Timeline Photos

Timeline Photos

Interment

When traveling to the cemetery or better yet it is important to determine if the cemetery has interment information. In urban locations where the cemetery may be very large this will be located in the office or maintenance shed of the cemetery. Rural locations are a little trickier, but the records are often kept with a township trustee or a sexton. It is the common practice of cemeteries to keep these records. Often our ancestors are buried in a particular cemetery, but were unable to afford a stone. Checking the interment records is the best way to find their information.

Hospitals

Paying attention to the hospitals are relatives got there care in plays a important way to understand our families. Hospitals became more popular in the latter half of the 19th century. Many medical events in our ancestors lives occurred outside hospitals. As medical care improved the hospitals became the place to go. Many hospitals are releasing older records for the public to review. Documentation of relationship will be necessary for review. Another item to look at is the affiliation of the hospital. Church, city, etc. This is a modern feature of research.

Guardianships

The search for guardianship in probate records is often a overlooked resource for your genealogical search. If the male died with minor children still in the household still under the age of 18 in most cases their will be guardianship records. Understand there is normally not a tie in between the distribution of the estate and guardianship in probate. These records were done very early in our countries history. The courts would check in on the children once a year so the file can be very large. In the event the children were moved for care in the other county you will have a link and it will be important to review the records in both locations. These records are kept in probate at the county level.

Funeral Directors

With the popularity of genealogy the funeral home directors are allowing more access to their decades of records. The information that they kept proves very valuable to the research of our relatives. Understanding the history of the funeral home and it's potential connection to a ethnic group is the first step. This will offer you clues to your families origins. The information that is provided on the card is often provided with a clearer head than a death certificate. I have seen numerous situations when the two documents vary a great deal in accuracy. If two different people are the informants it provides you a cross check.

Evidence

Make sure when you are doing your research you keep track of both the good and bad evidence. In many cases what we may think is bad evidence at the time turns out to be very helpful as we complete more research. When meeting the standards of the Genealogical Proof Standard it is important to explain out all the evidence in your Proof argument. Not including the bad information does you a great disservice and will not help prove your case.