This little tip has stood me well in finding “missing” male head-of-household ancestors in the 1850-1880 US census, and might help you, too! (Note that I’ll be saying “him” a lot in this post because in this case we’re usually seeking a fellow.) (Its better than shouting “Show yourself!” at your computer screen when your … Read more
The last two years have been all about formalizing my genealogy education. And this year will be more of the same, but with the added bonus that I’ll be doing all that around a robust load of very interesting clients and some fun speaking gigs! That said, I have one big, bad goal for this … Read more
Way back on January 8th I posted my 2024 genealogy game plan and I’m happy to say that I crossed most everything I wanted to do off my checklist, and then a little more besides! Such as… Becoming a Professional Genealogist But the most important thing I did was actually start taking clients as a … Read more
This is the tale of how AI literally showed me up regarding summarizing historic tax laws. Genealogists in Georgia are all too aware that our early censuses are missing.1 And because of that, we need to find other ways to identify our early Georgia ancestors. Fortunately, many early Georgia counties have tax records to make … Read more
Rather watch on YouTube? It appears FamilySearch has quietly opened their court records to FamilySearch’s AI-powered search! Why is AI-enabled search of court records game changing? When launched, FamilySearch allowed users to search Land and Probate records using AI full text search. This was an immediate game changer for many genealogists, allowing us to find … Read more
Part of my genealogy education has been writing proof arguments. I was able to determine my brick wall ancestor George W. West’s birthdate using a really cool document known informally as “The Joe Brown Census” and some intense documentary research. Here’s what I came up with. Proving George W. West’s Birthdate Question: What was the … Read more
One of the great southern authors, Dorothy Allison, once said that we Southerners like to tell “evil mean stories.” For example, when I was very small, and my sister even smaller, a family member told us a tale out of our family tree. As the story went, our ancient ol’ many times great-grandpa (let’s call … Read more
I’ve been working on an African-American ancestry case for a good while now, attempting to discover a friend’s ancestor’s whereabouts before Emancipation. Unsurprisingly, this has been a tough one. But I’m chipping away, one research project at a time! Because of that project, I invariably disappear down the rabbit hole when I discover a new-to-me … Read more
Psst! If the land records in this post interest you, sign up for my upcoming “Land Records: The Cornerstone of Georgia Genealogy” presentation for the Georgia Genealogical Society on August 8, 2024. As a Cherokee County, Georgia-based genealogist who loves to get out of the house and go bother other people about history, I’ve spent … Read more
Y’all, every once in a while this meme makes the rounds. Like most Southerners, I had this awakening. I was probably twenty or so before I realized the tall clothes-holder in your bedroom that doesn’t have a mirror is not called a “chester drawers.” On that note, I had older relatives called Iler, Eller, Emmer, … Read more