Month: October 2019

Summoning Up a James Tinsley

Testimony and depositions can be among the most genealogically revealing documents in court records. They certainly are in this 1830-era court case from Lynchburg,Virginia, that centered around the inheritance of one grandchild of John Tinsley who died in Amherst County, Virginia, in 1817. But those documents are not the only items that may provide useful. […]

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Mother was a Worker

Transcribing documents is often about context. Analysis should not be done in a vacuum.  This image makes that point crystal clear. It certainly looks like “worker” on the superficial analysis. But it is not. It’s taken out of context from this document from probate records in the Bronx, New York. It’s not “worker.” It’s “mother.”  […]

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Female Ancestor Webinar Released

This presentation discusses approaches and techniques for determining an ancestor’s maiden name and locating “missing” females. Geared towards the advanced beginner or intermediate researcher, it focuses on American records and sources before World War I. The content is not specific to any one time period and many of the approaches can be refined for different […]

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