“I had a large client report.” The report, or more accurately the client report, was what was large–not the client themselves. In this case, it is probably pretty clear that the word “large” does not refer to the client themselves. But ask yourself when reading any statement: is there another way to read that? Is there a different interpretation that is reasonable? Don’t get stuck on your first interpretation of a word, phrase, or sentence. Some items genealogists use are poorly edited for clarity, particularly 19th century county histories, “mug books” of biographies submitted by family members, and more newspapers than one may care to admit. If that’s the case, references to certain items may be ambiguous. Always ask yourself: Is there another reasonable way to interpret this?
Charts, Organizational Approaches, and Color Need ideas on how to organize information you already have? We will see how to do that in this informative, engaging, and down-to-earth presentation. Order now and savd $5. Download immediate. Michael John Neill shows a variety of ways to organize information you already have. This presentation is not about organizing the paper and images you have, but the data contained on those pages. Presentation is copiously illustrated with a wide variety of examples. Handout included. Organizing information can be one of the most difficult parts of the genealogical research process. It is also one of the most important. This session is not about organizing the documents, files, and images you have. It is about organizing the pieces of information those materials contain. […]
There’s picture of my grandmother with one of her great-grandchildren on her lap taken at Thanksgiving. You can’t see either of their faces, but it’s clear that Grandma is feeding her something to eat. Sometimes the best pictures don’t always show the faces of the people in them. They tell a story without really letting us know what the individuals actually looked like. And sometimes the documents that provide the biggest piece of genealogical information don’t always make any blunt, in-your-face, direct statements. A man purchases property in his own name in 1821, suggesting he was born by at least 1800. A man sells property in Massachusetts in 1780 and buried in the metes and bounds legal description is a reference to his mother (without stating her relationship), […]
Genealogy methods and process got you confused? Wondering if you are going in circles when you don’t need to? We’ll be offering this new class on genealogy process starting in October. Details in our posting.
Sometimes a tombstone for a married couple will be erected after the first spouse dies. The surviving spouse’s information will be inscribed on the stone–except for the date of death. The surviving spouse may fully intend to be buried there when they eventually pass. But life happens in the interim. That surviving spouse may move, marry again, change their mind about where to be buried, or pass away with no one to care if the stone is completed. A failure to etch the date of death on the stone does not mean that the person is alive. If they are old enough to likely be deceased, it doesn’t mean they are buried there–just that the intent was there when the stone was originally set. Check our my DeedMapper […]
The notice regarding the returning home of the 78th Illinois indicated that they were leaving on the 10th “instant.” That means “this month” and is sometimes abbreviated “inst.” We are excited to offer these two genealogy classes starting in the next few days. Check out details about our offerings:
Witnesses and informants frequently can’t remember specific dates of events. It’s possible that they: It can be difficult sometimes to tell which and it’s best to avoid rushing to judgement. Use any dates in the document itself to establish some broad time frame for when the event could have taken place. Be certain to cite the source and include the name of the known or probable informant. The information can’t be analyzed if you don’t know who gave the information and the circumstances under which it was given. We are excited to offer these two genealogy classes starting in the next few days. Check out details about our offerings:
A first cousin of my great-grandmother disappeared in the 1920s and was last seen in California and Colorado by various members of his family. he was approximately fifty years old at the time of his disappearance. He was never found. The last record he was mentioned in was the estate settlement of his brother. That brother died in the 1940s and his only heirs were his siblings and their children–including the missing brother. The judge overseeing the settlement of the brother’s estate declared the missing man dead in order to complete the settlement of the estate and disburse the balance to his children. The estate settlement contained testimony from the missing man’s children regarding their father’s disappearance and what attempts were made to find him. The court record […]
Details on our announcement page. Coupon code is save50now. List of webinars are on our website.
There was an envelope of pictures my mother had that were entirely undated. But there was a clue: a picture of a child (cropped from the illustration used for this post) and their birthday cake. Using the age given on the cake and the child’s year of birth, the photos could at least be dated to a year. Mom took quite a few photographs and there seemed little chance that the ones in the envelope were taken in separate years. They were in an envelope with their negatives which made it clear they were all taken on the same roll of film. It would have been easy to overlook the age on the cake–one needs to pay attention to every detail. What context clue could you be overlooking?
We are excited to offer these two genealogy classes starting in the next few days. Check out details about our offerings:
If you need a personal history writing prompt and you wear glasses, when did you first start to where them? When did you discover you neeed to wear them? For me, it was one summer when we were sorting calves in the barn and my Dad told me to get calf with a certain tag number in its ear and I said I could not read the number on the tag and I was standing the same distance from the calf as him. A few days later I was at the doctor’s office getting an eye test where it was determined that I needed glassses.
When you find that online obituary for a relative who died relatively recently, do you look in the comments section for additional clues? Good thing to do.
We’ve announced details of our March 2026 trip to the Library of Virginia in Richmond–join us!
Sometimes the connection the adminstrator of an estate has to the deceased is obvious or easy to determine. Sometimes it’s not. It’s always worth finding out if there is a connection. For years, I assumed incorrectly that the administrator of the estate of Michael Trautvetter who died in Hancock County, Illinois, was a neighbor, friend, or interested creditor. I knew little about Trautvetter’s family and, after a while, gave up on determining what the relationship was. Years later, after learning more about the family it was discovered that the administrator of the estate was the husband of a daughter of Trautvetter’s sister. The sister had a marriage in Germany I was unaware of and that was the maiden name of the administrator’s wife–which meant nothing to me at the time. Always […]
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