Knowing how your relative likely said their name makes it easier to know when you have run across a reasonable variant or to determine what variants for which to look. There are numerous genealogy groups on social media where you can find out how your Swedish ancestor said their last name, how your Irish ancestor may have pronounced his place of birth, or the way your German ancestor may have said his first name. This knowledge matters. Sometime before she died, I heard my great-grandmother say her grandmother’s maiden name of “Behrens.” It sounded somewhat like a combination of Burnes and Barnes with a little more “umph” to it that one would say “Burnes” or “Barnes.” But that is why I find the name written as Barnes, Burnes, […]
One can be tempted to avoid getting marriage records for those unions that do not result in descendants. That’s a mistake. The record itself may tell you something about the relative that you do not know. The spouse in which you are “not interested” may actually be a relative (in some other way) by marriage or blood and that could be a clue as well. And in some cases, like the one I’m working on now, the marriage that resulted in no children was to a Civil War veteran and that resulted in the wife getting a widow’s pension which may tell me more about her origins and her first marriage.
When there are quite a few small, weekly newspapers within “shouting distance” of your ancestral family it can be difficult to search all of them for references to your ancestor. We tend to focus on the newspapers that are the nearest to where the ancestor lived and perhaps the nearest daily paper that may have contained a reference as well. This clipping refers to a fire that destroyed my great-grandparents’ home a few miles from Basco, Hancock County, Illinois, in 1923. I have known about the fire since I was a small child. I’ve seen other newspaper references to it in weekly papers within ten or so miles of their home and references to it in the two nearest daily newspapers. But this reference in the Camp Point […]
Contacting relatives to see if they have family photographs or other ephemera can take time. Sometimes there is no response or a response similar to “no and I don’t know of anyone who does.” In my collection of family photographs and other items, I have a few pictures of first cousins of my great-grandparents and the first cousin’s family. I do not have a whole lot, but I do have a few. I was actually able to recently contact a descendant of one of these first cousins and ask them if they would like the photograph (after making digital images for myself). The correspondent was a great-grandchild of the mother and wife in the picture and I am a great-grandchild of the first cousin of the wife who […]
If your ancestor was a local businessman, an advertisement in a newspaper or other publication can confirm where the business was located, dates on which the business was operated, business partners, etc. Advertisements may even include biographical information on the business owners (check out the comments on this Rootdig post to see a reference to an advertisement in Kansas that generated quite a bit of information).
Two people can look at a picture of a relative and think that person looks like two different individuals who are unrelated to each other even though they are related to the person in the photograph. It’s because we sometimes see the connection that we want to see. It’s also because sometimes a person can look like more than one relative. That same “seeing what we want to see” can happen when we analyze a document or a record. When interpreting a record or a statement in a document, try and view it with as open of a mind as possible. View it with the mindset of “what does this say” instead of “what do I hope this says.” Check out the books on my Genealogy Bookshelf.
Early in my research, when I did not know any better, I just assumed my female ancestor who died in Linn County, Iowa, in 1867 left no probate. Her husband had died in 1861 in Indiana and she left that state for Iowa shortly after his death. Most of her children were already in Linn County, Iowa. Her moving there made sense. She would have been approximately sixty-five years old at the time of her move and I just assumed that she moved in with her children and would have had no estate to probate, no land records, etc. Melinda provide me wrong. She bought ten or so acres in Iowa and had a home built on it. She owned the property when she died. There’s a wonderful […]
Sometimes records are only accessible onsite and travel is not an option. Sometimes records are in a foreign language and someone who can read and translate them is necessary. Sometimes things just don’t make sense and you need someone with expertise and experience to review your materials and make suggestions or do some research. Before you even consider hiring a professional: organize what you have–go through it, put it together, find the “sources,” transcribe it, summarize it see if there are other ways to access the records you need see if there’s a Facebook group, email list, or other group where you can post your questions–or get suggestions for someone who may be able to help see if you can translate the records yourself--but make certain you are understanding words correctly in […]
Initial letters or prefixes of names can be intentionally or inadvertently omitted, with: Knight becoming Night Hoffman becoming Aufmann O’Neill becoming Neill MacArthur becoming Arthur Van De Burg becoming Berg etc. Is it possible a first letter or two was dropped when your name of interest was entered in a record? Check out my 1950 census preparation webinar-1 April is coming up!
Put every event in context. If your ancestor sells property, ask yourself: how old was he? was he getting ready to leave the area? was he having financial problems? was he selling to a child or other relative? is he “setting his estate” before he dies? did he buy other property about the same time? Don’t look at a record all by itself. Put it in the context of other things that were taking place in your ancestor’s life. Some of these situations will result in other records–additional land deeds, court records, etc.. Selling all land before death may be the reason you cannot find a probate for him or her.
Join me on 10 March to learn more about your US farming ancestors or see our US land records class or 1850-1940 Census Analysis. Details are on our post.
When taking pictures of tombstones that have inscriptions on more than one side, make it clear that the inscriptions are all on the same physical tombstone. Label the images–back, front, left side, right side, etc.–perhaps by appending that phrase to the file name of the stone: immanual_cemetery_fred_smith_stone-front immanual_cemetery_fred_smith_stone-back immanual_cemetery_fred_smith_stone-left immanual_cemetery_fred_smith_stone-right etc. Also consider taking pictures to make it obvious the inscriptions are all on the same stone. This is especially important for stones that may have inscriptions for separate family members on each side–particularly if some of those relatives have different last names. Don’t leave clues behind at the cemetery.
Join me on 10 March to learn more about your US farming ancestors or see our US land records class or 1850-1940 Census Analysis. Details are on our post.
If information from two or more records is inconsistent, and even when it isn’t, ask yourself, “which items am I really certain are actually about my ancestor?” Is there a deed that might not be his? Is there a census enumeration (especially before 1850) that might actually be for someone else? Am I using someone else’s conclusion that these two records are for the same person when they might not be? Consider each source or record you think refers to your ancestor and contemplate what really makes you think that. Actually write down your reasons. You might realize that there is a record or two that might not really be for the person you are researching. And that may be causing your confusion.
If a document or record does not make any sense, if someone seems to appear out of nowhere, if someone seems to disappear without a trace, brainstorm on all the possible things that could have been going on at the time. Make a list. Don’t worry about how likely or realistic they are. Then, when you are completely out of ideas, think about: the ones that are too far-fetched or unrealistic–I eliminate these first. the ones you could never prove the ones that are the most likely the ones that might have left records. The four categories above are not mutually exclusive. Start with the situations that are most likely and might have left behind some sort of record. Work to find those records, but remember you are […]
Recent Comments