Every genealogist loves a good obituary. The contents of an obituary can vary greatly, depending on the time period and other factors. Some of the information that can be found in an obituary includes: However, they can also underscore the importance of finding original records and corroborating evidence whenever possible. Here’s four examples of obituaries […]
Tombstones dating back to the 19th century or earlier can be rich sources of information about our ancestors. They can be used as substitutes when there are no government-issued vital records. These older tombstones sometimes give additional details that may not be recorded on any other surviving records. In this example, a tombstone from 1885 […]
Tuberculosis (TB) At one time, tuberculosis was rampant. According to American Experience on PBS, “by the dawn of the 19th century, tuberculosis…had killed one in seven of all people that had ever lived.” In my family tree the disease was prevalent in ancestors living in cities, but I’ve found no evidence of it in my […]
Online family trees identify the wife of my ancestor Stephen Romain/Romayne (1819-1893) as Mary Eleanor Hillborn (1828-1910). Records, however, reveal the identity of another woman. Beware of Online Family Trees I often caution other genealogists against believing what they find in online family trees that do not cite reliable sources. Online researchers often incorrectly assume […]
I found the following 4 records that revealed his military service, most of which were available on Ancestry: 1. 1890 Veterans Schedules of the U.S. Federal Census Although the vast majority of the 1890 U.S. Federal Census was destroyed in a fire, the 1890 Veterans Schedules of the U.S. Federal Census has largely survived. This […]
My third great-grandmother, Catherine Morgan was born in Delaware about 1832. She married James Morgan about 1854 and they resided in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Catherine died in 1904, and was buried in Chester Rural Cemetery. This information about Catherine was readily available online when I began researching her, but her maiden name and the […]
As a kid, I recall my relatives occasionally mentioning Cousin Andy, my grandmother’s cousin who spent much of his life in prison for committing various crimes. He had even broken into my grandparents’ house and stolen a few items, an offense for which he promptly turned himself in to authorities. Besides these details, I didn’t […]
If you think that only the men in your family tree were wage earners before a certain time period, you may be mistaken. Women often worked before they were married, or re-entered the workforce if they were divorced or widowed at a young age. Numerous women in my family tree held jobs, and some started […]
I love using newspaper archives for my research! Many genealogy records are only created at significant events in a person’s life, but newspaper archives can help fill in some of the holes in an ancestor’s timeline, and present a fuller, more vivid picture of the person they were. Trips they took, events they attended, illnesses […]
Genealogists have many options to choose from when deciding how to organize their records. It’s really a matter of personal preference. Some common methods include: Organizing by surname Organizing by couple Organizing with an eight folder file structure (one folder for each set of great-grandparents) I organize the majority of my records by couple. This […]
Recent Comments