[Genealogy] Probable Margaret, Did An Advertisement Bring Them, and More
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Thu Oct 15 18:47:29 CDT 2026
Genealogy Update
15 October 2026
** Probable Margaret
** UFO Ancestors
** Extended Classes on Notebook for Genealogsts and Full-Text Search
** Did an Advertisement Bring Them?
** Keep Getting the Update
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There are qualifiers with this probable ancestor of mine: Margaret.
She is enumerated in the 1850 census with Benjamin Butler in Port Huron,
St. Clair County, Michigan, as the oldest female in the household. She is
twenty-five years of age and shown as having been born in Canada and it is
assumed she is Benjamin’s wife and the mother of the children living in his
household in 1850. She’s probably the mother of Benjamin’s daughter Ellen
(Butler) Sargent who married William Ira Sargent in Union County, Iowa, in
1870 where Benjamin is enumerated with his second wife, Nancy Wolf. Some
things I’ve learned about research from researching Margaret:
- *Females are more difficult to research*. This is especially true when
their husbands do not have much money and move frequently.
- *Sometimes “probably” is all you have. *Given the family’s constant
movement, the areas where they lived (that did not have great vital
records), and the fact that they weren’t flush with cash, I may never find
documents that explicitly states things. Sometimes we only are left with
records that are suggestive and point in a general direction.
- *The entire family is extremely important*. The few additional details
I know about Margaret and the leads that I am following on her almost all
stem from researching all the children of her husband, including those with
both his wives.
Note: There is addition speculation I have regarding Margaret. As it’s
really speculative, I’ve chosen not to include it in this blog post.
Probable Margaret is probably my 3rd great-grandmother. Probably. My entire
ahnentafel chart can be viewed here
<https://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com/?page_id=2>.
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UFO Ancestors
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More about our webinar on UFO ancestors.
Description: Your ancestor was not dropped off by a UFO, but it may seem
like it. This session will discuss methods and approaches when a person
“just appears” in a location with little in the way of background or
identity. See reasons why people just show up and ways to try and determine
where they were from before. Geared towards advanced beginners or
intermediate researchers.
Order now for immediate download.
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=199700&method_id=217451>
*FamilySearch Full-Text Search and Notebook for Genealogy Class offerings*
*Improve your skills!*
*save your spot today!!*
5-week class on Using FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search
With Michael John Neill
Are you getting the most from FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search? Our five
session class on FamilySearch’s full-text search will help you to get the
very most from this truly paradigm-shift way of searching. Presentation and
discussion is practical and down-to-earth. Students will receive practical
and easy-to-implement search strategies and will be encouraged to share
successes and failures with other class members via an online group and
discussion sessions.
Week 1
Overview of FamilySearch full-text search.
This session will provide an overview of full-text search methodology,
discuss how full-text search is different from typical searches, discuss
workarounds for transcription errors, searching specific sets of images,
and search organization.
Week 2
Sourcing and Determining what has been found with FamilySearch full-text
search.
This session will discuss determining what has actually been located,
downloading all information and images for a complete source citation, and
creating a completion citation.
Week 3
Common Name Searching at FamilySearch full-text search.
This session will discuss some specific strategies for searching for common
names in full-text search.
Week 4
Problem-Solving with FamilySearch full-text search.
This session will discuss search formulation, tracking, and problem-solving
when specific items have not been located.
Week 5
Wrap up
Structure
Lectures will be available for downloading the week before the discussion
session. Students will view presentation and do optional homework the week
before the discussion. Each week’s discussion will review the lecture,
discuss homework assignment, and have time for student questions and group
discussion. Homework is optional, but will help students to understand
concepts and get more from discussion sessions.
Discussion sessions will be held:
18 and 25 October and 1, 8, and 15 November at 7:00 pm central time.
Class meetings will be via Zoom. Class communication will be via a Google
group. Registration for class is $70
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BKU7EFP9P55C4>.
Registration is limited and can be processed here
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BKU7EFP9P55C4>.
Confirmation of registration will be made within 24 hours of receipt.
Contact Michael at mjnrootdig at gmail.com with questions.
Notebook for Genealogy–A Four Session Pick Your Own Problem Course
With Michael John Neill
Our focus is on being practical, exhibiting sound genealogy methodology,
and demonstrating responsible use of Notebook (Google’s suite of AI tools)
in genealogy research. This course is for those who would like guidance and
suggestions in how to use Notebook and have a place to get feedback and
additional direction.
An overview of NoteookLM
NotebookLM (often simply Notebook) is Google’s suite of AI-driven tools to
analyze data from files and information you provide it. .
