[Genealogy] My First Foray into Proof, Full-Text, and Consultations

[Michael John Neill]

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26 June 2026

Genealogy Update

** My First Foray into Proof
** Full Text at FamilySearch Update
** Consultations

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My First Foray into Proof
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I was in high school and I wanted to join First Families of Ohio.

The reason was simple: I wanted to prove something well enough for someone
else to believe it, not because I really wanted to join anything. And it
was the only lineage society I knew I was eligible for at the time. There
was just one problem: Thomas Rampley was not in the 1820 census and did not
appear on any tax lists in time to show his residence in Ohio before the
end of 1820.

Minor problem.

Hill, N. N., History of Coshocton County, Ohio–It’s Past and Present,
1740-1881, 1881, Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & Company Publishers, page 502.

But the county history said that Thomas J. Rampley and his family had
arrived in Coshocton County, Ohio, in the fall of 1817–coming in wagons.
Certainly that reference would be sufficient. County histories could not
contain errors.

It was not to be. The reference was not sufficient to document residence as
proof for First Families of Ohio. The printed word would not do.

I needed a workaround.

Years ago, I actually obtained copies of a few selected pages from the
Thomas J. Rampley equity case involving Joseph McClung in Harford County,
Maryland, that was referenced in an earlier post
<https://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com/?p=4941>. The file was large and
my budget was small. Consequently I only obtained a copy of the initial
petition filed by the attorney on Thomas’ behalf. In that petition it
stated that Thomas had moved before the death of his father to Coshocton
County, Ohio, with his family where he set up residence and that he
returned to Maryland to settle up some business *after his father*, James
Rampley, died.

There it was.

Of course I didn’t know exactly when James Rampley died either.

But I did know that James Rampley’s will was admitted to probate by a
Harford County, Maryland, court in September of 1817.

So James was dead by September of 1817. Which meant that Thomas moved to
Ohio before September of 1817.

Which meant he was in Ohio by the end of 1820.

My first indirect proof–after all, there was not one document that
explicitly stated what I was trying to prove. It wasn’t the most elegant or
sophisticated proof, but it served the purpose and my membership in First
Families of Ohio was approved.



Full-Text Searching at FamilySearch
July 2026 Update
*our most popular presentation*

*informal, thorough, & easy to understand and follow*

*Michael brings thirty years of actual teaching experience to the
presentation*

We’re excited to offer this revised presentation on the full-text searching
at *FamilySearch*--reflecting changes made to the site since our last
recording in January of 2026. 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

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.

Pre-order for $25 <https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/67D7Z5H4ZQHJA> (release
date 1 July 2026).  Price is $32 after release date. Complete handout
included and additional forms.

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