Month: June 2017
Chili, South America, is in Hancock County, Illinois?
I know where “Chili” is in Hancock County, Illinois, but apparently there’s a part of it that has been hidden from me for years and which has been discovered by Ancestry.com. I’ve been playing with Ancestry.com‘s “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.” Experimenting with a database is a great way to learn about it, understand it, and […]
Ancestry.com Updates “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947”
Ancestry.com is indicating that it’s “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947” is updated as of today. The card of my grandfather’s first cousin was one of my new discoveries. It’s a great card as it provides his place of birth (West Point, Illinois), father’s name and residence (Harry L. Sparks, Truman, Martin County, Minnesota), […]
Join Michael in Ft. Wayne for 3 Days of Research This August!
The Allen County Public Library is one of the largest genealogical libraries in the United States. This August, I’ll be leading a group trip there for three days of research and learning. The days of our trip are 6-9 August. The first Sunday we have an evening meeting/introductory session–research starts on 7 August when the […]
Years After Leaving An Estate Settlement: Follow Up One
“Years After Leaving–An Estate Settlement” did not really discuss where to go next based upon the 1832 will book entry for Thomas J. Rampley in Harford County, Maryland. The page that was located was solely an inventory of the estate filed by James Rampley, the administrator. There’s no notation as to how James was related […]
Federal Land Acquirers
Federal land records from the United States Bureau of Land Management are one of those types of records that researchers sometimes overlook. BLM records utilized by genealogists usually were created during the process of transferring real estate from federal to private ownership. These claims, warrant applications, and the like are currently housed at the National Archives. […]
Years After Leaving–An Estate Settlement
Typically one does not look for estate settlement information on someone who has not lived in an area for six years. Typically one does not expect an estate inventory to be filed ten years after someone has died in a county that he left nearly fifteen years ago. And typically not looking everywhere is why […]
Ancestral Clues and Lessons: Hinrich Sartorius
Hinrich Sartorius was born Ostfriesland, Germany, in 1837 and died in Adams County, Illinois, in 1912. He married Trientje Behrens in Golden, Adams County, Illinois, in the 1860s. Some things about research that I’ve learned from Hinrich: your beneficiaries can alter your will. Hinrich’s will gave one farm to one set of children and another […]
Tips & Quips Arrives
Tips & Quips for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills arrived a while back and I’ve finally had some time to look at it. It’s a small volume that is easily portable and makes Evidence Explained look like monstrous tome . My unmanicured hand easily covers Tips & Quips which is the only reason my hand is not […]
A 1909 Church Picture–Was it There in 1888 and 1877?
Ebay is an occasional genealogical temptation. Today I made another discovery on Ebay and gave into temptation. The image used in this post is from a postcard postmarked 1909 in Tioga, Illinois. The note on the reverse side of the card indicated that the image is of what is now known as the Bethany United Church of Christ […]