Mountain Press and Southern Genealogy Books
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In genealogy, we are all researching at least one if not multiple surnames. Most of us are aware that many of the names we are researching may come with different spellings. Take for example the name Faris. I was working on this surname with a friend of mine as he could not find anything on his grandfather. As we drove over to the county we were going to research, I commented that we would look for Farris and Fariss as well as Faris. He assured me that it was only…
Read MoreAlmost everyone at one time or another has to go to the 1850 Census. This can be a real step forward in your research or a step backwards. This is the first of the U. S. Census that gives the name of head of the household. Here you get the other persons living in the household at the time of the census and other information heretofore unknown. Let’s take a closer look at the columns in this census with their information as well as misinformation. Now the first real column…
Read MoreEvery genealogist begins their research looking for birth-death-marriage records. Once these are found, then they begin to want to fill out the details of the information on each of the individuals in their charts. There is so much more to a person than when they are hatched-matched-dispatched. Who is the person? What was their life really like? What did they feel? Think? Value? Now if we reach this point, then we have to dig a lot deeper into the lives of our ancestors. We go to the courthouses, libraries and…
Read MoreOne of the most overlooked tools for personal genealogical and historic research is the use of maps. Since most don’t come across a map immediately when they start to research, they say that they do not exist. Nothing could be further from the truth. We just have to look for great maps. One of the first ways to look is right in front of you – google it. It is amazing what is out there on the web. However, this may or may not give you just what you want.…
Read MoreOne of the last places to look for your ancestors are the minutes of the official body that runs the county. They are sometimes called County Court, Court of Pleas and Quarterly Session, or later Board of Supervisors. The names will sometimes change within a county and within a state, but they all have much the same information. This body handles the day to day business of the county where your ancestors were or are living. Digging into these minutes is frequently very revealing. Depending on the time frame, there…
Read MoreOne of our subscribers contacted me a few days ago and asked about finding an obituary for his Grandpa in the mid-1880s. The first couple of things one has to remember about obituaries is that every newspaper that prints them is different. The policy regarding their inclusion in the paper varied with each editor/owner. Some papers considered these a courtesy to the reader, while others placed these in the unnecessary category and could leave them out at will. Today, most newspapers contain these only for a fee. Like the lady…
Read MoreIn your research, one of the primary sources everyone must consult at one time or another is the Census. The Census was a process of counting individuals in the United States that Congress authorized to be done every ten years beginning in 1790. From the first Census in 1790 up through 1840, only the names of the heads of households were used. Therefore, starting in 1850, we find other names of those living in the household as well. For many, this is the real start of their search. Let us…
Read MoreIt seems that as I get older my mind runs on a single track and narrow gauge at that. I first noticed this back in the beginning stages of my genealogy research while I was still in college. I had a time keeping up with what I had found and what I was looking for each person in my research. Of course, this was before computers, before copy machines and for me before microfilm readers. You see I’ve been at it a long time, over fifty years. The solution I…
Read MoreThe old saying that genealogist want to “hatch, match and dispatch” everyone in their families seems true. Everyone wants the dates of birth, marriage and death for each of the entries in their charts. Of all of these dates, the birth date is the hardest to locate in most of the periods of history. There are a number of reasons for this dilemna. Let’s examine some of them and see if there is not a way to slip around that “brick wall”. First, during a long period of our history,…
Read MoreIn our genealogical research, the marriage record is one of the most sought after items for the collection on our ancestors. Few realize that the recording of marriages has changed through the years. In the late 1600s in Virginia, the record consisted of just the name of the groom. The bride was not recorded, nor the date of the marriage itself. In later years, the Virginia marriage records were some of the most sought after because of all the information included in them. In the late 1800s, these records included…
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