[Genealogy] Family No One Else Works On, Why Were They All Dressed Up?
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Sun Aug 30 07:24:21 CDT 2026
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Genealogy Update
27 August 2026
** The Family No One Is Working On
** Current Offerings
** Why Were they All Dressed Up? And Who Took the Picture?
** Consultations
** Keep Getting the Update
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The Family No One Is Working On?
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I made a joke on one of my Facebook pages and on my Twitter feed:
Ever feel like you are the only person on the planet researching a family
from somewhere in 1750?
Sometimes it feels that way. Other times it feels like hundreds of people
are researching the same family and a proportion of them repeat errors in
old genealogies that have been corrected decades ago. That’s another issue
for different reasons. This post is about feeling lonely.
One respondent (Allison B) mentioned that she felt she was giving those
ancestors “new life.”
That seems to be an excellent way to look at it. While it can be
frustrating to research a family that no one else is seemingly interested
in, it is an opportunity to make discoveries and, in some way, bring those
families back to life. At the very least it is a chance to make those
stories known and to connect those individuals with other family members.
Many times these “unresearched” ancestors are more difficult to
research–that’s often why they are unresearched. It may be that no one has
even remotely connected the family to any with living descendants. It may
be that other descendants simply are not interested in them for one reason
or another.
If you are fortunate to make discoveries on these individuals and post the
information in any public forum, there’s always the chance that someone
else incorporates the information into their tree without any communication
with you. *That’s the reality. That’s the chance (or opportunity–depending
upon your perspective) that you take when you post any information
publicly. *There’s no control over information once it has been posted and,
as we’ve stated before, statements of fact cannot be copyrighted. Copying
paragraphs of your analysis and putting it on as their own is a separate
issue and is a violation of copyright. Whether it’s courteous to
communicate beforehand when reusing facts is a separate issue, but I can
guarantee that it more the exception than the rule.
When a person has researched a family for some time and has worked through
research challenges with them sometimes they feel something of a connection
to those ancestors. That’s understandable. It’s understandable too why it’s
frustrating when someone “copies” that information and puts it forth as
their own. The other option is not to post the information publicly.
My philosophy is that by spending that time researching that specific
family helps me to know them better than someone who simply copies my facts
and puts them out there as ones they discovered. I’ve gained something that
they haven’t. Wading through the research gives me more of a connection
with individuals than simply copying and pasting facts.
That’s something the copy and paster won’t get.
And time spent waging battles with the copiers and pasters takes away time
from my research on those families that haven’t been worked up. Or working
on those families where there are lots of mistakes and gaps.
I’d rather spend my time doing that.
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Current Offerings
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Current offerings:
-
Notebook AI–four week class
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/08/12/notebook-for-genealogy-four-week-class/>
-
Metes and Bounds AI–one hour webinar
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/08/16/using-ai-for-metes-and-bounds-deed-analysis/>
Upcoming Trips:
-
Midwest Genealogy Center–Independence, Missouri
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/mid-continent-genealogy-library-october-2025-research-trip/>--October
2026
-
Library of Virginia
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025-library-of-virginia-research-trip-richmond-virginia/>--March
2027--make deposit and pay balance later
Ready-to-Go Webinars–download immediate:
-
Creating Children’s Stories from Genealogy Events
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/creating-childrens-stories-from-genealogy-information/>
-
Creating Families from pre-1850 Census Records
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/creating-families-from-pre-1850-census-records/>
-
DeedMapper webinars
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/deedmapper-intro-and-more-deedmapper-webinars/>
-
Farming Ancestor webinars–landowner and non-landowner versions
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/rooting-around-for-farmers-and-tenants-and-laborers/>
-----------------------------
Why Were they All Dressed Up? And Who Took the Picture?
