husband’s brother was born. I know what children the couple had and where they settled. The mid-1800 passenger list probably isn’t going to tell me where they were from. And after having spent several hours trying to find them, it may be best to work on locating other records. Sometimes it is necessary to realize that it may be time to work on other things. […]
It’s easy for most researchers to realize that vowels can easily get interchanged in a name resulting in variant spellings. Soundex searches ignore vowels in an attempt to get around this problem. Remember that consonants and vowels can get interchanged as well, particularly if the handwriting is not all that great. These variations can be particularly troublesome until the researcher realizes it. Trautvetter often gets transcribed as “Trantvetter” when the “u” is read as an “n.” Are vowel and consonant interchanges causing your problems when doing searches? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is it possible that in the census or other record your relatives’ names have been abbreviated or that just initials have been used. One family is enumerated in the 1880 census with only their initials and another has their first names abbreviated on their 1853 passenger manifest. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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