[Genealogy] Recent Tips, Three May Be Five, and T-Shirts

Michael John Neill mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Sun Aug 2 10:43:29 CDT 2026 

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2 August 2026

Genealogy Update

** Recent Genealogy Tips of the Day
** Genealogy Tip of the Day T-Shirt Sale
** Consultations
** Reliance on Memory and Why Three May Equal Five

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Recent Genealogy Tips of the Day
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   - Together for a Visit
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/08/01/together-for-a-visit-2/>
   - Denied Will Recorded or Preserved?
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/30/denied-will-recorded-or-preserved/>
   - When Searching Those Court Case Indexes
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/29/when-searching-those-court-case-indexes/>
   - Assumption Tear Down
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/27/assumption-tear-down/>
   - The Locally Made Index
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/26/the-locally-made-index/>
   - Genealogy Would Be Easier
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/25/genealogy-would-be-easier/>
   - What Kind of Deed Copy Is It?
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/24/what-kind-of-deed-copy-is-it/>
   - Those Precise Dates
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/23/those-precise-dates/>
   - Do You Have Genealogy Goals?
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/22/do-you-have-genealogy-goals/>
   - Changing Collections?
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/21/changing-collections/>
   - Grandma’s Yearbook Writing
   <https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/07/20/grandmas-yearbook-writing/>

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Genealogy Tip of the Day Sale

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T-Shirts!....and Save
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We're discounting our "Genealogy Tip of the Day" tshirts. $17.99 each...we
have from adult medium to xxxxl. Quantities are limited.
Light green has black lettering. Darker green has white lettering.
Email me (mjnrootdig at gmail.com) if interested to see if size/color are
available. Payment via paypal or venmo preferred.
Post a picture of the shirt to our page after you get it and I'll send you
a coupon for $17,99 off a webinar order!
[image: image.png]
[image: image.png]


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Consultation Sale
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What is a consultation?

It’s a chance to discuss your specific problem with a professional
genealogist, one who can look at your problem family with a fresh set of
eyes. It can help you get started if you are just getting started with your
research or continue if you’ve reached a point where you do not know what
to do. It’s like having a problem-solving class devoted to your family.
We’ll look at see if there any additional clues or leads in the records you
have already located and discuss what the next steps are in your genealogy
journey on your family of interest. It’s also a time for you to ask
specific questions about the materials you have found.

More details on our consultations page
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/consultations-with-michael/>.

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Reliance on Memory and Why Three May Equal Five

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[image: image.png]


Mom graduated from college in 1963. I was sure of it. I was positive. I
would have bet money on it. Well not a lot of money and certainly not an
entire paycheck, but perhaps the change floating around in my pocket. After
all I wasn’t alive in 1963 and wagering on events one did not witness is
risky business even when one is certain they took place.

Turns out it was a good thing I never made that wager.

Mom told me she had finished college in three years (“was done” is most
likely the phrase she used). I had heard her tell me more than once and I
knew I had heard it. The number stuck in my head like a song that just will
not leave.  Three years. The memory was combined with the caveat that Mom
didn’t want me to try and finish college in three years because some times
she wished she had not done it that way herself.

She never told me why she was done in three years and I never thought to
ask. She had worked at the college bookstore to support
herself and apparently had some student loans. Finishing in three years was
a way to cut the total cost down. The reason was practical and
quintessential Mom.

And so when it came time to write her obituary, I indicated she had
graduated in 1963. She had graduated high school in 1960 and little math
was required to determine that three years later would be 1963. Math does
not get much simpler than that.

The only problem was her diploma dated 1965. The diploma was discovered
before the obituary was published. My error was corrected. But I was
confused.

And then I remembered.

Mom had started teaching elementary school back in the day when a completed
bachelor’s degree was not required. She had enough credits and was allowed
to teach even though she had not finished her degree. Those stories of her
driving to Macomb (home of Western Illinois University, Mom’s alma mater)
with some of her fellow teachers to take summer classes came flooding back
to me. It made perfect sense and explained the 1965 graduation date.

It also made sense why Mom said she “was done” in three years. She was done
enough to start teaching but technically had not graduated.

But it got me to thinking.

How many pieces of information are in records because someone remembers
part of a story or remembers a story incorrectly? How often do we use
information provided in a record without giving too much thought as to how
the informant came to know that information? Was the informant providing
information based on only part of the story?Was the informant providing
information at time when they were under stress or were distracted?

And how many times do we hear a phrase and conclude that it means a little
more than it does? “Getting done” could be slightly different than
graduating–at least in Mom’s situation.

I cannot provide primary information as to when my mother graduated
college because I was not alive when it happened. That’s a simply fact of
chronology. I could scream it as loud as I wanted. I could type it in bold
face using the largest font. Communicating the information loudly and
proudly does not change the fact that my knowledge is not primary.

That diploma? It does provide primary information and the type size is not
unusually large.

And me? Against Mom’s advice I graduated from college in three years.
That’s something I have primary knowledge of because I personally witnessed
it.

And somewhere is the diploma to prove it.
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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17
Henderson, IL 61439
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