[Genealogy] My Assumptions Were My Problem, Full-Text 2026 Webinar intro price ending

Thu Jan 8 11:14:26 CST 2026

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In this issue:

** My Assumptions Were My Problem
** Full-Text Searching 2026 Early Pricing Ending--save $7.50
** Common Names at FamilySearch Webinar

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My Assumptions Were My Problem

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I’d been looking for the elusive Tamme Focken Tammen for quite some time.

Born in 1856 in Velde, Ostfriesland, Germany, he was the youngest son of
Focke Focken Tammen (1803 Buhren/Remels–1872 Velde) and his third wife
Tjede Willms Aden (1815 Velde–1883 Velde).  Tamme’s oldest half-sister was
Tjode Anna Focken (Tammen) Goldenstein, born in Buhren in 1824.

I had traced Tamme to Dawson County, Nebraska, in the 1880s where he
appeared in local church records, the 1885 state census, and as a witness
on a homestead application. It was not really difficult to trace him to
Dawson County—and not because of his seemingly unusual name. In fact, his
name is not that unusual as he has several cousins also with the same first
and last name who also immigrated to the United States.

He was located in Dawson County, Nebraska, because I ran across his name
while researching the family of Focke Goldenstein, a nephew of Tamme who
was already known to have been in Dawson County.

After the 1880s, Tamme disappears.

I had surmised that he simply died somewhere in the late 19th or early 20th
century and that his death was not recorded. He did not appear in the
Dawson County records after the 1880s and he did not appear in the areas of
Hancock or Adams Counties in Illinois where his nephew Focke took his
family after the sold their completed Nebraska homestead in the late 1880s.

He turned up in Pike County, Illinois, where he died in 1895. He wasn’t
supposed to be in Pike County. That’s not where Ostfriesens settled and
where he had no relatives. His will makes it fairly clear I’ve got the
right guy.

My assumption was incorrect that he would live in close proximity to other
members of his family and ethnic group. Ostfriesen immigrants in the
mid-19th century were extremely clannish. Virtually all of my forty some
immigrants from that area settled in close proximity to other immigrants
from that same area. Some of them had extended family who also settled in
the same areas.

And then there’s Tamme.

There’s always one who seems to break the rules.

Interestingly enough after his death, Tamme’s wife and children apparently
returned to one of those Ostfriesen immigrant communities. His son William
Tammen married Elske Janssen in the early 20th century and they lived near
West Point in Hancock County, Illinois, for much of their married life.

I was aware of William Tammen before I ever knew who his father was. That’s
because his wife, Elske (Ella) Janssen had a younger sister, Trientje
(Tena) who was my great-grandmother. It ended up that William Tammen who
was my uncle because he was married to my great-grandmother’s sister was
also a first cousin once removed of my great-grandmother, Tjode Anna
(Goldenstein) Habben.

You knew there had to be a double connection because in these families
there’s always a double connection.

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January 2026 Full-Text Search at FamilySearch Webinar

Intro price ENDING--regularly $37.50--save $30

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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 January 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.

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Common Names When Using Full-Text Search?

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Having difficulties with common names when using the full-text search at
FamilySearch? Take a look at our presentation on this very topic.

Common Name webinar:

https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/11/04/common-names-at-familysearch-full-text-webinar/

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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
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