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07 May 2013

Do You Quit Too Soon?

The entry at the top of this index page is for Thomas J. Rampley's estate settlement from Coshocton County, Ohio probate records from the 1820s-1830s. Thomas was the person of interest and I thought when I found him I was done with the index. There weren't supposed to be any other Rampley entries in the file as no one else died there.
At the bottom of the "R" section was an entry for James Rampley--son of Thomas. James had not died, but nearly ten years after his father Thomas died he was appointed guardian for two of his siblings. The entry was indexed in his name.

If I had quit looking at the entries after I found what I wanted, I would have missed this entry.

4 comments:

  1. Sometimes it's like finding a needle in a haystack.

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  2. Yep. Had the same thing happen to me. I had the marriage register from the town my grandparents lived in, and looked at it over and over again, never bothering to look at anything else. About 5 years after I obtained a copy of the register, I happened to look at it and realized that the very next entry was for that of my grandmother's aunt (her mother's sister), listing her remarriage, and giving the name of her grandparents. That opened up 2 new branches for me to research, and put me in touch with researchers for my 2xgr grands families!

    You just never know what you're missing...........

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  3. The worst mistake you can make is stopping too soon. That's what I tell patrons when I'm volunteering in my state Archives.

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  4. Yes you might stop for awhile, but it's always good to go back and take another look. Also there are many new records coming online. Many times the answer was there the whole time and you didn't see it.

    Regards,

    Grant

    http://thestephensherwoodletters.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete