Michael John Neill's Genealogy Website
This is the first I’ve purchased something on Ebay with the intention of not keeping it: A 1914 picture of the Hancock County, Illinois, grand jurors. I often search for Hancock County items with the hope of stumbling across something directly related to one of my many families there. I’ve posted some of the items I […]
THE CENSUS TAKER COMETH,” by Michael John Neill (c) 2014 Michael John Neill–this article originally appeared in the Ancestry Daily News and is used by the author on his blog with permission. It is June 3, 1860. Anna Gufferman, who is twelve years old, sees a stranger approaching her small home. He looks reasonably dressed and does not […]
“Writing Proof Summaries and Making Your Case” This presentation includes an overview of organizing your information in a coherent way so that your point is clearly made. Geared to the intermediate genealogist, we will focus on clearly making an argument, considering all reasonable options, eliminating unreasonable possibilities, choosing evidence, and organizing relevant research. Brief discussion […]
A recent Genealogy Tip of the Day mentioned double enumerations in the census. The family of George W.and Jennie Trask was easily located in a 1920 census enumeration in Galesburg, Illinois. There’s another George Trask, aged fifty years of age living in Galesburg, Illinois. That George Trask was also a horse buyer and was born in […]
Microfilm and digital images of original records facilitate access for genealogists. Occasionally however, when images of records are made it is not always easy to ascertain which “front” goes with which “back” and even if the front and back of each piece of paper in a record file have been captured. In some filming situations […]
“To the honourable Samuel Danforth Judge of the Probates for the County of Middlesex “These are to —- you to appoint my grand Father Mr Joseph Daby of Stow for my Guardian [signed] Simon Puffer” This short request, contained in the guardianship packet for all of Ephraim Puffer’s children, confirms that Joseph Daby was the […]
I’m excited to be speaking at the 2016 Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank, California, this upcoming June. I’ll be giving the following presentations at Jamboree: Reconstructing Families in Pre-1850 Census Records on 4 June 2016 at 10:00 Abraham’s Not there in 1840: How Ohio Land Records Explained a Missing Census Enumeration on 4 June 2016 at […]
It’s not always Ancestry.com‘s fault. A search of the “World War 1 Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918” indicated that there were 132 entries for registrants with the last name of Smith born in 1918. The simple answer is there were not World War I draft registrants born in 1918. The knee-jerk reaction might be that Ancestry.com‘s transcriptionists are […]
