Michael John Neill's Genealogy Website
Always look at the original. The Ancestry.com transcription for the Joseph W. Johnson household indicated there was an unnamed, unaged Johnson living in the household. Having located the family’s entry at 1122 1/ 6th Avenue in Rock Island, Illinois, before the 1940 census was even indexed the transcription intrigued me. I knew Beverly was the youngest […]
Readers know that I’m not a big fan of “activities” just for the sake of having an activity. I decided to search the “Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007″ and the “Social Security Death Index” at Ancestry.com for my children’s deceased ancestors through their great-great-grandparents. This was done partially because the index was new and I […]
It is easy to get excited about a new database when it contains over 40 million names of deceased individuals as the “Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007″ recently released on Ancestry.com does. But when the new wears off (or maybe before the new wears off) it’s time to give some thought to analyzing the information it […]
Ancestry.com has recently added “Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007″ to their list of searchable databases. The description of the database includes the phrase: “It includes information filed with the Social Security Administration through the application or claims process…” I’m not entirely certain what that means. The information on the individuals in the database […]
Estate inventories of farming ancestors often list quantities of grain among the chattel items, especially inventories from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Grain has value and items with monetary value need to be in an estate inventory. Having grown up on a farm, I’m usually familiar with a fair proportion of the items listed […]
It seems like every day there’s a new website where one can share memories and history online with other relatives. There’s no doubt that interacting online can be a fun experience and a way to potentially involve additional relatives in your family history discovery. I am aware of trying to involve others in family history.But it […]
There’s not any real discussion of this–just not typical to find county board reports indicate disposition of bodies. There are also reports of disposition of bodies of those who died from consumption as well. This is something I came across while looking for hours of the Cook County courts in 1900. This is from page […]
3 November 1900. The date of the naturalization for Joseph Watson of Chicago appears twice on his final oath. It is difficult to read when used to date the witness oath made by Thomas Frame. The second rendering of the date used when Joseph actually made his allegiance oath makes the month clear. In the first […]
