I’m working on a case where the husband’s probate in the 1880s doesn’t tell me very much. The widow survived. What I need to do is: search for a probate/will for the wife see if there are settlement deeds for any real estate after her death check for court action of non-probate courts in case there was an estate squabble after her death. The problem may be that there just wasn’t anything left to settle after her death. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Revisit repositories, libraries, websites, etc. that you’ve not visited in a while. They may have cataloged new materials, created new indexes, or acquired new materials since your last visit. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t assume that your sixty something ancestor would never have immigrated. If all their chidlren had left the old country, it’s very possible that Grandma or Grandpa (or both) got on the boat with the last child instead of being left in the homeland all by themselves. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you are unfamiliar with researching members of your ancestor’s ethnic group, considering joining a mailing list specifically for individuals researching people from that region. Networking with others who have ancestors from the same area can be extremely helpful. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Did you ancestors “head west” only to “head back east?” Not everyone who went west stayed. Is it possible that the ten years you can’t find your ancestor is because he was in California, Oregon, etc. only to return “home” in time for the next census? ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
In one family that I’ve worked on for sometime, I realized that the step-children separated from the step-father about the time some of them reached the age of majority. I’m not certain exactly what went on, but I’m starting to think that when some of them reach “age,” they struck out on their own, taking their younger siblings with them. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Your ancestor might really have believed they were born somewhere they were not. As a result, every record where they provided their place of birth might be incorrect. My grandmother insisted she was born in Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois. She actually was born in nearby Wythe Township according to several contemporary records (discussed at length in an issue of Casefile Clues). Grandma insisted she was born in Tioga and listed that on every document where she provided the place of birth. This tip was well timed—Grandma would be 100 years old today! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that not every relative or genealogist who might be able to help you is on Facebook or even the Internet. If the only people you interact with are on Facebook or the blogs, you are really selling your research short and probably are overlooking possible connections. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Interacting with other online genealogists is great, but face to face interaction can be good as well. Consider joining and becoming involved in your local genealogical society, even if you have no ancestors where you live. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t assume that your ancestor always was a member of the same denomination or that they were the same denomination as their parents. People do change churches and denominations. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Have you considered writing your own biography? It would be deeply ironic to have all that genealogy information on all those dead people with little about yourself. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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Many soldiers recorded a copy of their discharge papers in the county in which they were living when they enlisted or where they lived right after their discharge. If you can’t find military information on your ancestor, see if they recorded a copy of their discharge papers at their local county recorder’s office. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Be careful using relationships from obituaries as your sole source of information for your database. Modern obituaries especially may: not mention all children may not distinguish children from step-children may not indicate which spouse was the parents of which children Any of these things can confuse later genealogists if you assume an obituary was entirely correct. Best bet is to transcribe it (or scan it) and look for other materials to back it up. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Are you looking in other records besides census records for occupational clues on your ancestor? Estate inventories are good places to get an idea of what occupation your ancestor might have had. Those with city-dwellers in their family tree should use city directories for clues of this type. And don’t forget some European church records use occupations to distinguish men of the same names from each other. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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