I’ve spent some time trying to find a “new” ancestor in any census before 1870. After a while of using Ancestry.com, I searched for him on the FamilySearch site. An 1850 census reference was located. It still may not be my person, but it was a “hit” that for some reason did not turn on up on Ancestry. Different sites have their own indexes. If someone cannot be located in one index, determine if other indexes have been created. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Whose version of a story are you getting? Grandma most likely is telling you the version of events through her eyes. If she was personally involved in the events, could she possibly be tweaking a few details? If your great-grandfather is suing his wife for divorce his story is obviously being told from his vantage point. Keep that in mind for any record you use. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Keep in mind the purpose behind any website or source you use for your family history research. Is it possible that the accuracy of the site and the information is influenced by something other than accuracy? Is the site’s as much information as possible, just to generate traffic and ad sales?Is the site’s goal simply to make information more accessible? Sometimes it can be hard to tell. But any site’s information should be compared with other records (particularly if the site’s information is transcribed). I have seen County GenWeb sites where names of cemeteries were wrong, locations were incorrect, and transcriptions were incomplete. And I’ve seen ones that were highly accurate as well. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember when searching the warrants at the Bureau of Land Management site that locations are not all that important. The individual who received the warrant might never have set foot in the state where the warrant was issued. This is especially true for those who received warrants for War of 1812 service and sold them to others who actually received the patent. Your ancestor’s widow may have received a warrant for his Virginia service while she was living in Kentucky. The patent may have been issued in Nebraska. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Remember that in census records, relationships are given in regards to the head of the household–typically the husband. His children may not all be children of his wife. And individuals listed as children may actually be step-children. So relationships in one census may be tenuous and not entirely clear. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Years ago, I had a researcher search for the marriage of William Newman and Rebecca Tinsley in Rush County, Indiana. The couple married there in the 1830s. The researcher sent me the marriage record of Thomas Newman and Polly Tinsley who also married there in the 1830s, telling me that often times people used nicknames and that since the last names matched it was the same couple. Being young and inexperienced (I was probably 14 at the time), I believed her. Later I found out that Thomas and Polly were a separate couple, but the researcher was close. Thomas was William’s brother and Polly was Rebecca’s sister. Remember in genealogy sometimes “close” isn’t close enough. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Just a reminder to doublecheck any information you find on the Internet. Anyone can post anything. Same thing goes for “free” advice, articles, etc. Sometimes it may be on the mark and other times it may be woefully incorrect. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Is there a family bible or other heirloom you’d like to at least see from your family’s past? Keep in mind that any of your great-great-great-grandmother’s descendants could have it? Things didn’t just pass to your immediate family. So get out and get looking. There may be thousands of people who may have what you are looking for. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
The American Revolution caused some residents of the United States to move to Canada. While not all of us have Loyalist ancestors, it is important to remember that historical events of all types might have caused our ancestors to move. And our ancestors didn’t have to be politically inclined for historical events to cause them to move. All kinds of things might have brought about your ancestor’s migration. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Do you know where the lines are? The county line, the property line, the village line? If you aren’t aware of where the various lines are located, are you certain you are looking in the right place? And remember that the lines can change, especially in frontier days in the early days of settlement. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Legally an infant is someone under the age of majority. That frequently is 18 for females and 21 for males. So a legal document refers to a male as an “infant,” he could easily be 21 years old. We’ve used this tip before, but it bears repeating and remember—in legal documents words are used in their LEGAL context (and based upon specific legal definitions), not necessarily the way we use them in everyday conversation. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Rarely are two separate documents 100% consistent. While it does happen, the more likely situation is that documents are fairly consistent, with minor differences. It is up to the thorough researcher to determine if the inconsistencies are inconsequential and to find reasonable, plausible explanations for them. Usually violations of the laws of biology and physics are not necessary to explain things ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Never hurts and never hurts to do it every so often. I “googled” the name (including maiden name) of a first cousin of my great-grandfather. The first cousin had to have died at least forty years ago. However, the searched turned up an obituary for a daughter who died in 2007! ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
Why would an ancestor give a child $1 (or another token amount) in a will? Basically to show that they had not been left out. The child could have had a falling out with their parent, or perhaps the parent had already given them their inheritance, perhaps when they got married, started some type of business, bought their first farm ground, etc. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
So you interviewed your relative twenty years ago when you first started genealogy. Have you thought about interviewing them again? Maybe they remember something now they didn’t remember before or are willing to discuss something they didn’t want to discuss twenty years ago. It is worth a shot. ———————————— Check out GenealogyBank’s Offer for Tip of the Day Fans!
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