Remember their names
Recording the data of the enslaved The Legal Genealogist is often asked the same question about researching the enslaved. “Where can I record the information I find about enslaved persons that I come across in my family research?” And — sigh — every time...The law that never was
Published doesn’t mean adopted The Legal Genealogist recently got a request for research assistance that was absolutely perfectly right up the proverbial alley. A request for help in locating specific laws on a specific topic in several jurisdictions. It was...12.5 divided by…
When we make misteaks… The Legal Genealogist admits it. It’s a consistent failing. Even with a calculator at hand, I am mathematically challenged. I joke about owning a complete one-for-every-day set of t-shirts reading: “I was an English major, you do the...Go for the original
Get to the source… The Legal Genealogist was powerfully reminded this morning of that basic tenet of genealogy. Go for the original. The very best derivative sources in the world — those copies of originals, or copies of copies of originals — even...The challenge of Ann
That “new” fourth great-grandmother March is, of course, Women’s History Month, a celebration of women that began in 1981 with a Congressional request for a Presidential proclamation of a “Women’s History Week” and — by 1995 — had evolved...So bad… and not so bad…
I simply remember my favorite things And then I don’t feel so bad… — Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist, My Favorite Things There are times, in genealogy, when you can do all the right things… and still not find the answer. When you can follow...Think horses, not zebras
Think basics, not exotics It’s one of the most basic tenets of medicine. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. Often ascribed to Dr. Theodore Woodward, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the 1940s, what it means in...Persistence and the dates
Keep checking back One of The Legal Genealogist’s favorite ancestors is Isabella (Gentry) Robertson. A favorite because she’s such a challenge — married before the 1850 census and without a single surviving vital record (no birth, marriage or death...Landing the fourths
Land documents a relationship It looks like the chase is done. This particular chase, at least. The Legal Genealogist is about to take the word “theory” out of the names of a set of fourth great grandparents — and from the name of their daughter, a third great...Subscribe by Email
