Posts

How to Use Obituaries to Determine Family Relationships

Image
 If you read this last blog post , you know that I was sorting the parents for Gottlob Ortlieb and his children and stepchildren. He had two different wives, Paulina and Frederike and Frederike was previously married before she came to be Gottlob's second wife. In Emma's obituary, there was a brother named Rudolph, which is a name I had not come across before as a sibling. I did some research on him and found his obituary which really added to my confusion. It listed his parents as Gottlob and Fredericka, who is not the mother of Emma. I then located Fredericke's obituary, which listed NINE children (yes nine), all of whom I had never heard of except Rudolph and Ida (but she had an incorrect last name).  I wanted to know whose parents were whose so I went to work finding the obituaries for all the children in this family. I also wanted to know what the relationships were. Each time I found an obituary, I made a column in a table. I had all the family members listed on the l...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Can Identify - 52 Ancestors Challenge

Image
 Week 8: I Can Identify This week I want to focus on one ancestor that I can identify as one difficult to identify. You know, the one's where you just can't get a good handle on who they really are and if you have them combined with someone else. He is my 3rd great-grandfather, Gottlob Friedrich Ortlieb (LB19-N3R). He was confused with another man of the same name so I needed to identify what records went with my grandfather and which were for the other man of the same name. He was the last one with a blue record hint on my seven-generation FamilySearch fan chart and I really wanted to get rid of it! This was a case where you definitely needed to work backward. I found records for my 2nd great-grandmother that identified Gottlob with his spouse, Catherine Louise Pauline Roser. This turned out to be the biggest help in this research as their marriage record was how I differentiated between the two men. Luckily, the two men had parents with very different names so there was no co...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Find Where Your Ancestor Lived

Image
As I get further along in my research and in learning how to research properly, I find that I have a deeper desire to find out more about my ancestors' lives.  Sometimes they live very short lives and don't leave a lot of records.  Other times you have a strong connection to a relative and want to find out more about where and how they lived and possibly visit that place. My paternal side of the family has lived in Western New York since the early to mid-1800s, most of them farmers that moved west from Connecticut or Massachusetts.  One such family I was researching, the Kilbys, did just that about 1856.  I have figured this date from one of the sons being married in early 1856 but having a child in New York in 1857.  The entire family shows up together in the 1860 census in Mansfield, New York. I started to look for land records or maps for this town and found a great land map from 1856 right before they would have arrived.  Here is a snapshot of it: ¹ Thi...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Correctly Attach a Marriage Record in FamilySearch

Image
 One of the biggest things I have noticed on FamilySearch that holds back connecting the family tree is not connecting all the people listed on a marriage record.  These records often are a great way to connect two families and sometimes even find elusive maiden names.  Today I will give you a walkthrough of how to connect the marriage records correctly. 1. Connect all the people on the page FamilySearch automatically brings up.  This is usually one spouse and the parents of the first spouse.  Sometimes at this stage, you need to add in the other spouse. In the image below, I have connected the record to the bride, her parents, and added in the husband.  Then click the change button (highlighted in yellow) and select the other spouse, in this case, John. 2. Once you change the focus person, they will be in the selected person spot. This will allow the parents of the second spouse to be linked or added. 3. If there are others that are part of the family that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Teach Someone

Image
Day 21-we've made it!  This last day encourages us to share and teach.  That is the point of this blog. I won't stop here and I am going to highlight family members and have tutorials about how I conduct my family history research.  I hope that you find value from what I post and I encourage you to share below what your favorite activity for this experiment was!  Remember to do your final survey.
Post a Comment
Read more

Find or Make a Facebook Group

Image
Day 20 for the Connections Experiment is all about collaboration.  Facebook groups can be really beneficial in both receiving and giving help to those in the group.  If you know where most of your family is from or where those that you are currently researching live, you can most likely find a Facebook group with more information and seasoned genealogists that can give advice.   FamilySearch has a list by area here. This is one that I am part of.  Most of my family (and chances are yours too) are from NY and PA. A lot of family history can be done through collaboration and these groups are a great place to start.
Post a Comment
Read more

RootsTech and FamilySearch Webinars

Image
Day 19-Let's learn something new!  I was able to go to RootsTech this year and it was so much fun but so overwhelming with lots of information.  They luckily have the option to go and rewatch some sessions even if you didn't attend.   Check them out here. FamilySearch also has live and recorded webinars that you can watch here.
Post a Comment
Read more