Michael John Neill's Genealogy Website
Like a lot of genealogical answers, “it depends.” If the marriage took place in a location where marriage licenses and issued and returns by the officiant are sent to the records office, then the entry in the marriage register (which was created from the license and the return) is derivative because it was copied from […]
A search of the 1880 census for entries in Colusa County, California, indicated that there were 195 people born in a place called “Cald.” It may be tempting to think that the transcriber is entirely at fault and blame Ancestry.com for the error. Not really certain where “Cald” was, I looked at some of the […]
Thanks to those who purchased webinars during my closeout sale. To let people complete missed downloads, etc. the hosting service is still up and if you missed the chance to order you can still do so. Please note: if you ordered presentations and had download issues, please let me know at mjnrootdig@gmail.com so that this can be […]
It’s easy to sometimes gravitate to or from certain sources based upon our life and research experience. For me city directories are one of those sources that I don’t immediately think of to utilize in my research. Most of my families were very rural and usually owned just enough real property to warrant an estate […]
I’ve long been a fan of the four-step problem solving process as laid out by mathematician George Polya: Understand the problem Design a plan Execute the plan Evaluate There are a variety of other approaches, with fancy charts, schematics, and the like to illustrate, but it really boils down to these four things. Understanding the problem […]
Due to a schedule conflict, these have been moved back one week from the original schedule. If you have registered and this is a problem, please email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com. View complete details here. Topics: Original, Derivative, Primary, Secondary, Direct and Indirect, Evidence and Proof and More!: Troubles with Terms US Problem-Solving Outside New […]
Citations are not something I complete when I’m at the Family History Library. I know that I should, but I don’t. However, I have completed enough citations that I know what I need to craft one that is correct (or reasonably correct). Collecting that information is crucial as the research is being done. I looked to Evidence Explained for […]
They probably will never do it, but an improvement that I would like to see on the search at Ancestry.com is a “leave out” option. There are times when I’d like to search most of western Illinois or even most of “downstate” Illinois without including results from the Chicago area. While I realize that this […]
