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
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
Yay! Genealogists with Georgia ancestry are in luck. We can search Cherokee County Georgia land records online and (hopefully) bust through some brick walls. Here’s how to get started: Intro to Searching Cherokee County, GA Deeds Online You’ll arrive at a page with two search engines: The search engine on the left (“Index Book Series”) … Read more
Upon doing some light Sunday evening reading in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule, I was delighted to discover this little gem about my home county, Cherokee County, GA. These notes are written by the census taker beneath the schedule of people who died between June 1,1849 and June 1, 1850: Transcription: There has been … Read more
When you see this… And then you see this… And realize there was once a company with some line on an order form somewhere asking: Aha, you want to buy a marriage registry book for your county? How about a nice volume for “Colored” marriages? (The Times-Recorder is Americus, Georgia’s newspaper to this day.) The … Read more
Apparently I haven’t ventured out into the town square of Canton, GA on Memorial Day before, because I was very proud and surprised to see a field of crosses commemorating the area’s war dead. (Excuse the terrible iPhone pics. I couldn’t see for the bright sun and I’m a terrible photographer as it is.) Flanking … Read more