Special Announcement Our approach is to always use AI responsibly and practically as your own genealogy consultant. Maybe you can’t afford a consultant for your own research or you have too many genealogy problems to hire help with every one. AI can serve as your own genealogy research consultant. As with a human consultant, you’ll need to do the initial work on your ancestor, gather what you have, and familiarize yourself with basic sources in the area. There is no guarantee that AI will solve your problem. But using AI as your personal research consultant can help. Not by doing the research for you, or inventing ancestors that never existed, but by doing what a good consultant actually does: looking at what you have, summarizing it, discussing it, […]
I will be honest. When records are in a foreign language, I scan for names. But when viewing records in a foreign language, make certain to understand the structure of those records. This christening record from 1798 underlines and seems to emphasize the name of the father–Erasmus Trautvetter–and not the child–Johann Georg Trautvetter. Other records kept by this pastor in this place during this time period are also structured the same way. There is nothing odd or unusual about this entry–when compared to others. That’s one reason that no church record entry should be looked at in isolation. What you think is unusual may not be unusual at all.
When identifying individuals in a photograph, use their complete name (as best as you have it including name name) and years of birth and death (if you have it). If you want to include relationships in the identification, do that with respect to other people in the photograph and not to someone not in the photograph. It can be confusing to see individuals listed as gg-grandpa of MJN, gg-aunt of MJN, 3rd cousin of MJN, etc. Personally I would leave out the relationships unless it helped to clarify who someone was in the photograph. And don’t forget the location and when the photograph was taken–if you know it. Including who made the identification is helpful as well.
Analyzing DNA matches can sometimes be confusing. One issue is the bits of shared DNA that get passed down through the succeeding generations of the family. The visual with my ancestor Erasmus Trautvetter’s simplifies the genetic process, but serves to illustrate what potentially could happen. Among all the DNA Erasmus had in his body, let’s focus on two chunks: chunk 1 and chunk 2. Only chunk 1 is passed down to son Henry. Chunks 1 and 2 are passed down through son George and chunk 2 is passed down through daughter Ernestine. Henry passes chunk 1 to one of his descendants. George’s chunk and 2 are passed down through several generations until another George. The second George passed chunk 1 down to all of his descendants, but I […]
Have you thought about keeping a list of place names you encounter in a specific geographic area so that you don’t have to search for them every time you find a reference to them? I have several maps for the county where I grew up and for various other areas where family members lived. When looking at maps for one specific area, many have the same place names listed. But there is some variation in which place names are on which map, depending upon the time period and the purpose. I’ve also encountered references to place names in newspapers and other print sources. A list of place names in a specific region, their location (as specific as I can get), the time period, and the source of the […]
If you have a chronology for an ancestor and, during their adult lifetime, you have five year gaps where you are not certain where the ancestor lived or what they were doing, try and locate a record to provide that information. Answering those questions may help you determine more about where the ancestor was from and what her origins were.
For families that lived during a time of no vital records genealogists often do not have dates of birth. In some cases, it may even be difficult to estimate years of birth if records are not available. In cases such as these, make certain that you indicate the birth order is either a guess or inferred from the order of children in a will or another document. If children married, years of birth could be estimated from the marriage dates. And ask yourself, would any of my conclusions change if the order of birth for these children change? Most times they wouldn’t, but you never know.
This session will expand on the “Metes and Bounds with AI” presentation. It will include additional and more convoluted examples of metes and bounds properties, discuss platting out properties in federal land states involving sections and townships, and include an example of a metes and bounds description in a federal land state. This session presupposes that the listener has a basic understanding of land record terminology and knows how to locate land deed records as those topics are not a part of this presentation. Our first presentation on this topic can be downloaded here immediately: Metes and Bounds With AI–platting and analysis More Land Platting with AI Release date: 15 October 2025. Early order price: $18.99 Order includes audiovisual file and handout.
Augusta Newman received a warrant for military service in the War of 1812. Yet another man “gets his land.” Why? The reason is that Augusta Newman assigned his warrant over to that man–Thomas J. Stone. Stone likely paid Newman for the warrant. It was sometimes easier for veterans to simply sell their warrant than to move into new federal lands and “start over.” The image with this post is from the Bureau of Land management. The surrendered warrant (which has Augusta’s signature on the back where he assigns it to Stone) is at the National Archives.
Tales of family mental illnesses, substance abuse issues, and other challenges to normal daily functioning are not often passed down from one generation to another. And yet, they can explain why people disappear, certain relatives are never discussed, some relatives “won’t allow booze on the place,” etc. Newspapers, death certificates, court records, state hospital records (or committals) can be some places to potentially find some information about these conditions–for some individuals if the records are not sealed. Not all people who suffered from these conditions will leave behind records documenting what was taking place in their life. The records that are left behind may be incomplete and inaccurate. And remember that diagnosing these conditions was different in 1900 than it is today. The treatment, as well as the […]
Remember–no site has every record, every file, and every index. Don’t do all your research via one website, one repository, or one library. You wouldn’t just use the census only for your research would you?Expand your research horizons and your family tree–use a resource or a facility today that you’ve not used in a while. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Fee-based websites may tell you they have everything–they don’t. Even some non-profit websites may suggest they have everything–they don’t. And remember when you are done with the websites…look offline. Everything is not on the internet. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it and get your own copy.
When you have reached a genealogical conclusion, it’s always good to include the records, their citations, and the reasoning you used to reach that conclusion. It’s also good to track what something is “not” along with the reasons why. A relative sent me a 1917 picture of my Newman ancestor that included her two living siblings at the time–taken when the brother was celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary. There was writing on the back and she included a scan of that writing as well. She then included what I felt was an important comment which essentially said “I don’t know whose writing this is on the back but it’s not Mom’s and it’s not Grandma’s.” That was a good thing for me to know. The cousin would have […]
There were several migration trails across the United States beginning with the earliest days of settlement. Those trails are important and researchers need to be aware of them. However some people don’t exactly follow the trails. And some people are part of group of migrants connected by ethnicity, religion, or other shared social bonds who move together over decades. These longer, smaller, and more personal migrations are often referred to as migration chains. There are a variety of records that can provide clues as to such migration chains, including: Such records have given me evidence of migration chains, including: Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here. Learn more about it.
When the census taker came asking questions, they didn’t require the respondent to “prove” the answers they gave. They took them at their word. If your relative gave clearly incorrect information, the census taker may have asked someone for clarification. But for the most part, what your relative said was what got written down. They didn’t ask them to validate those property values in the 1850 or 1860 census. They didn’t ask to verify ages or places of birth. Answers regarding citizenship status and eligibility to vote were taken at face value (for those enumerations that required those details). Your relative providing information may have guessed where their mother was born on their 1880 census enumeration. They may have guessed about the place of birth for their mother–in-law […]
I give this property to John Smith and his heirs and assigns forever.” The phrase “heirs and assigns forever” typically means that John can “assign” to someone (by selling by deed or giving by will) the property or, if he has not done that by his death, then John’s heirs will have title to the property (depending upon contemporary state statute and common legal practice at the time). That’s a rather simplified version of “heirs and assigns” forever, but “heirs” and “assigns” mean different things. And the genealogist who doesn’t concern themself with the definitions runs the risk of drawing conclusions that are not necessarily true.
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