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Mapping Out Grandma’s Farm…and the Memories
Rabbit Hole Genealogy
There’s a practical limit to how far into the network of the non-biologically connected people to an ancestor a researcher should delve. At least there is in my research world. I know there are some who believe that researching the step-father of your third cousin’s blacksmith is a valid research approach, but I’m not one […]
An Original 1946 Mortgage
It’s really not all that unique of a document. It’s simply a mortgage for $2500 signed by my grandparents in 1946 that references 101 acres of real estate they owned at the time. The legal description of the property contains a partial metes and bounds description of the real estate due to a railroad track […]
Precision, Pictures, and Perspective
I’ve been writing about tombstone pictures on Genealogy Tip of the Day. As time has gone on, I have become a bigger fan of taking overview photos to provide perspective and indicate the location of the stone. Sometimes I get told “GPS” will take care of that. I understand how GPS works. It’s worth noting […]
Citation Webinar 28 January
Is a Baby Book a Reliable Source?
I have my Mother’s original “baby book” from her birth in 1942. The handwriting certainly appears to be that of my grandmother. But the handwriting of a seventeen-year-old can certainly vary from that of someone much older and my memory of Grandma’s handwriting does not stem from when she was seventeen. But Grandma would have […]
Genealogy Goals
My genealogy motivation: to preserve and share the family history items I have been fortunate enough to obtain, to preserve and share the unwritten stories to which I have access, and to discover and share the unknown stories of ancestors buried in old records. I also like to share approaches, methods, and ideas that have […]
Frivolity, Dogs, and, Assumptions
Where Do the Steps Come In?
Ancestry.com refers to Anna Fecht as the step-daughter of my second great-grandaunt. That seems slightly incorrect to me as she was born after my second great-grandaunt, Antje (Habben) Fecht died. Antje was the first wife of a man named Harm Fecht. Harm married after Antje died and Anna was born to that marriage. I generally […]