Never correct a document when transcribing it. If you must, make an annotation separately, clearly indicating it is your annotation and not a part of the original. Don’t add to the confusion. What you think is wrong may be right. If you have the urge to correct errors there are better places to do it. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that state statutes dictate how inheritances work, particularly when a person dies without descendants of their own. What happened in 1920 might not be what happened in 1820 even if your family lived in the exact same location. Reading up on state statute, or asking someone with more experience with the records may be in order. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Research in the early days of settlement of any area is difficult. Mainly this is because fewer records were kept people were more mobile people were concerned with SURVIVING, not leaving a record behind of their existence As a result, frontier research requires more analysis than later research, more patience, and that the researcher locate just about everything they can get their hands on. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Just remember, no series of documents is perfect. People die without death certificates, individuals are omitted from the census, records get filed incorrectly. And some records have more problems with accuracy than others. Keep this in mind when using any series of records. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Before hiring anyone to do any research for you, make certain you have thoroughly reviewed and organized what information you have. You may find you already have the answer or realize where you need to go without hiring someone. And if you do hire someone, they’ll want your material organized anyway. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is there a family or a problem you “solved” a while ago? Have you looked at it since? Is it possible that you were wrong, your research was incomplete, or you were just in “la-la-land” when you reached your conclusion? Keep in mind that everyone is wrong once in a while. A distant relative made me go back and re-visit some research I did years ago and while I’m not 100% certain what’s “right” yet, there are some holes in what I did. It doesn’t hurt to occasionally go back and review what you thought was “done.” My review of my problem will appear in an upcoming issue of Casefile Clues. Bits and pieces of the research may appear as a tip, but the whole thing is far […]
There’s still time to attend the Cleveland County (OK) Genealogical Seminar that I will be presenting in Norman this weekend on Saturday the 24th. I’ll be talking on: Court Records Using Probate Manuals and Guides to enhance your research Organizing Your Research and more There is more information on the society’s website.http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~okccogs/workshops-seminars/summerseminar.htm Feel free to forward information to other lists and those in the area who may be interested. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Records will not be entirely 100% consistent. This is particularly true for records that provide “extremely secondary information” (eg. places of birth for parents on their child’s death certificate when the child dies at the age of 80). One must aim for relative consistency and when there are discrepancies, try and find an explanation for them. In the case of birthplaces, it often is because the family lived there for a time, the boundaries were changing, etc. Or the informant was clueless and just made it up. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t forget when searching indexes to enter Wm. for William, Jno. for John, Th. for Thomas, etc. Once in a while you will encounter these abbreviations in addition to the census enumerator (and others) who also liked to use initials. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Verifying family stories can often be difficult and the best advice is to record them as “stories” and indicate who said them. Remember though to get as many different perspectives as you can. Even in one family, different children had different experiences and may remember things differently. And their mother (or father) might have shared stories with one child and not with another. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
We’re not trying to convert readers with this tip, but what do you know about your ancestor’s religious affiliation? For some of our ancestors, the church was extremely important and influenced many decisions in their lives–who they married, where they settled, etc. Is your ancestor migrating with members of a specific denomination? Are all of your ancestors associates members of that denomination? There could be clues there…. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Does a person providing testimony in a court case indicate that he has known your ancestor for fifteen years? Have you thought about where your ancestor was fifteen years before that date? Do you know where he was? If you can’t find him, look for the person providing testimony. Always think about the implications of any statement you read. There may be more there than just what it says “on the surface.” ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Do you know the difference between an transcript and an extract? A transcript copies information or a record verbatim. An extract takes out what the extractor sees as key points. If you are using published records, do you know if you have an extract or an abstract? It does make a difference. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Don’t forget to keep track of how you formulate you searches of online databases. It’s impossible to tweak your searches if you don’t. I’ve become increasingly aware of the importance of this while tracking Benjamin Butler from Michigan to Missouri between 1820 and 1870 for a series of articles in Casefile Clues. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
If you can’t find your ancestor in the census with names, have you tried just initials? That’s how my ancestors are listed in 1880… ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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