- \n
- Smiths and Joneses: Success with Families of Common Name<\/li>\n
- Trousers, Beds, Tacks& Housekeeping bills: Problem Solving with ‘Trivial Details’!<\/li>\n
- Identity Crisis: Right Name, Wrong Man? Wrong name, Right Man?<\/li>\n
- Finding Fathers: Bridging the Generation Gap<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You can start to get the idea just from the lecture names. \u00a0In each one she illustrated how difficult problems can be solved if we employ the Genealogical Proof Standard, beginning with reasonably exhaustive research, then complete and accurate source identification, skilled analysis and correlation of data, resolution of any conflicts in evidence and finally, last but not least, “a soundly reasoned conclusion or ‘proof argument’. \u00a0 One example in the Smiths and Jones’ lecture yielded a probable identity for the father of a woman by using land records. \u00a0Not just one land record, but actually plotting all the land belonging to likely families despite the fact that it stretched across county lines and into different townships even within the county. \u00a0 Then correlating that with the road maintenance records from supervisors or commissioners minutes and plotting property of each man named. \u00a0These records will sometimes name young men still living at home, they might not own the property, but they will be maintaining it! \u00a0Another research avenue she mentioned also involved land records. \u00a0Often there is a separate index for grantees and grantors and I have been satisfied to look for the name there and then just go to the particular book and page named. \u00a0Ms Mills pointed out that sometimes each individual book will also have an index and that index might have quite a bit more detail. \u00a0Particularly in those places where other things like marriages, indentures, bastardy bonds and other great records are recorded in the deed books. \u00a0The clerk who compiled the grantee\/grantor index might have just left those other little bits out. \u00a0There’s also the extra layer of transcription that may have introduced more error. \u00a0
![\"Knowledge](\"http:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2013\/08\/Knowledge-ability-skill-smaller-300x285.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0In the Trivial Details lecture, a man’s date of death was found by looking through his probate file. \u00a0The actual date was not mentioned anywhere and the probate had not been promptly opened when the man died. \u00a0By reading each of the little receipts and bills and other scraps of paper in the probate file she came across a dated bill against the estate from a merchant for multiple yards of “black domestic” and tacks. \u00a0That invoice for the necessary items to outfit a casket and a house in mourning pinned down the date.<\/p>\nThese are just a couple examples of things I learned in 1 or 2 classes. \u00a0How many brick walls will come tumbling down if I can develop the skill to use the knowledge I received at this conference?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you ever had a serious case of information overload? \u00a0That’s what I’m suffering from right now. \u00a0FGS in Fort Wayne was amazing, but exhausting! \u00a0Classes all day from 8 am until 6 pm and then off to the Allen County Library for research each evening until 11. \u00a0It was actually open until midnight Wednesday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fgs","category-genealogy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Knowledge](\"http:\/\/findingyourhistory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2013\/08\/Knowledge-ability-skill-smaller.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0In the Trivial Details lecture, a man’s date of death was found by looking through his probate file. \u00a0The actual date was not mentioned anywhere and the probate had not been promptly opened when the man died. \u00a0By reading each of the little receipts and bills and other scraps of paper in the probate file she came across a dated bill against the estate from a merchant for multiple yards of “black domestic” and tacks. \u00a0That invoice for the necessary items to outfit a casket and a house in mourning pinned down the date.<\/p>\n