[Genealogy] Migration and Occupational Clues in Homestead Records and FamilySearch Webinars

Michael John Neill mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Mon Mar 30 07:49:06 CDT 2026 

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Genealogy Update
30 March 2026

** Migration and Occupational Clues in Homestead Records
** FamilySearch Full-Text Webinars

A “reasonably exhaustive search” in the genealogical lexicon means,
generally, to look at everything that could reasonably answer a genealogy
problem or question. That’s a good approach, but sometimes “brute force,”
or looking at everything and anything works as well. And, “brute force” may
give you answers to questions you did not even know you had.

My great-great-grandfather, Focke Goldenstein, was a German immigrant who
originally settled in Illinois in the 1870s, homesteaded in Nebraska in the
1880s with his wife, Anna, and returned to Illinois in 1889. He was one of
a number of immigrants from Ostfriesland who followed that same general
path: immigrate and settle in Illinois and move to Nebraska.

Homesteading was limited to individuals who were United States citizens and
immigrants would have to document their citizenship as a part of the
homestead application process. This usually meant including copies of their
declaration of intent (if they weren’t completely naturalized when they
applied for a homestead) or their final citizenship papers. Focke’s
homestead application included a copy of his naturalization which was
completed in Knox County, Illinois, in the 1870s. His cousin, J. T. Ehmen
was one of his witnesses. Focke lived in Adams County, Illinois, after he
immigrated–he had married sisters who already lived in the area. He married
an Adams County resident, Anna Dirks (a daughter of Ostfriesen immigrants),
in 1881. His naturalization in Knox County–which is a distance from Adams
County–had always slightly puzzled me.

I’ve been browsing homestead applications for other Ostfriesen immigrants
to Nebraska–particularly ones who also initially settled in Adams County
(and the adjacent Hancock County) who were either distant relatives or from
the same village as my Ostfriesen immigrants. I discovered that Focke was
not the only one who went to Adams County, Illinois, and naturalized in
Knox County, Illinois, and had J. T. Ehmen as a witness to the
naturalization. Looking at these homestead applications (which include a
naturalization since the individuals in which I am interested were
immigrants) has helped me to document where they lived before they
homesteaded.

For years, I had initially thought that Goldenstein went to Knox County to
naturalize because his cousin lived there, was established there and knew
how to navigate the process. Those things may still be true. But since I
have found others in the same area I’m starting to think that more may have
been going on. Ehmen was known to have worked for the railroad and during
this time period, Galesburg was a railroad hub and the railroad was (and
still is) one of the largest employers in the area.

I’m wondering: did Ehmen get Goldenstein a job on the railroad in
Galesburg? Did he help the others get jobs on the railroad in the 1870s?

More work to do and more questions to answer.

Given the way naturalization records are indexed (only the name of the
subject being naturalized is indexed), there’s no way to find Ehmen as a
witness on naturalizations other than to perform a manual search of each
record. That may consume more time than I am willing to spend. But pulling
the homestead records of other members of the larger Ostfriesen immigrant
community–focusing on those who originally settled where mine did or who
were from those villages–may give me more information on which to formulate
additional searches.

US Homestead Applications are online at  <goog_1831934823>*Ancestry.com
<https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60593/>. *The originals are at
the National Archives <https://www.archives.gov/research/land>. You’ll have
to draw the conclusions yourself. Just remember that there’s more in these
records than how many acres were under cultivation and the size of the
family home.

*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.
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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.

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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
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*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
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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
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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
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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:

   -

   effectively navigate the catalog search results,
   -

   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
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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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