Michael John Neill's Genealogy Website
I was stymied about what families to work on during my trip to the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in August. The library has a wonderful collection of print materials as well as microfilmed copies of National Archives records, microfilm copies of many city directories, and a scattering of microfilmed copies of […]
I know I knew it at one point in time, but it can be easy to forget things for a variety of reasons. I’m re-reading Sonya Salamon’s Prairie Patrimony: Family, Farming, and Community in the Midwest (Studies in Rural Culture) as a means of re-familiarizing myself with certain concepts for a variety of personal and professional reasons. […]
It is not always true because it is in print. In Fields, Fens and Felonies: Crime and Justice in Eighteenth-Century East Anglia (2016 Waterside Press, United Kingdom), Gregory Durston writes in his introduction that “newspapers were usually reasonably reliable when it came to reporting the basic facts of a case and its outcome…” (p. 17). He goes on […]
I did not take the time to go and see Chas. Ensminger…who has been assessor as all he would know has been covered by the evidence more definite. Welsh’s statement was made in his summary of the testimony and documentary evidence he had received in the Civil War widow’s pension claim of Nancy J. Rampley. […]
This session focuses on starting your German research. The session will include an overview of German genealogical sources (both online and offline), naming patterns and concerns, maps and other geographic finding aids, basics of terminology and handwriting, and more. Intended for those who have not really started researching their German ancestors in Germany. Download is immediate. […]
In an earlier post, we saw that Nancy Rampley claimed in her 1902 deposition in support of her Civil War widow’s pension that she had $360.50 in farm income. That income was offset by several expenses that were used in support of Nancy’s claim that her farm income was insufficient to support herself and her […]
Depositions in contested Civil War pension applications can provide wonderful insight into a family’s day-to-day life. This is especially true for families who do not leave behind letters or other paper ephemera. Nancy Rampley’s application for a widow’s pension based upon her husband’s service was denied several times. The resident of Walker Township in Hancock […]
This session will provide a brief overview of the content on Fold3.com and will spend the bulk of the presentation time discussing how to determine what specific databases are on the site, how to effectively search for names and records, how to navigate search results, image navigation, manipulation and download, and questions from attendees. Download is immediate […]
My researcher is getting ready to go back and perform some more work on my ancestors in Thuringia, Germany. This will be the second time she’s done work for me in that area. Before I post about the new research, I’ve decided to revisit the initial goals and what was accomplished. Before the first work […]
