Genealogy Tip of the Day

Find out the security policy of the courthouse before you make a trip there. I am in the habit of sometimes making notes about what to resea...

Make certain you really research from the most recent and work your way to earlier events. For years, I assumed (incorrectly) that an uncle ...

Virtually any pre-1920 deed or will written in a book at the courthouse is not the original. The grantee got the original deed and the court...

It has been about ten years, but there used to be a local band named "DOS GUYS." There were three ways one could take this: DOS Gu...

With more and more records being indexed, it is tempting for some to quit searching when the index fails. Keep in mind that there are times ...

Sometimes I am behind the times. I will admit it. I finally set up google alerts for some of my more unusual surnames and for some names of ...

Think for just a minute before making that post to a mailing list or asking that question to a friend. Is there a chance you are overlooking...

A complete discussion of copyright law is beyond our purpose here at "Tip of the Day," but suffice it to say that a genealogical f...

Sometimes a researcher is tempted to "ignore" the "in-laws" or "step" relatives because they are not "rea...

Official or unofficial copies of documents may be located in places where you might not think to look. My ancestor's declaration of inte...

In a word, no. Salt Lake City's Family History Library ( http://www.familysearch.org ) is a wonderful library in which to research . The...

A few things worth remembering: Indexes to courthouse records are not always strictly alphabetical. Sometimes they are indexed only the firs...

Before I say this, let me say that copying someone else's data into your database is not advised at all. But at least make certain it ma...

Are there time periods in your ancestor's life that are not accounted for? What was he or she doing during those periods? Where was he o...

Do you know what the difference between a grantor and a grantee is? A grantor is someone who is selling or transferring their ownership in p...

We don't normally feature websites, but I have been locating so much information on Google Books that I thought it worth mentioning. Goo...

Many county USGenWeb pages have search boxes that allow you to search the entire site. Keep in mind that sometimes they don't work. As a...

Never make the assumption that "our family" never had any divorces. Married couples have had difficulty getting along since marria...

Have you posted to the message boards at Ancestry/Rootsweb or other genealogy sites and not looked at your message in a while? Have you gott...

Have you reviewed information you found early in your research? Perhaps you entered data without really analyzing it or copied only parts of...

Some online databases are "works in progress." Ancestry.com, Footnote, GenealogyBank and other sites offer wonderful data, but som...

It can be so tempting. A search for your ancestor on a website turns up with his ancestry back five generations. There it is all compiled an...

If you cannot find deeds or records of an estate settlement for your ancestor, look for a partition suit. These suits were filed usually whe...

No doubt a good digital image is a great rendering of a document that may be difficult to read. However, it still is to your advantage to tr...

Have you written your own story? Many genealogists spend so much time obtaining information on dead relatives and interviewing living ones ...

Are you only using certain records in your search? Are there souces you do not use because you think they are too difficult to use or becaus...

Some family traditions are more true than others. The problem is proving them. My usual approach for dealing with family traditions is to br...

I am a big believer in studying migration chains. Your ancestor did not just arbitrarily move from point A to point B. Chances are someone e...

Did you do any thinking to reach that genealogical conclusion about a parentage or a date? Did you analyze several documents to reach a deci...

While it is not really a genealogy tip, it is a good one anyway. When doing your research, consider turing "off" the email and som...

One of the best ways to organize information and see what is lacking in your research is to write up the information you already have. Prove...

Keep in mind the difference between the date a document is executed and the date it is recorded. The date a document is executed is usually ...

When interpreting a deceased ancestor or relative's actions, consider that they probably operated from a slightly different prespective....

When using any published compilation, abstract, or finding aid, read the preface (or introduction, etc.). This is where the author should in...

I don't normally mention websites here on "tip of the day," but will mention Archive.org as there is a great deal of free mate...