Lately, I seem to read about someone's genealogical "brick wall" on every post I read on various genealogy sites. Are these truly all brick walls? I don't think so. A brick wall to me means a problem that you have been working on for a long time with little success. I've seen posts where people … Continue reading Solve Your Genealogy Brick Wall
Tag: #learn
Context is Key: Understanding the Record within the Record Collection
Records don’t exist in a vacuum. (For the purposes of this post, I am referring to microfilmed images of records we have located online). It’s important to understand the record in terms of the collection it's found in. Once we’ve located a record, we need to ask ourselves questions about the record and the collection. … Continue reading Context is Key: Understanding the Record within the Record Collection
Silence and her granddaughter, Experience.
Silence and her granddaughter, Experience. We probably all have them in our family trees. Those Puritan virtue names popular in the 17th century. Mercy, Thankful, Liberty, Faith, Prudence, and in my case …. Silence, and her granddaughter, Experience. Silence Potter was born in Exeter, Washington county, Rhode Island on 22 January 1753 1. Her parents … Continue reading Silence and her granddaughter, Experience.
Understanding what the Census Enumerator was meant to write (and how that helps you understand your ancestor).
In the Census: Understanding what the census enumerator was instructed to write. The census is one of the first places we go to when researching our ancestors. We pour over those images, trying to interpret what is on the page in front of us. For the 1880 U.S. census, the Superintendent of the Census offered … Continue reading Understanding what the Census Enumerator was meant to write (and how that helps you understand your ancestor).
