[Genealogy] Worth It, AI for Genealogy, Census Misconceptions, Brick Wall Busters

Sun Apr 12 12:06:34 CDT 2026

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Genealogy Update 12 April 2026

** Is It Worth It?

** Introduction to Artificial Intelligence for Genealogy

** Census Misconceptions

** Brick Wall Busters 2026--New!

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Is It Worth It?

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Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. Genealogical curiosity can kill your
budget and bank account.

An earlier post discussed Soundex cards to Baltimore passenger lists in the
19th century. The cards located were for several members of my family. I’ve
seen the actual passenger lists for this family so locating the cards for
me was an academic exercise.

As mentioned in the blog post, the cards referenced the back of the card in
the location where “other family members” were to be listed. The back of
the cards were not filmed. Because of how the  cards were created, I
decided it wasn’t going to be worth it to obtain a copy of the back of the
card.

And then I got emails saying that I should see the back of the cards.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know what it would cost to get the copy of the back
of the card. And while I realize curiosity is a good thing for the
genealogist, curiosity must be balanced with practicality and reality. As
mentioned in the blog post, the cards were a finding aid to the actual
manifest. Information on the card was simply taken from the manifest
decades later in the creation of the index.

Here is where thinking about how the records were created and why they were
created is important. The cards were a finding aid for someone who needed
to locate his date and place of entry into the United States. The names of
others who were travelling with the person on the manifest were added to
assist the searcher in locating the desired name. This way if the “right
name” could not be found by searching for it directly (because it was
written incorrectly on the actual manifest and hence indexed in the same
way), a searcher could search for others that the immigrant remembered
traveled with and if their name was located on an index card, the name of
the person of interest should show up as someone in the “traveling with”
section of the card. It’s worth remembering that these cards were created
before computerized database searches and searching for other family
members was a good technique. The cards were not created as a genealogical
source.

While it may be desirable to obtain a copy of every record created on your
relative, there are some things to consider:

   - What is the cost of obtaining the record?
   - Was this “record” really a new record or was it created from
   information on another record (ie. an abstract)?
   - Is the probable informant on this record one whose “opinion” or
   “information” I don’t already have?
   - What information is typically on this record?
   - How reliable do I perceive the information to be on this record?
   - How was this record created and what was its purpose?
   - Do I already have this information from reliable sources?
   - Is this record likely to provide really new information?

Of course, sometimes it interesting to have any record on an ancestor and
any record can contain new information. But sometimes some thinking and
reflection may make you decide if obtaining the record is actually worth
it–especially if the cost is significant.
Because we can’t always afford everything.

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Introduction to Artificial Intelligence for Genealogy

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Been curious about using artificial intelligence for your genealogy
research? In this hour-long session, we will provide an overview of
responsible and simple ways to use artificial intelligence to assist with
your genealogy research. Our focus will be practical, easy-to-follow
techniques to use artificial intelligence to jumpstart your research in a
responsible manner. We won’t talk about ways to create images or fiction
but will show you how to incorporate AI into your research in down-to-earth
ways that don’t waste your time. We will see how to use AI to get research
ideas, focus your research, transcribe handwriting, organize and extract
information—and how to create your own research prompts.

AI can be used as a research assistant that’s always available. See how to
take advantage of it without the hype.

Presentation is available on 18 April. Pre-order price is $22
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2DJMKLMETRABQ>
—order yours today
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2DJMKLMETRABQ>.
Price after 18 April is $30.

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Census Misconceptions

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   -

   This is a fake census entry for illustrative purposes. Do not email me
   about the Guffermans. [image: 😉]

   *Pre-1850 US census records tell you nothing.* They can provide some
   information about general members of the household, but the analysis is not
   as easy as with census records 1850 and after.
   - *Tax records can be a good census substitute**. *Tax records can be
   used as part of an extensive research plan and they are helpful when census
   records are not extant, but keep in mind that tax records serve a different
   purpose than do census records. Census records were theoretically meant to
   count everyone. Tax records usually locate people who have property to
   tax…usually.
   - *Census records are always **inaccurate. *Census records can be
   correct or they can be incorrect–just like any record. Some families were
   better about giving more accurate information (or tell the truth) than
   others, some were easier to understand than others, some enumerators did a
   better job than others, etc. Don’t assume the census is always wrong. It’s
   not.

Census records contain details that were considered useful at the time.
They served a certain purpose and they were created by humans–just like any
other record. And they should be analyzed in the same way–just like any
other record.
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Brick Wall Busters 2026--New!
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This hour-long presentation is geared towards advanced beginning or
intermediate genealogists. Our focus will be on problems in the United
States between roughly 1700 and 1900. Brick wall ideas will be pulled from
consultations with clients and personal research experience. Approaches
will be practical and down-to-earth. Presentation approach will be through
a series of examples from a variety of time periods, locations, and social
classes. Handout included. Presentation made by Michael John Neill.

Presentation (video/audio) and handout will be released for viewing on 21
April 2026. Pre-order price is $22–order today
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=E26EPTPJ3C7AU>.
Price after 21 April 2026 will be $30.

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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17, Henderson, IL 61439
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
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