Notebook uses sources of your choosing, not what it found online. You
upload your own materials—including PDF files, text files, Google Docs,
slides, or web links—and the AI creates a private workspace built
exclusively around that data. You can upload any genealogy information to
it tht you wish , but it is recommended that only deceased people be
included and that you not upload DNA information on living people.
Capabilities
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Answers with Citations: When you ask questions or search your uploaded
files, every response includes citations to your uploaded documents,
allowing you to double-check sources.
-
Synthesis & Content Creation: Notebook automatically generates concise
summaries, outlines main themes, and identifies connections or conflicts
across dozens of sources at once. You do need to validate its summaries and
conclusions.
-
Audio-visual Outputs: Beyond text answers, Notebook can create study
guides, briefing documents, timeline charts, slide decks, podcast
interviews, and videos based on your content. Even if you never share the
created materials, just viewing them and interacting with them may give you
some insight into your genealogical problem.
Course Prerequisites & Required Materials You should have digital records
for one ancestor or a father-mother-children family, including every extant
record available.
-
Format: PDF or JPG for images; PDF, Word, or raw text for transcriptions.
-
Preparation: Be familiar with the specific ancestral research problem
you plan to work on to get the most from Notebook LM and AI concepts.
Gather all materials between registration and the start of class.
Course Format & Zoom Sessions
-
Pre-Recorded Lectures: Students will view two hours of presentations
before group sessions begin.
-
Live Zoom Sessions: Held on Sunday nights (and recorded for later
viewing). Sessions combine live demonstrations by Michael working through a
set of family records alongside group discussions where students share
prompts, results, challenges, and questions.
Class Focus & Weekly Assignments
-
Weekly Assignments: One assignment per week focused on Notebook's media
outputs using your own research problem.
-
Scope: The course focuses on mastering the tools and capabilities of
Notebook rather than providing individual research advice, making it
accessible to participants working on problems from any region.
Community Discussion & Communication
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Private Google Group: Used for asynchronous discussion, peer
interaction, Q&A, and prompt sharing outside of live sessions.
-
Email Requirement: A Gmail account is strongly recommended. Accounts
with AOL, Yahoo, or Hotmail frequently experience delivery issues with
group emails.
Sections of this class--two options--take the class on Sunday nights..
Sunday sessions
Important Dates
-
Live Zoom Discussions (Sunday Nights): 18 and 25 October and 1 and 8
November. Time: 8 pm US Central Daylight Time.
Registration & Tuition-
-
Fee: $70–register now to save your spot
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EAYH3Z2FWUR9S>
..
-
Availability: Registration is limited.
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Did An Advertisement Bring Them?
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[image: image.png]
When a genealogist discovers a person moved from point A to point B, one of
the immediate questions is “Why?”
It is a good question to ask. The problem is that sometimes it does not
always get answered. The easy answer sometimes is that there were
associates of one form or another who were in the new area. The problem is
that there were not always associates in the new location and that once a
person has lived in that new area for a while the moving relative now has
new associates that only became associates after he moved to the new area.
And of course by that time the “new area” wasn’t as new as it once was.
Did a newspaper advertisement draw your ancestor to a new location? This
1873 ad for farm ground in northern Missouri appeared in a Warsaw
newspaper. The distance is not as great as moving across the entire
country, but there’s still a distance involved. Whenever there is an
ancestral move one always wonders what brought it about?
Was it opportunities advertised in a local newspaper?
If the Missouri farm was eventually purchased by the person who moved
there, the deed of purchase may indicate the seller was living in Warsaw.
That’s assuming that the seller does not move himself before the property
is sold or that J. E. Johnston is simply an agent and will not be listed on
the deed.
And if the farm ends up being rented and never purchased by the person who
moves there, there will be no deed to even potentially document a
connection.
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--------------------
Webinars
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Ready-to-Go Webinars from Michael–download immediate:
-
AI as a Genealogy Consultant
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/using-ai-as-a-genealogy-consultant/>
--New!
-
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/>
-
FamilySearch Catalog
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/02/19/using-the-familysearch-catalog-webinar/>
-
Farming Ancestor webinars–landowner and non-landowner versions
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/rooting-around-for-farmers-and-tenants-and-laborers/>
-
Female Ancestors
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/researching-female-ancestors/>
-
Full-Text Search at FamilySearch
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/08/05/updated-familysearch-full-text-search-webinar/>
-
Full-Text Search at FamilySearch with Common Names
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/11/04/common-names-at-familysearch-full-text-webinar/>
-
How Errors Get in Records
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/how-errors-get-in-records-webinar/>
-
Illinois Genealogy Research
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/03/10/genealogy-research-in-illinois-webinar/>
-
Metes and Bounds With AI–platting and analysis
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/using-ai-for-metes-and-bounds-deed-analysis/>
-
Unburying Funeral Home Records
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/unburying-funeral-home-records/>
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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
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