Michael John Neill's Genealogy Website
Joseph Neill’s accidental train death in 1906 took place in the middle of the day as he was returning from work, just minutes after he had left his home. Our transcription of the newspaper account continues: Was Coming to Work Neil was an employe of the Hydraulic company and had worked at the plant all […]
Ancestry.com recently indicated that their database “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947” has been updated. This database is in progress (it is incomplete) and includes cards for traditional age registrants (men in select states aged 18–44). Ancestry.com has the index only. The actual card images are on Fold3.com. As of this writing, the following states are […]
When AncestryDNA had their latest special, I ordered one more test. This one is for my father-in-law. As with all my tests, I’m doing prep work to make it easier to analyze the results before they arrive. Essentially that involves cleaning up the paper pedigree, tracing down loose ends that have been overlooked, and thinking about the […]
Illinois assessors had to sign an oath before they could begin their duties. This image was taken from an 1862 assessor’s book for Hancock County, Illinois and includes the oath assessors were to take. An 1853 Illinois act required assessors to sign an oath to uphold the Constitution and not to be involved in dueling. […]
The majority of the time I have a reasonable idea how a relative met their spouse. Once in a while I do not. How John S. Driesbach met Sophia Dirks before their 1896 marriage was something of a question for me. They were married at the Lutheran Church in Coatsburg, Illinois, where Sophia had been […]
You would think Adam and Eve would be on the first page of an index to anything. Not true. They are on the mysterious page 276. Always manually check digital images when you think something is missing. I was looking for probate information in Adam Trautvetter who died in the early 1900s in Hancock County, […]
This is just a periodic reminder to think about the “Suggested Records” you see at Ancestry.com. As mentioned in an earlier post, “Hints and Suggestions from Ancestry,” they are pulled from tree submissions of other users. The only problem with this set of suggested records is that they suggest Mary’s maiden name was Trautvetter (after […]
WeRemember.com is a new “memory sharing” website sponsored by Ancestry.com. Users can create “memorial pages” for individuals and the creator can control the page and submissions to the page by others. At least that’s how the website describes it. I’m not certain if different users can submit pages for the same person or if the memorials […]
