Category Archives: How To’s, Hints & Tips

Why Was The Record Created?

Do you know the original purpose of the record you are using for your research? It most likely was not genealogy. Land deeds were created to transfer real property, tax records were used to document the wealth of an individual so that taxes could be collected, court testimony was used to gather evidence to make a decision in a specific case, etc.

Why a document was created impacts the information it contains and how reliable that information may be perceived for genealogy research.

In One Place Only

There are still records that exist only in their original form. They have not been transcribed. They have not been microfilmed. They have not been digitized.

Local records frequently fall into this category of being available “only in the original location,” but there are others as well. While it is realized that not everyone can travel to remote places to perform research, at least be aware that there may be more material out there.

Are Your References Clear?

When you read through your research notes, summaries, commentaries, etc. is it always clear to whom you are referring when you use the word “she,” “he,” “they,” etc.? Pronouns are great, but if you are writing about several people and then starting using “she” or “he” are the references clear from the context? If not, consider re-writing or re-phrasing.

Thomas Smith and Henry Johnson arrived in Colusa County, California, in 1856. Then he married one of the daughters of Jackson Brown and they moved to Oregon.

Who got married to the daughter of Jackson Brown?

It’s not clear, is it?

Look At The Time Frame

Always analyze a date in the context of other events taking place at about the same time. In comparing the death date of my great-grandfather with the date the will was brought to court for recording, I realized the dates were close–the date of death was 1 February and the will was brought for recording on 3 February. The time frame was even closer than I thought.

The great-grandfather died on a Saturday and on the following Monday the potential executor brought the will to be recorded. This was the first business day after the ancestor died–meaning that there wasn’t really any delay at all–the executor didn’t mess around.

Names Switched?

My great-aunt is buried in Idaho. She has two tombstones–one a military one and other a joint stone with her husband.

The dates of birth and death are the same–born in 1910 and died in 1990.

One has her name as Anna M. Hutchison and the other has her name as Margaret M. Hutchison.

Never hurts to change those first and middle names around when performing searches.

And the stones should be transcribed they way they are inscribed. Commentary about what is “correct” can be made elsewhere.