What’s on FamilySearch is free, but navigating and refining search results is not always easy. In this presentation we will demonstrate how to construct searches, how to refine results, and how to determine if FamilySearch has online what you need and what you are looking for. See how to get more from FamilySearch and make better use of your online time […]

  “Good enough” is a phrase that sometimes really isn’t actually good enough. The widow’s pension application of Eliza Jane Ramsey based on her husband, Harrison Ramsey, having served in the Mexican War contains a “certified copy of record of marriage” made in 1892. The certification indicated that the couple was married in Mercer County, […]

Abbreviations and symbols are great, but can be confusing when users are unaware of what they mean. Such is the case of P and W on the Bureau of Land Management website. The results page on the Bureau of Land Management website indicates that names on the patent are either the name of a warrantee or a patentee. The […]

Occasionally I get called to task in private emails for pointing out difficulties with databases and websites. The responses usually fall into one of two categories: “Indexes are created by humans” “We should be glad to have anything.” And I’m also told that I just “shouldn’t worry about it.” That comment bothers me on so […]

Some will bemoan the fact that people don’t cite their sources, research too quickly, and give nary a thought as to accurate and sound methodology. I understand that, but I also understand that many people just don’t want to read lengthy diatribes extolling why those things are important. I firmly believe in those concepts and […]

[This post about old farming practices somehow turned into one on copyright.] Some days I think I learned everything I need to know about copyright on the farm. Jones’ Old Style Farm Techniques As a kid, I never understood the way old man Jones* farmed south of town. His corn was never as green as […]

Casefile Clues is my how-to newsletter that focuses on records analysis, research methods, and process. Casefile Clues  brings you one or more of the following: Sources–Some weeks Casefile Clues focuses on a specific source or type of record, discussing how that source can be accessed, researched, and interpreted. Methodology–Some weeks Casefile Clues works on one of Michael’s problems. Many times these […]

The Montezuma arrived in New York City in 1841. The manifest entries for the passengers included what was in their luggage. Listing out the items in the luggage is not typical for the time period. A nice little discovery. The manifest is available digitally on FamilySearch in their collection of New York Passenger lists from 1820-1891  

On 17 August 1850, Harrison Ramsey sold property to Joel Curtis in Clinton County, Illinois. The northwest quarter of section thirty in township three north of range west contains 153.43 acres according to the legal description of the deed. Harrison Ramsey is the only grantor on the deed. Curtis is the only grantee on the […]

For years I struggled to find information on a sister of an ancestor. She was reasonably well documented after 1869 when she was listed in her brother’s estate settlement in Hancock County, Illinois. Her death record in the 1880s does not provide significant information, but she has one and was found in the 1870 and […]