Month: May 2017

Ancestral Clues and Lessons: Mary (Dingman) Sargent Landon

Mary (Dingman) Sargent Landon was born in Canada (probably Ontario) in the 1810s and died in the early 1850s probably in Iowa. She married Clark Sargent in Ontario, Canada, and later married Asa Landon in Winnebago County, Illinois. Some things I have learned from Mary’s life: don’t move away from all your family. It makes […]

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Ancestral Clues and Connections Barbara (Siefert) Bieger Haase

Barbara (Siefert) was born in Germany in 1825 and died in Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois, in 1903. She was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849 to Peter Bieger. Some things I have learned about research from Barbara: have a backup plan. Despite marrying again and leaving Warsaw, Barbara never sold the town lot and house […]

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Charting My 1850 Attempts

Charts are very popular genealogical research tools–even when you don’t find what you are looking for. It is organizing the search that is helpful. The problem was that I was having difficulty finding Peter Bieger and his wife Barbara in the 1850 census. In order to search for him effectively, I used several different websites […]

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Ancestral Clues and Lessons: Peter Bieger (about 1820-1855)

Peter Bieger was born in Germany about 1820 and died in 1855 in Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois. He married Barbara Siefert in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. Some things I have learned about research and life from Peter: family traditions can be outright lies. Peter’s descendants said he drowned in the Mississippi River. He died of an […]

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My Blogs

I maintain the following blogs. Each has a separate mailing list. Genealogy Tip of the Day—short daily research tips Rootdig—longer research and methodology discussions Genealogy Search Tip of the Day—websites of genealogy use  

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Ancestral Clues and Lessons: Sophia Elizabeth (Derle) Trautvetter (1808-1877)

Sophia Elizabeth (Derle) Trautvetter was born in 1808 in Helmershausen, Thuringen, Germany, and died in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1877. She married John George Trautvetter in the 1840s in Helmershausen. Some things I learned about research from Sophia: sometimes people cannot be found–Sophia cannot be located in the 1870 census even though it is known […]

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The Defective Entry in the 1880 Defective Census

Ancestry.com originally published the “U.S. Federal Census – 1880 Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes” some time ago. One of the best ways to make unexpected discoveries is to simply play. That’s also a great way to increase one’s search skills. I decided to search for just names enumerated in this database in Hancock County, […]

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