We are excited to offer this new class on using US census records. Virtually every US genealogist uses census records, but not everyone is aware of how those records can be maximized for what they do contain. There are limitations to these records, but there are advantages to them as well. If you’ve wondered if […]

I’ll be speaking at the San Mateo County, California, Genealogical Society’s May 2019 workshop in Menlo Park, California. The seminar will be held on 4 May 2019. Registration details are on their website. Topics: Problem Solving Applied to Genealogy Organizing Online Research Researching the Entire Family and Beyond Finding Barbara’s Beaus and Gesche’s Girls I’m […]

I read an analysis of two 19th century US census entries that contained different information for the same immigrant family. The reason for the difference, according to the analysis, was that the informants were probably different. That’s a very definite possibility and if the respondent in one entry spoke better English than another respondent did […]

The 1935 Declaration of Intention for James Neill, Sr., was a treasure trove of genealogical information. The 56-year old millworker stated that he was born in Limavady, Ireland on 24 May 1878 and married in Ireland in 1895 to Margaret. Her maiden name is unstated in his statement, but he indicated that she was born […]

The 1902 order probating Adam Trautvetter’s will in Hancock County, Illinois, referenced the following heirs-at-law and legatees: Louis Troutvetter George Troutvetter Lena Bucklew Edward Troutvetter Minnie Troutvetter Frederick Troutvetter It’s important to note that the list contains two groups of people: heirs-at-law and legatees. The heirs-at-law are individuals who are entitled to inherit from a […]

Reader CSM on our Facebook page made a suggestion to add to the “photo research log” discussed in our earlier post on an unidentified photograph. After I read it, it seemed fairly obvious: include a copy of the photograph in the research log–at least a thumbnail Another good idea–include the file name of the photograph […]

OCR searches of digitized images do not actually “read” the images. They look at the individual pixels on the image and, based on algorithms created from “typical” images, they text is “read.” Most of the time that works. Then sometimes it finds names on people’s heads.  

The family of Irish immigrant James Neill arrived in Lake County, Indiana, in the 1920s. By that time, the oldest children of James and Margaret Neill were already grown. All of the Neill children were born in Ireland before the Neills emigrated. It was hoped that some members of this family naturalized in the United […]

It is nice to be able to refine searches at Newspapers.com to specific newspapers. The problem for me is how those newspapers are sorted: it’s by the newspaper with the most hits. While searching for references in Indiana to members of my Neill family, I obtained a number of hits. Choosing the specific newspaper was somewhat […]