The other day I saw a question about finding the 1890 federal census and it made me wonder, what are the very first things you learn about genealogy in the United States, say, in the first six months, that you did not know before?
- The 1890 federal census pages are gone except for a few segments. They burned in a fire back in the 1920′s before they were reproduced in any other form.
- Spelling means little or nothing before about 1860. Usually, the documents that survive today weren’t even written by your ancestor. If the clerk could string some letters together and in the near future people would know that referred to your ancestor, he did his job.
- FamilySearch.org is helpful for finding vital records, and free.
- There are a surprising number of inaccuracies in the federal census records. Sure, some of it is carelessness by the census takers, but some of it is out and out lying by your ancestors. I’m not sure I have one female ancestor since 1850 who gave her correct age in the census. They always shaved a bit off. And then there’s the surprising case of my gg-grandparents listing an adult daughter in their household. Their real daughter, Jessie Billington and her husband, upstairs, list 8 and 12 year old offspring – but they never had any children. My theory is they had taken in a local single mother and her children, and were perhaps hiding this from the landlord. Anyone have another theory?
There is no Jenette, or John and Mildred
- States have census records, too; often but not only in the “5″ years between federal censuses. For each state, the census schedule, questions asked, and survival of the records vary widely, so you have to go state-by-state to research this.
- It’s all about sources. The style of footnotes may be something you will put off worrying about. But recording where you found something, or checking out where others found things, is crucial. The time you really learn this is the first time you find something SO wrong on the web that everyone else accepts as fact, or the first time you follow someone’s footnote and find a valuable book or article you weren’t aware of.
- The cultural norms we take for granted about the”olden days” are not all that true. People did sometimes sue other family members, they did sometimes get divorced, and they did sometimes have a child before marriage. Well – sigh – my ancestors, anyway.
- Newspaper articles, wills, obituaries and letters are at the heart of genealogy. At first, you wonder why people would spend years compiling names and dates. Then those names and dates lead you to the real stories you never knew about, and you get it.
- All old pictures are valuable, and even the undocumented ones may be decipherable by comparing identified pictures of those family members.
- And lastly, one of the first things you learn about genealogy is that most of your family members are not going to care all that much. But a few will, so be good to them.
I have a further post on this topic called “10 Steps For Starting Your Family History.”
ohh so true about the name spellings. I have an ancestor that has 9 children. 5 of them spell their name differently. So now I have SIX spellings of the same name.
I agree with the first born coming less than 9 months after wedding. But my #11 would be for those first starting out. Interview older relatives, write it down and keep your notes in a safe place. I am SOOO glad that in 1979, I interviewed about 6 elderly relatives while I was bored at a funeral. I kept the notes until 1996 and I got hooked on genealogy, and that box of notes was VERY helpful. So if you are picking up Aunt Alma for Easter, ask questions in the car and write notes to yourself within a few days.
I learned to write down where you’ve been – or you may keep looking at the same info over and over. I just love your blog Diane!
- Cate
burningrivergenealogy.blogspot.com
Cate – and all – your comments are all so good, we should reissue this as First 20 Things. Cate, this gave me an excuse to visit your blog, very interesting! I have a few genealogical connections to Cleveland, but I’ll have to figure out if I have East side or West side questions!!
Early on, I learned to talk to the ‘elders’ in the family for the “official” stories, and then talk to their siblings or cousins, to find out the “unspoken” portions…. Never at the same time, or it could stop the family get-togethers. Got my first two “eligible s” for the Black Sheep Genealogy Society that way!… and, last week, after 25 years, finally found and got to visit the court documents that went along with the unofficial story. And that court transcript was juicy! Wow. … One man, 3 families going – at the same time… He got busted for tax evasion, and as the case dragged on, more was revealed about how many people he was supporting. No Leave it to Beaver type in this 1950s story!
Two things learned, thankfully, early on: same name does not equal same person, and same surname does not equal same ‘family’. Now, how do we get folks to realize that nearly everything of genealogical interest is ~not~ on the internet, and furthermore LDS did not microfilm ~everything~ of genealogical interest in a given Courthouse or other repository.
To Susi P: Can you provide proof?
Wow, these are really good ones — yes, Susi, I really only have the perspective of starting from scratch – as you know, I envy those who started with more! And Celia and Elizabeth, those are excellent. I can’t relate much to Ellis Island, but I have often heard about the myth of the name change. That’s a good one. And Celia, my mom and I are still reeling from discovering our Loyalist ancestor, and from discovering the early American roots of New Englanders who moved to Nova Scotia for other reasons.
Diane, Your article is good but it also depends on when one started research as to who these topics apply. It also depends on how far back you start your digging verses how much you already have. Have a super day.
Diane, you are soooo right. I am now 73 and I began my interest in genealogy LITERALLY at the knee of my grandmother in 1949. It was 10 more years before I got serious about research. I bought an OLD HUGE microfilm reader, and rented federal census records, transcribed them from microfilm, and later actually published some of them.. Another tactic was writing letters *(on an electric typewriter). to everyone with the same surname I could find in the old Genealogical Helper (that came just a bit later). The response was VERY poor. Usually 1 in 20 would respond, and then if I was LUCKY, 1 in 10 might even be a hit. THE FIRST THING I LEARNED WAS TO THROW SPENNLIN OUT THE WINDOW. I found one deed of a 4g grandfather and they spelled his nane three ways in the same document… He was one in the same at the same time…. Clark/Clarkson/Clarkston. After writing that combinatiaon of names for the next 50 years, now have my own icon and a personal acronym… CCC. I wrote a very large hardbound book, with pictures, maps, deeds, and index, which was out of date the moment I sold the first copy.
With the advent of the internet, I began re-writing the CCC book on the internet. Wow, that’s when the thing snowballed. The best thing that happened was I found a fantastic “Heir Apparent” and now, with his dilligence and devotion, the descentants of Thomas Clarkston and Nellie Feathers has grown unbelievably.
Once more, let me reiterate…NO MATTER WHICH SOURCE YOU USE, THROW OUT THE SPELLING… BUT MORE IMPORTANT ….. make sure you verift what you find by using PRIMARY source records… not someone else’s work or you might find yourself BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE !!!
Happy Hunting,
Oh Diane – I can relate to all of them~! Including the shock I felt when I realized my mother’s ancestors (all of them) were very early New England settlers in the 1600s. B-b-b-b-but – I thought I was Canadian?! Surprise. And all the history I had to learn – my least favourite subject in school. I love it now. Great post.
Nobody’s name was changed at Ellis Island. (Maybe in the old country, before immigrating, or maybe once in America, but not at Ellis Island.) I don’t have ancestors who came through Ellis Island, but my husband does, and this was one of the first things I learned when I began researching his ancestors.
No some peoples names were changed. First hand knowledge.
#7: I was surprised at how many direct ancestors I have whose first born came only a month or two after the wedding date. Also surprised at how many divorces there were before 1920. And my ancestors were all very religious too. #10: Thank goodness for my mom and Aunt Betty!
One thing I learned right in the beginning of doing genealogy is that there happens to be A LOT I do not know about American history. (I’m going to do a post about that!)
Katie that is all so true!