-----------------------------
Charles and Fannie (Rampley) Neill family–probably taken West Point,
Hancock County, Illinois. Identification is from left to right. Front: Pat
Neill, Roger Neill. Back: Cecil Neill, Mae (Randolph) Neill, Ralph Neill,
Ida (Trautvetter) Neill, Keith Neill, Armin Shanks, Fannie (Rampley) Neill,
Nellie (Neill) Shanks, Charlie Neill
I wondered why they were all dressed up. There had to have been some sort
of “occasion” as most of the snapshots of the Neills show the men in more
traditional farmer attire (son-in-law Armin Shanks was a school teacher as
was his wife Nellie) and the ladies in less formal dresses. Common sense
told me it was not that all the Neills had been to church. The attire
also indicated that the picture was probably not taken in the summer or in
the depths of winter. But why were they all dressed up? This is one of the
few pictures I have of the entire family in one shapshot. The other
photographs from the 1920s and on do not include the entire family group.
This picture was one that was in Fannie Rampley Neill’s collection of
photographs which are in the possession of a family member. The same
picture was also in an envelope in her daughter Nellie’s collection of
photographs. Written on the envelope was a note indicating that the
pictures were taken when son Herschel had come back with his new bride. The
couple had married in Texas where he was stationed during part of World War
Two.
There was a second photograph including the newlyweds.
Charles and Fannie (Rampley) Neill family–probably taken West Point,
Hancock County, Illinois. Identification is from left to right. Front:
Roger Neill, Pat Neill. Back: Cecil Neill, Mary Ann (Hartman) Neill,
Herschel Neill, Ralph Neill, Mae (Randolph) Neill, , Ida (Trautvetter)
Neill, Keith Neill, Fannie (Rampley) Neill, Nellie (Neill) Shanks, Charlie
Neill
Identifying the people in the photograph also led me to believe that
Herschel took the first picture (he and Mary Ann are not in it) and that
Armin Shanks took the second picture as he is the only one absent from that
picture.
One cannot always tell the reason why a family got together and it’s not
always obvious who took the picture either. But sometimes there are
clues–one just has to look. Before we found the envelope explaining why the
pictures were taken, we were using my father’s birth to approximate the
picture’s date (he’s the one being held by his mother in both snapshots).
My Grandma Neill (Ida [Trautvetter] Neill) would have said they were “all
dolled up” for the occasion. Somehow I just can’t bring myself to use that
phrase to describe my grandfather.
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Consultations
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Genealogy Consultations with Michael John Neill
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.
People—problem will revolve around one ancestor, a couple, or a couple and
their children.
Places—problem will be US based, including people who were immigrants to
the United States.
Time period—problem will focus on individuals born before 1900.
Consultee will submit documents on ancestor in an electronic format as
either an email attachment or via Dropbox. *Submission should be no more
than fifteen pages of records and one additional page of questions about
those records*. Submission should include materials located and materials
searched negatively. Submission should include research goal.
Fee is $140–we are having a 2025 holiday sale of $100
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=N9T7VCB8DTJ7C>
(number
of consultations at reduced price is limited). Michael will review
materials submitted and schedule a Zoom meeting for a discussion of the
problem. Consultees are encouraged to have a list of questions
About Michael
- Michael has nearly forty years of research experience in courthouses,
libraries, archives, and online.
- Michael has led research trips to the FamilySearch Library and the
Allen County Public Library where he helped participants on a regular basis.
- Michael has worked on families in a variety of areas in the United
States—including rural and urban areas.
- Michael can help you evaluate and interpret sources for perceived
reliability.
- Michael can help you create a to-do list based on your
problem—including materials to access and skills and methodologies that
could be helpful generally.
- Michael will let you ask questions as a part of the consultation
process.
What you’ll get:
- Michael’s notes (typed) on your problem that were used in preparation
for the Zoom meeting—including a section of where to go next.
- The Zoom meeting with Michael.
Zoom meetings are scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time based on the
schedule of Michael and the consultee.
Register for a consultation today
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=N9T7VCB8DTJ7C>
($100
sale price–save $40!).
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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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