Tips & Hints

Tips For Taking and Some We Took

Tips for this and tips for that, how do we keep track of them all? Over the years we receive many tips for making our research easier. We have listed some tips that have been helpful to us.

Don't Expect Things To Stand Forever

Driving along and see an old barn, house, chimney sticking out of the ground? Well, don't think that these things will stand forever. One big wind, vandels, or just age can send these elements of our past crashing to the ground.
Before and After

Names On A Picture

Got an old family photograph with names on the back, but the picture is framed so you can see it? Carefully, unframe the picture and have a copy made (smaller than the original). Replace the picture carefully back in the frame, replacing the backing. On the copy, rewrite the names of the people (next to, over, on, etc) that person and then tape this information to the back of the picture frame. Whomever looks at it will be able to reference who is in the photo. This way, the picture remains protected in the frame, but the names can be easily read from the copy. This also works for pictures that are kept in an album or a genealogy binder. Place the original picture and the copy on facing pages (in a protective, archive safe sheet, of course). This will allow someone to look at the picture without having to turn pages.

Gravestone reads: 12th Day of the First Month????

Trying to decipher a date on a gravestone? If you discover a gravestone which reads like "12th day of the First Month", that person was probably a Quaker. The Quaker religion does not allow the worship of any pagan gods. As 10 months of the calendar are named for pagan gods, Quakers cannot actually use the actual month by name. They must refer to the month by number. Source: Twigs and Branches, Fall, 1997

Death Certificate Mistake????

Think you can rely on information on a death certificate? Think again. Information on a death certificate can sometimes be incorrect. Since the certificates are transcribed from the original data, errors in spelling, dates, etc. can occur. One of our members recently received a death certificate and when received thought it may have been missing some key information. She called the county from where the document came and did, indeed, find out some pertinent information was left off of the new copy. Always check! Doesn't look right? Make that call!Source: One of our members.