Reminder That Tip of the Day Has Moved

As a reminder, this blog moved to a new domain  in 2015 and is no longer housed at Blogspot.

If you have wondered where the postings have gone--that's where.

Please join us on our new sites--you will have to resubscribe if you are not already getting our messages. If you are already getting our messages, there's no need to resubscribe.

I maintain the following genealogy blogs:

• Rootdig.com—Michael’s thoughts, research problems, suggestions, and whatever else crosses his desk
• Genealogy Tip of the Day—one genealogy research tip every day–short and to the point
• Genealogy Search Tip—websites I’ve discovered and the occasional online research tip–short and to the point

Reminder That We've Moved!

Our blog is now hosted at
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
Check us out there!

Reminder That We Have Moved!

Future tips will be posted on Genealogy Tip of the Day at http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com. WordPress gives me more flexibility as a blogger and allows for easier interaction with readers, fans, and followers on the blog. To continue receiving the tips, you'll need to subscribe on that web address.

Thanks for your support!

Genealogy Tip of the Day Has Moved!

Today's tip was the last one that we're posting on the Blogger site. Future tips will be posted on Genealogy Tip of the Day at http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com. WordPress gives me more flexibility as a blogger and allows for easier interaction with readers, fans, and followers on the blog. To continue receiving the tips, you'll need to subscribe on that web address. 

Thanks for your support!

Consider joining me for a class or at the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne. 

How Easy Was It For Your Ancestor to Move?

Some ancestors are more "portable" than others. Their lifestyle, economic status, and occupation can make it easier for them to pick up and move. Stop and think about how easy or difficult it would have been for your relative to simply move.

And if they did move, what records might they have left behind as a part of the moving process? Would there be records documenting the move? Land records may reference a new residence for an ancestor, especially if the sale of property was finalized after the move had taken place.

Rootdig.com Has Moved

My genealogy blog, Rootdig.com, has moved to http://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com.

Future postings will be made at that site. If you were subscribed to get emails with Rootdig.com postings, please visit the new site and follow the subscription links.

Are You Filling In the Holes?

One of the reasons for creating ancestral chronologies is so that gaps in time can be noticed more easily. Are there fifteen years in your ancestor's life for which you cannot account? Are you certain the ancestor is where you think they are during that time?

Or were they somewhere else?

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Don't forget that Genealogy Tip of the Day is moving from the blogspot server tohttp://www.genealogytipoftheday.com. Visit there and follow the "subscribe" link to continue getting tips. 

A Reminder: We've Moved

In case you missed the first announcement:

Genealogy Tip of the Day will no longer be posted to our site on Blogger.com.

Effective today our postings will be posted on

http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com/

You will need to subscribe using the "subscribe" link on that site. Your email address will not be shared, sold, or traded.

Thanks for your support of Genealogy Tip of the Day.

Classes, Webinars, and Back Issues

We are excited about the following events. Join us virtually and grow your genealogy skills this summer.

• Organizing Genealogy Information Class--3 sessions
• Back Issues of Casefile Clues
• June webinars. Topics are:
  • War of 1812 pensions on Fold3.com
  • Using online Virginia land patents at the Library of Virginia
  • Online Newspapers at the Library of Congress
  • Using Local Land Records on FamilySearch

Join us!

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Don't forget that Genealogy Tip of the Day is moving from the blogspot server to http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com. Visit there and follow the "subscribe" link to continue getting tips. 

Genealogy Tip of the Day Is Moving!

Genealogy Tip of the Day will no longer be posted to our site on Blogger.com.

Effective today our postings will be posted on

http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com/

You will need to subscribe using the "subscribe" link on that site. Your email address will not be shared, sold, or traded.

Thanks for your support of Genealogy Tip of the Day.

My Blogs

I currently maintain the following genealogy blogs:

• Rootdig.com--my genealogy research blog
• Genealogy Tip of the Day--one genealogy how-to tip every day
• Daily Genealogy Transcriber--can you read the handwriting--now with answers posted the next day
• Search Tip of the Day--not quite every day--just when I come across something

Check them out--each can be subscribed to for free using the email box on the right hand side of the page.

Was the License Returned?

If you've located an entry in local marriage records that a license was issued for your ancestor, have you determined if the license was returned? The issuance of a license means only that a license was issued and that a couple was intending to get married.

Usually cancelled licenses are returned and "cancelled" is written somewhere on or near the entry in the record indicating the license was issued. But not always. Sometimes they are just not returned.

Sometimes licenses that are used are not returned by the officiant, even if the marriage took place.

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Don't forget to visit our new site http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com and subscribe to the new email list there. The old list on the blogspot.com site will be discontinued on 3 June.

The Probable Informant

Some documents clearly state who was the informant. Many though do not provide this information. When considering the accuracy of information on any document, consider the probable informant and how likely they were to know the information being provided.

Lines over Letters

If you see a straight line over a letter in an original document, consider the possibility that it could be shorthand to indicate that the letter was doubled--see this post for an example.

June Webinars

We still have openings in our webinars next week. Topics are:

War of 1812 Pensions at Fold3.com-these are free on their site.

Using Colonial Land Patents at the Library of Virginia website-these images are free on the website.

Library of Congress online digital newspapers--free on their site.

Using local land records online at FamilySearch. Not all of these are online, but we will discuss how to use the ones that are.

There are more details in our original blog post.

Are You Familiar With the Records You Are Using?

When using a record set with which you are not familiar, think about how someone gets into the record, how the  information in the record is obtained, how the record is organized, and how the original  record got from its original state to you.

All if these issues get to how we use and analyze the information contained in the record.

Bothering With a Brother's Baptism

Reading the German language records was difficult and I almost didn't bother obtaining copies of the baptismal entries for the siblings of John George Trautvetter who was born in 1798.

And there in the entry for one of John George's brother was the indication that their father's brother was the sponsor.

A helpful hint in this case where knowing as many relationships as possible is necessary because every family had a George and a Michael and every son's first name was Johann.

Don't neglect those ancestral siblings.

Have Your Own Personal Copy

I'm a member of subscription sites that allow me to create links to images on their sites that requires me to have a subscription to access.

I don't link to the images that are behind the "pay wall." I download images of records that I need to my own media so that I always a copy of the image for personal use.

That way, if something ever happens or I don't have access to the site any longer--I still have digital copies of the images I used. 

Served From a Nearby State

Many men who served in the United States Civil War did not enlist in the state where they resided. For a variety of reasons a man may have enlisted in a unit from a neighboring state. Usually it was to help the state where he enlisted meet it's quota.

But don't dismiss a potential reference to your soldier ancestor simply because he's from the "wrong" state.

20% off webinar sale ends today!

Memorial Day 20% Sale

If you missed our 20% off sale, it's back on for Memorial Day and before the old inventory is physically removed from the host site at the end of the month. Download now and view the presentation as many times as you want.

Over thirty topics--easy to follow and easy to understand.

View the complete list and order here.