{"id":55,"date":"2012-05-11T12:13:02","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T17:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/?p=55"},"modified":"2012-05-11T12:13:02","modified_gmt":"2012-05-11T17:13:02","slug":"genealogy-short-cuts-and-your-family-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/?p=55","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Short Cuts and your Family Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know how genealogy and family history newsletters usually include columns of tips and short cuts.\u00a0 BEWARE.\u00a0 Not all short cuts are created equal.<\/p>\n

And if your computer knowledge is somewhat limited, as mine is, you may end up with your data not preserved–as happens to me more often than I want to\u00a0 discover.\u00a0 My back-ups are good and frequent.\u00a0 And I finally found out how to retrieve when I think I have lost the data.\u00a0 My webmaster is very indulgent to troubleshoot for me when I need her help.\u00a0 Sometimes I am on my own and I have to search for online help.<\/p>\n

Short cuts in research are also included in tip columns.\u00a0 And again I say, BEWARE.\u00a0 Not all of these are created equal either.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. When you discover a name on a list<\/strong>–use caution.\u00a0 Lists are favorite things to put online–they usually supply a date (that may fit your time period).\u00a0 They may supply a place (that may match where your ancestor resided).\u00a0 They may include an occupation (which matches the occupation on the census for the person you think is your ancestor).\u00a0 The list may even name family members which match.\u00a0 The person on the list may not be your ancestor!\u00a0 The list is not proof of relationship to you.<\/li>\n
  2. Spelling is never proof of\u00a0 ancestry.<\/strong>\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 I went to pick up some tractor parts at a supply house in Spanish Fork UT for my husband.\u00a0 It took me two and 1\/2 hours one way to get there.\u00a0 While I waited for my order to be processed and filled, I read the announcements and fliers taped to the posts in the store.\u00a0 One was especially interesting–the owner had posted 73 different spellings of his European surname! And since my surname is Eakle–most people who don’t know me cannot pronounce it, let alone spell it correctly.\u00a0 Even my own mother spelled it wrong her whole lifetime.\u00a0 Work out a surname list of possible spellings.\u00a0 Double-check it in more than one large database to see what other spellings are also grouped with your spelling.\u00a0 FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com are two easily checked databases.\u00a0 And update your surname list.\u00a0 Now add surnames of other people who were intimately associated with your ancestors–as controls.\u00a0 Search them all.\u00a0 If those surnames appear in the lists as well as your surnames, stop and check the sources associated with the lists.\u00a0 Otherwise, use a little caution.<\/li>\n
  3. If you are interrupted<\/strong> while searching a record, make a note.\u00a0 Who you were looking for–specific names.\u00a0 Where you got to by page, and line, as well as call number and record.\u00a0 If it is a book, give the full citation so you can find it again.<\/li>\n
  4. Proof-read your entries.<\/strong> Even when you make a photocopy of a page, check to see that you got it all.\u00a0 That the entry you need is not continued on the next page.\u00a0 That you spelled the words and the names exactly as they appear in the record.\u00a0 That the dates have not been transposed.\u00a0 That the places are written as they are in the record.\u00a0 And check especially for the relationships–does the record say gson<\/strong> and you missed the small g?\u00a0 I watch people typing the entries from books and microfilms onto their laptops at libraries and archives all the time.\u00a0 Few re-check the entries for accuracy.<\/li>\n
  5. Before using an index<\/strong>, check the Foreword and the Introduction with any lists of abbreviations and source codes.\u00a0 And always check for multiple indexes–at front and throughout the record, as well as at the end.\u00a0 Table of contents may not identify other indexes.\u00a0 If lists are alphabetical, they often are not indexed.\u00a0 If lists are short, they can be omitted.\u00a0 If sketches are alphabetical, they may not be included in the index.<\/li>\n
  6. Watch for more than one child in a family<\/strong> with the same given name.\u00a0 Lots of reasons for this–cultural background, use of Saints’ names as christening names, family tradition, and on and on.\u00a0 So don’t stop with the first entry in a family history or genealogy.\u00a0 Check them all out.<\/li>\n
  7. Do the math<\/strong>–always do the math.\u00a0 People live different lengths of time.\u00a0 They marry at different ages.\u00a0 Their birth-cycles differ.\u00a0 Even so, a normal generation if 20-35 years long.\u00a0 With normal overlap from one generation to another.\u00a0 Check those for your family.\u00a0 If girls appear to marry young, state this in your notes. But do the math.\u00a0 Men can inherit property at the age set by the father under English law.\u00a0 But the legal age is the age at which the son can defend his title. So when in doubt, search more records!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Good searching.\u00a0 Your favorite New York genealogist, Arlene Eakle\u00a0 http:\/\/arleneeakle.com<\/p>\n

    PS\u00a0 Stay tuned for a list of Jefferson County NY materials and where you can find them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    You know how genealogy and family history newsletters usually include columns of tips and short cuts.\u00a0 BEWARE.\u00a0 Not all short cuts are created equal. And if your computer knowledge is somewhat limited, as mine is, you may end up with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56,"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55\/revisions\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyblog.arleneeakle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}