When the answer is right there…
For heaven’s sake, look at the law! Fair warning: The Legal Genealogist is on a rant. No matter how many times I make one key point, it seems that way too many genealogists just don’t get it. That point: if we want to understand the records, we have got to...A Moore unmoored
No, he’s not There are roughly a gazillion family trees on Ancestry and elsewhere that say Robert Wilson “Mustang” Moore (b 1808 NC) is the son of Joseph Moore (c1759 NC-1820 KY), and his wife Rebecca (c1759 NC-c1861 MS), whose maiden name may have been Ballew.1...Those snippets
Word-picture postcards of a life They are among the most precious gifts a genealogist can ever receive. Those snippets that help breathe life into the names and dates and places of our research. In late August 1908, The Legal Genealogist’s great grandfather...The name game
About that spelling… It was created by statute in December 1833, effective in 1834, carved out of lands that — before then — had been part of Burke and Buncombe Counties. The 65th of North Carolina’s counties, it sat all the way over on the...Sourcing history
Like any other research… Like every good genealogist who ever lived, The Legal Genealogist is a history geek. We need to be able to properly understand our research subjects — and the records they left — in the context of their time and place where...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...Subscribe by Email
