[Genealogy] Instant Sale, AI for Genealogy, Deed Joke, Nowhere
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Mon Apr 13 13:14:34 CDT 2026
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Genealogy Update 12 April 2026
** Selling Property Instantly in 1764
** Introduction to AI for Genealogy
** Brick Wall Busters 2026
** A Deed Joke
** In the Middle of Nowhere
** Full-Text Webinars
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Selling Property Instantly in 1764
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Newspapers can be a genealogical wildcard. This advertisement from the 15
April 1764 *Philadelphia Gazette* shows exactly why.
Inasmuch as William Norlit hath advertised 150 Acres of Land in Middletown,
Chester County, to be sold on the 24 Instant; This is to give Notice to
whom it may concern, that 100 Acres thereof is the Property of my Sister
and self. ANN MARSH
That’s an interesting accusation. Unfortunately Marsh does not name her
sister and does not indicate if there is any relationship among William
Norlit and Ann Marsh and her sister. The sisters are claiming ownership of
100 out of the 150 acres, an ownership share of two-thirds. Their claimed
claim leaves William Norlit with one-third of the property. This suggests
they are all heirs of a pre-deceased owner. But suggestions are not
proof–they simply suggest where research needs to go.
Additional work needs to be done. It is possible there was a court case
resulting from the claim of Ann Marsh and her sister. It’s possible there
is an estate settlement or probate case that could explain the connection
among the three. The problem with that would be determining whose estate
they were all heirs of. It might have been someone with a last name other
than Norlit or Marsh. Property and tax records should also be referenced.
And the 24th instant? That means the 24th of the current month.
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Introduction to AI for Genealogy
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More details about this are on our website
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/04/10/introduction-to-artificial-intelligence-for-genealogy/>
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Brick Wall Busters 2026
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More details on this are on our website
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/04/12/brick-wall-busters-2026/>
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A Deed Joke
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I quit claiming I could stop searching for deeds when I realized I had not
located a deed of sale. An additional search of land records was warranted.
I’ll grant this is not as funny as it could be. Does that make me the
grantor?
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In the Middle of Nowhere
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I asked a colleague to recommend a researcher in a specific area that’s too
far for me to travel to and a little outside my area of expertise. He
wasn’t able to give me the name of a researcher and, because we
occasionally share attempts to be funny with each other, he included the
following in his response:
Apparently your family has a long history of living in the middle of
nowhere.
He was joking and occasionally likes to remind me that I live in the middle
of nowhere and he does not. But his comment got me thinking about something
that I had realized but never verbalized.
The majority of my direct-line ancestors did live in the middle of nowhere
or at least somewhere fairly rural.
I won’t bore readers with a lengthy discussion of where my various families
are from or where they settled, but will briefly summarize. My maternal
ancestors all hail from a rural area of northern Germany where they had
lived for generations. They settled in rural areas of Illinois and Nebraska
in the mid-19th century. My paternal ancestors have been “rural dwellers”
in the United States since at least the mid-18th century (for those who
were in the United States). My paternal mid-19th century immigrants came
from rural areas of Europe as well. We just are not city dwellers.
Except for a set of 3rd great-grandparents who spent two years in
Cincinnati.
What changed for your ancestors when they moved from one place to another?
What stayed the same (or relatively close)? For many of mine their
occupation and way of life stayed the same. Some of their neighbors also
stayed the same–if not initially, at least after a few years some of their
former neighbors were their neighbors again. Thinking about what did and
did not change for your migrating ancestors when they moved may at the very
least give you some insight into their life in their new location.
Determining what might have changed and what might have not changed may
require learning more about the area and the time period than you currently
know.
It may even cause you to let go of some assumptions you had about your
ancestor and their life.
And that may help you solve your research problem.
Or maybe not.
If you don’t do it, you will never know.
Full Text Webinars
*Check out our offerings on full-text search at FamilySearch. Get the most
of it!*
*download immediate*
FamilySearch Full-Text Webinar
We’re excited to offer this revised presentation on the full-text searching
at *FamilySearch*--reflecting changes made to the site since this was
recorded in August 2025. We’ve redesigned our presentation as this
functionality continues to change. And…we have an extensive handout
complete with forms to help you find more people.
If you have purchased an earlier version of this presentation--email me at
mjnrootdig at gmail.com for the code to order this revision for $10.
Fully Utilizing Full-Text Search: Revised for 2026
Your purchase includes:
- *A 90 minute (or more presentation)* you can view as often as you want.
- *Detailed handout* with charts and forms to help organize your
searches. Charts and forms sent as separate files you can edit and
customize and not as a locked PDF you have to re-create yourself as a new
document.
We’ll be including and discussing:
*Determining what is in Full-Text Search—*what you can access at home and
what you will have to be in a FamilySearch facility or affiliate to access.
