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. You may have discovered new information you want to mention to them or ask them about. Relatives who “were the reason they kept quiet about certain things” may not longer be living and the reason to be quiet may be gone. It is worth a shot. Help support Genealogy Tip of the Day by visiting any of the following sites: Try a GenealogyBank Genealogy Search to see what you find. Newspapers.com FamilyTreeDNA AncestryDNA offers Books on Michael’s Genealogy Shelf
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, maybe when they got married, started some type of business, bought their first farm ground, etc. Don’t assume that a token bequest in a will means that the individuals had a falling out. Help support Genealogy Search Tip of the Day by visiting any of the following sites: Try a GenealogyBank Genealogy Search to see what you find. Newspapers.com FamilyTreeDNA AncestryDNA offers Books on Michael’s Genealogy Shelf
I discovered quite a few court case references to members of my families in Amherst County, Bedford County, and the City of Lynchburg, Virginia, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Because of that, I assumed that my family lived in the general area where those three jurisdictions meet. My research focused on those counties and cities met. Campbell County was a logical location to search for references as well. But apparently, one widow ancestor moved to Augusta County, some time before 1799 and a dispute over her estate was located in the Chancery Court records of that county. I had assumed that she had remained in the county where her husband had died earlier and where most of her children lived. I was wrong. One of […]
Kicking ideas or pieces of information around can help us to see additional perspectives that might not be obvious otherwise. But there comes a time when one has to stop kicking around the individual pieces and start to see if there is any trend that appears. Our first organization approach may not be as successful as in the illustration. We may have to try multiple strategies before a clear picture emerges. Organizing information chronologically (in a timeline), geographically (on a contemporary map), by perceived reliability of record, by record type, etc. are all ways to sort details in hopes that trends are noticed after the sorting. There may be gaps in any organization. Your ancestor may not have left records during a decade of his life, some records […]
Don’t assume that when a document lists the children of a deceased individual that the children have to be listed in any specific order. They may be listed from oldest to youngest. They may not. The boys may all be listed first in order of age and then the girls in the same way. The living ones may be listed first in order of age followed by any children who were deceased. If you think the children are listed in a specific orders and have a conclusion based on that perceived ordering–state your reason for the belief that the children are listed in a specific order in a certain record. Don’t just assume something is true based on a gut feeling. Help support Genealogy Tip of the Day by visiting […]
The consideration on a land record is what changed hands in order to pay for the real estate being transferred. If the consideration is “love and affection,” “natural love,” or a token money amount, try and determine what relationship existed between the grantors and the grantees. Land records with token amounts are frequently used to transfer land between family members, but not always. The challenge for the researcher is that these records don’t specify the relationship. After all, everyone alive at the time already knew what those relationships were. Help support Genealogy Tip of the Day by visiting any of the following sites: Try a GenealogyBank Genealogy Search to see what you find. AncestryDNA offers Books on Michael’s Genealogy Shelf
Individuals can be referenced in the court records of their “home county” or area long after they have left. James Tinsley left the Amherst/Bedford County area of Virginia around 1800 when he and his family headed for Kentucky. He played a part in a lawsuit in Amherst County, Virginia, that was eventually settled in 1841 and filed for record around that time–40 years after he left the state. In 1822 he made out a power-of-attorney to Robert Tinsley (his brother, but the relationship is not stated in the document) to deal with the case involving property Tinsley acquired from members of the Rucker family. Other documents in the case clarify Tinsley’s relationship to the Rucker family, clearly indicate who his wife’s father was, and who several of Tinsley’s […]
Don’t forget if you have found that will in the packet of probate papers for your ancestor that there might be a “will record” contained with the probate records as well. Not all jurisdictions kept these records (which are actually transcriptions of the will and served as the legal equivalent thereof), but many did. Perhaps if the will has a difficult to read portion, is partially missing, or open to interpretation, the transcription in the “will record,” done after the will was admitted to probate, will answer your questions. In the United States, probates are local records typically maintained originally at the county court given jurisdiction over probate matters. In some states they are recorded at another local level besides the county–generally in New England states and independent […]
I ran across an old road map for the county where I grew up. The former railroad track that defined the west border of my Grandpa’s farm was shown on it. Based on the township lines (which were on the map) the railroad’s location was slightly off. The map showed it about a 1/4 further east than it was. The only reason I really noticed was because it changed the shape of Grandpa’s farm. There was another portion of the map that failed to indicate a triangular piece of property made by the highway and section line in another portion of the county. But then I had to remember the purpose of the road map: to generally show where roads were located so individuals could get from point […]
The home I grew up in is still standing. The homes I remember my grandparents living in are not. The home one set of paternal great-grandparents lived in and owned is lived in by a descendant. The home a maternal set of great-grandparents lived in is still standing. The others I’m not so certain of. Do you know whether the homes your various ancestors lived in are still standing yet today? Do you even know all the homes they lived in? This can be difficult to determine for those ancestors who rented properties and moved frequently. I know where two of my grandparents lived from their birth until their marriage. The other two I have a general idea where they lived, but no specific location. Those with ancestors […]
The online tree indicated the person of interest was born on a specific date in 1865 in a specific German village. To that point, my research had only uncovered a birth somewhere in Germany sometime in 1865. I was curious about the specific details and the source behind them. The “source” was the 1880 census. Now the 1880 census did suggest the person of interest was born in 1865 or 1864. The 1880 census did state the person was born in Germany. However, that census enumeration did not give the precise date or place of birth. The census was consistent with that specific information, but was not that specific itself. The census should not have been used for a source of the specific date and precise place for […]
FindAGrave memorials are like any compiled source. Many contain a significant amount of material not on the actual stone itself. Verify the information the memorial contains. Pictures of tombstones are probably reliable images of the original. Some photos make the inscription easier to read and others do not. Some photos are good, high-resolution images where magnification can enhance the readability. Others become pixilated. Transcriptions of what is on the stone can be incorrect–even when the transcription is easy to read. Supplemental information on the individual referenced on the tombstone may be correct–or it may be not. Treat that information as you would any other piece of information: verify. Some memorials have precise dates of birth and death where the stone only has a year–verify. Some memorials have a […]
Just like humans and other geographic features, cemeteries can change their names. What was used on a death certificate as the place of burial may not be what the cemetery is known as today or even several years after the burial took place. Local libraries, county historical/genealogical societies, and long-time natives of the area may be familiar with older names for cemeteries. County atlases or plat books may also refer to a cemetery by the name it was called at the time the atlas was published. A search of old newspapers for the name of the cemetery may not provide the new name but may help pinpoint the area in which it was located. A search of county histories or other out-of-copyright material on books.google.com or www.archive.org for […]
Quite a few years ago, we mentioned the use of discrepancy charts to analyze statements from different documents that provide pieces of information that disagree with each other. Looking at that chart now, there are some changes that I would make. I would add a column for the date of the document so that the table could be sorted by when the information was provided. A column for perceived reliability would be helpful as well–as long as my reason for that perception is included. Always be thinking of ways that any analytical tools you use could be improved. It’s not bad to keep thinking of ways things could be better. At the bottom of my table I add my conclusion about the information referenced in the chart–along with […]
The entry for Chapman J. Tinsley in “Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1900” indicates that the will was dated on the same date it was admitted to probate. That’s not how it works. The will date is the date the will was signed by the testator. The probate date is the date it is admitted to probate by the judge of the court that handles probate matters in the relevant jurisdiction. Other reminders here are to look at the original and to find the actual book in which the item is recorded–as Ancestry references several books for this item (without a page number either). Try a GenealogyBank Genealogy Search to see what you find.
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