Many databases will be titled something like “Blah Blah Records of Blah Blah: 1800-1900.” Always try and determine just years are really included in the database. It could be that the “Blah Blah Records of Blah Blah: 1800-1900” actually only contains entries for: Read the “more about,” “FAQ,” or whatever they call it to determine just how complete the database is. It may include records between 1800 and 1900, but there also may be gaps. The records a person needs always seem to be in the gaps of time not included.
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Don’t let the fact that your genealogy isn’t “done” and isn’t “perfect” prevent you from publishing your compilation. Cite every source you have used, transcribe the documents accurately, report what they say (not what you wish they’d say), omit conjecture that has no basis, and summarize what you have found. No genealogy will ever be complete and there’s always the chance you miss something. Make certain you have used all sources that are available, not just the ones that are easy to access and not just the ones that are the easiest to understand. Realizing that it won’t be done and that it won’t be perfect doesn’t mean that you skim the surface of what is available and that you do a sloppy job. It’s just that perfection […]
All of us sometimes need to be reminded of things. For me–it’s spelling a last name consistently when writing about one specific person or couple. In writing a narrative about two members of my Behrens family, I alternated between Behrends and Behrens. I need to choose one spelling. My normal approach is to use the spelling that most members of the family used–when that is known. Virtually all members of my Rampley family use that spelling today, so that’s the one that I use. It certainly gets spelled a variety of ways in documents, but I use “Rampley” when writing about them and entering names into databases. The last name Trautvetter gets written a variety of ways, but generally speaking that is the spelling most members of my […]
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From a while back… After your ancestor’s deed is recorded in the local records office, the original is returned. Sometimes there may be a notation in the record book indicating to whom the deed was returned after being recorded. It may not be your ancestor. That’s a clue.
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If there’s a census where you cannot find a relative, think about what their enumeration would look like if you could find it. Where would that ancestor be living? Who would be in their household? What would their ages be? If the census is recent enough, what would the ages of places of birth be for those people within the household? Think about how the completed for would look. Consider filing out their census form using blank forms readily available online. Have a source or a citation for every piece of information you put on the census. Your ancestor may have completed the form from memory but that won’t work for you. Think about who some of their neighbors might have been. By the time you’ve done all […]
Children were not always named immediately. While modern practice is to name children at birth (if not before), this was not always the case for one reason or another. It is not uncommon to see “unnamed” or “baby” as the first name on a birth certificate. A couple may have waited until they could arrange for a christening to name the baby, because they could not decide, or other reasons. This post on our sister site looks at possible unnamed children in the 1880 United States census.
Some random thoughts on a fruit cake recipe I discovered. I admit I considered throwing out a recipe card for fruit cake that I found in my mother’s things. I’m not certain whose recipe it originally was or whether Mom found it somewhere and wanted it. I don’t remember her ever making it, but the recipe was on a card just like several others of hers that I typed up in the early 1980s. Most of the others I remember her making, but the only fruit cake I remember was one that someone else made or storebought from somewhere. As soon as I typed that last sentence I realized that maybe the recipe was from the person who gave us the homemade one. There’s no indication on the […]
From a while back… The cat didn’t mean to, but he was the “thought prompt” for today’s tip. Are you breaking your research down into smaller tasks? Achieving your goal in one step may simply not be possible. And if researching a family seems like a project which you will never finish, consider focusing on one person or one problem at a time and not be concerned with getting “it all done” right away. Ask yourself what one little thing can I do today to help me solve my genealogy problem? After all, Sammie got on the kitchen counter one step at a time. And your ancestor migrated from one place to another one step at a time as well. What was the most logical route to travel, […]
Even if your ancestor’s estate was intestate (without a valid will), the probate records could contain a copy of will that was refused probate by the court. While that will was unprobated, it still could provide good genealogical clues and reading it may tell you it was not allowed to go through probate. If there was a separate court case over the will it may be filed with non-probate court records in the county where the estate was administrated.
If there is a transcribed copy of a person’s obituary on their FindAGrave memorial page, consider getting their actual obituary. There are some who add content to the obituary when posting it to the Memorial and there are some who remove some of the obituary content. Images of obituaries should be fine but confirm what’s in the obituary posted to FindAGrave otherwise.
Determining how your ancestor met their spouse can be an interesting genealogical endeavor. It may not even be possible to do anything other than conjecture about their meeting. But at the very least, researching them with the intention of discovering how they met may result in new information–even if it has nothing to do with their marriage.
When you use a statement from a source in your genealogical writing, there’s more to it than just creating a citation to indicate precisely where you found that statement. You also must determine the perceived reliability of that statement before you decide to include it in your genealogical writing. Just because a statement appears in a document, record, book, or website does not make it true. Just because you know how to cite that document, record, book, or website does mean that statements from it are true either. Evidence must be evaluated as well as cited.
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