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Get Tip of the Day Free About Michael Michael’s Books Michael’s Ancestors Michael’s Blogs Books on Michael’s Shelf Privacy Policy Contact Michael Affiliate Statement Lecture Topics Upcoming Trips Home Get Tip of the Day Free About Michael Michael’s Books Michael’s Ancestors Michael’s Blogs Books on Michael’s Shelf Privacy Policy Contact Michael Affiliate Statement Lecture Topics Upcoming Trips Get , every day, for free! Subscribe to the daily by clicking above by admin May 11, 2024 Are Lost or Closed Records in the Newspaper? If there is a court case that can’t be found” or a record that is closed,” remember that there might be some account of it in a local newspaper. I’ve got one 1870 era case where the packet of court papers is gone.” One option for me is to search the newspapers of when the case was heard and when judgement/sentence was issued in hopes that the newspaper mentioned something. Always keep in mind that there might be a newspaper account of an event as well. And while court records can sometimes be sealed, newspapers are a little more difficult to control in that fashion. 0 read more by admin May 10, 2024 American Revolution and Its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750 to 1789 This digital collection at the Library of Congress website contains over 1400 maps of the American Revolutionary era. View them at https://www.loc.gov/collections/american-revolutionary-war-maps/ 0 read more by admin May 9, 2024 That First Conclusion Never be so stuck on an initial conclusion that you avoid other reasonable scenarios or avoid looking for records because the person you need to find simply cannot be in that location.” A relative concluded a family member returned to Germany for a visit and returned to the United States simply because the ancestor could not be located in the 1870 census. The story of the trip was repeated enough that it became an accepted fact. It’s easy to jump to conclusions when we are first starting out. We can sometimes break brick walls” by going back and reviewing those initial conclusions. 0 read more by admin May 8, 2024 In the Days Beyond Recall Obituaries and estate notices usually appear in newspapers shortly after someone dies. There are other times a person may be mentioned years or decades after their death or departure from the area. Some small-town newspapers published snippets of items from the past as a way to engage readers and generate subscriptions. These items from ten, twenty, twenty-five, or fifty years ago were usually abbreviated versions of the original article. Given that earlier newspapers are sometimes harder for computerized algorithms to read, a digital search may find the more recent reference easier. Don’t always set your years of search to the person’s lifespan. The most interesting references may have been published some time after they were dead. And always go back and read the original reference for additional information. 0 read more by admin May 7, 2024 Research Cheat Sheet? Before going to the library, courthouse, or other research facility, considering creating a short cheat sheet” of key terms you will use while there that confuse you. It may not be practical to constantly google on the go,” and sometimes time can be saved by making a quick referral to doublecheck the meaning of a word or term. Grantor and grantee are two terms that people often get confused–and that confusion can easily cause the researcher to waste valuable time. 0 read more by admin May 7, 2024 Genealogy Quick Start Genealogy Quick Start is a bi-weekly genealogy show that is on YouTube and Facebook Live. The show airs live on Tuesday nights with Shamele Jordan, Jim Beidler, and I (Michael John Neill). We discuss a variety of topics and always have a special guest for the last half of the show. Old episodes can be watched on either YouTube. We can be followed on YouTube and Facebook . 0 read more by admin May 6, 2024 Sister-in-Law? If person A is the sister-in-law of person B, then in common usage, person A could be person B’s: Don’t assume which relationship it is and don’t assume that the in-law” is in in-law through the current marriage. It could have been from a former one–particularly if that marriage ended due to the death of a previous spouses. In some families, the use of the term in-law” will continue even if marriage ended in divorce. This 1950-era newspaper clipping indicated that Mrs. Mundy and Mrs. Wetzel are sisters-in-law. Mrs. Wetzel’s first husband, Herman Trautvetter, was a brother to Mrs. Mundy. 0 read more by admin May 5, 2024 Post Office Reports of Site Locations, 1837–1950 This series of National Archives microfilm provides information on US post office locations. Verbal descriptions of locations are included as well as maps. Time period actually covered varies from one location to another. The 683 rolls of microfilm were originally published as Microfilm M1126, Post Office Department Records of Site Locations, 1837–1955. Thanks to DL , a member of our Tip of the Day group on Facebook, for reminding me of this wonderful series. 2 read more by admin May 4, 2024 A Cousin By Any Other Name Cousin” is one of those words that people sometimes use in a variety of ways. It may mean first cousin (where two individuals have parents that were siblings), it may mean a more distant cousin relationship, it may be a cousin-by-marriage, someone who is related in an unknown way, or someone who may not even be related at all. Genealogists are sometimes precise in their use of cousin relationships. Other people often are not and sometimes genealogists find it easier to use the word cousin” instead of the precise term for the relationship. Don’t assume the precise nature of the relationship when someone is referred to as a cousin.” Research it to try and determine what it is. And remember that there’s always the chance that the person’s […] 0 read more by admin May 3, 2024 Buried in Your Files or Piles? We all have information, records, or other bits of genealogical data that we have not analyzed, put in our organized materials, shared with others, etc.? Do you have a pile of papers in your genealogical work area that you have let accumulate over time without doing anything with? Do you have images of family history materials in your downloads folder that you saved ages ago with the intent of working on–but are still sitting there accumulating age? It’s fun to make discoveries, but working with what we’ve had for some time may result in the best discovery of all–that the answer to our problem was already in our files or piles. Or at the very least we’re preserving something that may have other eventually died at the bottom […] 0 read more by admin May 2, 2024 Under What Act? Applications for US military pensions often mention the act under which the veteran (or his widow) applied. The details of that act may explain why the veteran waited until then–and that reason could be a clue. Men or women who applied for federal property usually did so under a certain act. If you have records of your ancestor having applied” for anything, look to see if the act under which the application was made is referenced. Learning about that act may tell you something about your ancestor that is not stated in the application. 0 read more by admin May 2, 2024 New FamilySearch Full Text Search Webinar We released a new and updated recording of my FamilySearch Full Text Search webinar–including presentation and handout. More details are on our announcement page. 0 read more by admin May 1, 2024 DOS Guys From tips of the past… It has been about ten [now twenty-five] years, but there used to be a local band named DOS GUYS.” There were three ways one could take this: DOS Guys meaning 2 guys from dos,” Spanish for two. DOS Guys as a way of saying those” guys, dos” as a slang way of saying those.” DOS Guys, meaning guys who were still using the DOS operating system on their...