*Seeing How AI Transcriptions are different*—they aren’t like the
transcriptions made by humans. That can change your approach.
*Remembering that Full-Text means every word*—approaches need to differ as
we aren’t looking up a name in an index any more.
*Asking Who* is in the record? We aren’t just searching for the main person
like we did with traditional indexes. We’ll discuss how to determine who
could be mentioned in a record.
*Determining How to search?* There are a variety of ways to search and
filter results. We’ll see how each one works to help determine the best
strategy.
*Creating search strategies*—how full-text search changes your approach and
why just dumping terms in search boxes is not always effective.
*Determining what you found* The interface does not always make this clear.
We will show you how to get beyond the confusion and help you get enough
detail for a citation.
*Creating effective problem-solving approaches*—what to do when you cannot
find something you want.
*Demonstrating practical examples*—completely new people and families from
our previous presentations.
Available for immediate download for $30
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=246272&method_id=268990>.
Complete handout included and additional forms.
Common Names at FamilySearch Full-Text Webinar
*Overwhelmed by common names like Smith or Jones in your family tree? This
presentation offers advanced strategies and techniques to help you
effectively use FamilySearch’s full-text search and find those elusive
ancestors.*
Download immediately for
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=247700&method_id=270565>
$40–use
code common26 and save 30%.
*Full-Texting the Smiths and Jones:*
*Strategies for Common Names*
Using FamilySearch’s Full-Text search is easier when the name is relatively
uncommon. It’s more of a challenge when the last name is Smith, Jones,
Brown, or something similarly common. In this presentation, we will look at
approaches to maximize the chance you find that common-named person. No
approach is full-proof and we will not be so brazen to guarantee success.
No genealogist should ever do that.
What we will do is help give you some ideas and techniques to give you a
better shot at finding your commonly named person. We can lead you through
some examples and give you some ideas to modify to search for your own
people. *We will assume you’ve got an understanding of how full-text search
works*. This presentation will not cover the basics of using the full-text
search functionality of FamilySearch (you can watch our first presentation
for that—nearly two hours and an extensive handout
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/09/05/fully-utilizing-full-text-search/>
).
The Smith-Jones presentation will cover:
*Identifying all the key elements* that distinguish your ancestor from
others. Your ancestor is more than a name. Crafting as detailed an
ancestral profile as possible facilitates the construction of effective
searches and we will see how to elicit as many of those details as possible
from records you already have.
*Organizing a search strategy.* Making certain all relevant search
combinations have been searched is key to maximizing the chance you find
your commonly named ancestor. We will see how to create your own forms and
outlines to do just that.
*Tracking Results to Problem-Solve.* Searching for common names requires
the researcher to be as methodological as possible to make certain all
options have been considered. It is impossible to determine if all
effective means of search were used if negative results tracking is not
done.
*The Name’s the Thing.* Last names such as Bird, Lake, and Farmer have
their own issues as well. We will see some approaches that can help locate
these names.
*Case Studies*. We will look at sample case studies common-named persons.
*Please note*: *We can’t guarantee success*. What we can do is help to give
you tools to increase your chances of success with common names.
Order for immediate download at our regular price of $40
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HQM8799ZLWSQS>
.
FamilySearch Full-Text Problem Solving Webinar
This presentation assumes that you have a working knowledge of how to use
the full-text search at FamilySearch (order that presentation for $30
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=246272&method_id=268990>—download
immediate).
We will look at examples (ones not discussed in the original presentation)
and follow a consistent process and methodology to maximize the chance that
we find what’s available for the individuals in question. It’s important to
leverage all you know about an ancestor combined with the power of
full-text search—we will focus on: family members, migrations, and known
events and relationships. Our approach is systematic—we avoid the rabbit
hole approach that can make full-text searches inefficient.
Released. Pre-orders have been sent. Regular price $28
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=249265&method_id=272262>
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Using the FamilySearch Catalog Webinar
Media file and handout released--nearly 60 minutes!
Order for immediate download (no streaming) for $24.00
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248898&method_id=271851>
.
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248898&method_id=271851>Normal
price is $28.00
Confused about what is on FamilySearch? Having difficulty knowing what is
online there and how to access it? This presentation will lead you out of
the confusion.
Contents will include:
Various ways the catalog can be searched–the six verbal ways (location,
title, keyword, surname, author, subject) and the two more numeric ways
(call number and film/image group number). We will see how to:
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effectively navigate the catalog search results,
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determine how catalog materials can be accessed,
-
be aware of all geographic levels for a specific location,
-
determine what indexes and finding aids are available
-
see how common record types are frequently cataloged,
Presentation made by Michael John Neill
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248898&method_id=271851>
*Purchase for immediate download
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248898&method_id=271851>*
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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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