Here are few of my female ancestors for whom I was able to locate a great deal of records and where those records were located: Barbara (Siefert) Beiger Fennan Haase Haase (died in Illinois in 1903)–two divorces (1870s and 1880s) and the guardianship of her children in the 1850s. Nancy Jane (Newman) Rampley (died in […]

How one gets listed in a record is an important part of the analysis process. It should be fairly obvious how someone gets listed in a death record–at least the principal person. There are other people who may be alive and whose names may appear on a death certificate (the parents, the informant, the doctor, […]

I was reviewing some letters from an insanity file from the early 20th century. I had seen them before, but apparently had not read every word on every page. When reading the letterhead on a letter contained in the file, I came across a title I had never heard of before: Alienist. Simply put, it’s an […]

I maintain the following genealogy blogs: Rootdig.com—Michael’s thoughts, research problems, suggestions, and whatever else crosses his desk Genealogy Tip of the Day—one genealogy research tip every day–short and to the point Genealogy Search Tip—websites I’ve discovered and the occasional online research tip–short and to the point Casefile Clues–information on my genealogy how-to newsletter which focuses […]

The 1915 Descendants of George Puffer of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1639-1915, contains a wealth of genealogical information. But like any reference it can contain an occasional error. The section on Ephraim Puffer indicates that he died in Stow, Massachusetts in 1757 and that his widow “Mary Crown” relinquished her right of dower in the estate in 1770. While […]

Sound genealogical research requires an “exhaustive search” of the records available on the ancestor or family in question. Generally speaking, it means searching all materials that could reasonably answer the question. I’ve long been a fan of searching everything possible–especially in families pre-1900 in the United States and in other families where the costs of […]

New subscribers to Casefile Clues will have their subscriptions start with issue 16 and get issues 4-1 through 4-15 for free. Improve your genealogy research skills, your knowledge of sources, and your analytical abilities with our easy to follow, easy to understand, and clearly written newsletter. We transcribe and interpret documents, discuss methods, and include strategies […]

I hate it when something appears out of nowhere when I’m working on something totally unrelated. In 1909, in an attempt to settle up the estate of her husband Riley Rampley, Nancy J. Rampley made out an affidavit regarding her husband’s ownership of his farm. Such affidavits are not uncommon, frequently provide details spanning back […]

Ancestry.com recently released an update to their “U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990” database. There are popular students in high school and Ancestry.com has them in their index of these yearbooks. An unexact search for “popular student” resulted in 252 hits. Of course not all of them were named “popular student.” I’m not certain how many of the […]