Heartland Genealogy

Have you ever just stumbled across something that others may seem minor when it provides major clues. That's what happened yesterday when I did a simple Google search for 'Isaac Crawford Nancy Miller'. That search led to a biography of George W. Crawford of Gentry County, Missouri in the book, The History of Gentry and Worth Counties, Missouri on page 421. George W. Crawford

Do you keep a research log? I have to admit that I would likely get a 'failing grade' for this part of the genealogy standard. I've tried using a paper log and a spreadsheet log, but don't seem to be able to keep it up. Thus, I don't have a 'master index' to locate my research notes. In May, Pat Richley-Erickson, posted a question to the Facebook group, The Organized Genealogist, asking group members how they organize their research notes . This was followed up by a Wacky Wednesday presentation, Organizing Active Research Notes .

Have you been following all of the Facebook posts about organizing and tracking your genealogy research? If you haven't then you might want to check out some of these posts: The Genealogy Squad - search for ' organizing ' posts  The Organized Genealogists - check out the files submitted to this group If you haven't joined these or other genealogy groups on Facebook, then you are missing out on a lot of help! Because of the recent discussions around organizing one's genealogy, I thought I'd share what I've found useful. Since my genealogy adventure began prior to the Internet, I started with a lot of paper. Thus, I had to have a way to organize it so I could go back and find my notes. As Drew Smith has suggested, I used the SURNAME as my first level of organization. Because I had too much information to fit in one folder for the SURNAME, I subdivided my notes. Below is an example of how those folders were named for one of my surnames: Crawfor...

Do you have a brick wall? Does that brick wall involve identifying the father of an ancestor? At some point, many of us face such a brick wall. One of my brick walls involves my ancestor, James Crawford. My James Crawford married Sally Duggins in 1799 in Garrard County, Kentucky. All of my research efforts have not punched a hole in this brick wall. Thus, I'm using the FAN (friends acquaintances, and neighbors) club method to branch out and try to find a way around this brick wall. I'm currently researching all of the Crawford families in the area of Garrard County, Kentucky during its early days of settlement. One of those families is James Crawford and his wife Rebecca Anderson. My current theory is that this James Crawford might be an uncle to my ancestor. Thus, I'm hoping that by researching James and Rebecca and their children, I might find something relating to my James Crawford. Unfortunately, identifying the children of James and Rebecca is proving to be diffic...

As part of my CRAWFORD research, I'm trying to determine whether the Isaac Crawford of Jefferson County, Indiana is the same Isaac Crawford who married Nancy Miller in Garrard County, Kentucky. Thus, I'm trying to locate information on potential children. One of those potential children is Elizabeth Crawford who married Aristippus Brown in Clinton County, Missouri. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble locating much information on Aristippus Brown. What I've been able to locate is a marriage record, land records and mentions in county histories. Aristippus Brown was married to Elizabeth Crawford in Clinton County, Missouri on 3 August 1836. According to the History of Davies and Gentry Counties, MIssouri, Aristippus Brown was from Kentucky and lived near Genntryville in 1839. The history indicates that Aristippus Brown moved to California. In May of 1840, Aristippus Brown and Elizabeth Brown his wife, sold land in Garrard County, Kentucky. This deed identifies Eliza...

Have you been frustrated by Ancestry hints that seem illogical? I know I have. I seem to get hints for records from England when my ancestor was born, lived and died in the states. That's why I'm excited about the new 'beta' tool to report those bad hints to Ancestry. Not only can I report 'bad' hints, but I can report 'duplicate' photos and explain why a hint is valid. To enable this new feature, I had to 'turn it on'. This is done by opening the EXTRAS menu and pick ANCESTRY LAB from the bottom of the menu. The HINTS FEEDBACK is the new feature. To make it work, click on ENABLE.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 1) It's Father's Day in the USA on Sunday, so let's talk about our fathers.   2)  Show us your favorite photograph of your father - the one that shows him in the best light possible.  Describe the occasion, the setting, and the people in the photograph. One of my favorite pictures of my father (Eugene Crawford) is of him in his physics classroom at Dodge City Junior College. Another favorite picture is of dad trying to read while I was sitting in his lap. Another group of favorite pictures are of us during Christmas time in 1953. 

I'm trying to figure out whether the Isaac Crawford and wife Nancy of Jefferson County, Indiana are the Isaac Crawford who married Nancy Miller in Garrard County, Kentucky. Thus, I'm tracking the transfer of land by heirs of Jacob Miller, Nancy Miller's father. In May 1840, James and John Crawford were identified as sons of Isaac Crawford when they sold their 1/6th of 1/11th of Jacob Miller's land to William Duff. Going back through the deeds, I have identified three other deeds where protions of Jacob Miller's land was sold to William Duff. Two of those deeds also involve heirs of Isaac Crawford. Aristippus Brown to William Duff -- 2 May 1840 Garrard County Kentucky Land and Property Deeds, Vols. N-O 1838-1843 FamilySearch Film 183247 DGS 8568105 Book N Page 396 No. 1381 Aristippus Brown [sc] to William W Duff

Have you ever looked at the FamilySearch tree or at personal trees on Ancestry and wondered how and why they made those family connections? I know I have. I hope that others if others have such a question about the research reflected in my Ancestry tree, that they would contact me with their concerns and questions! This is important to me. I want my tree to accurately reflect family relationships. Since I research siblings and their descendants, some might ask why it is important that I get those relationships right. As Ancestry is providing us with more DNA tools, I'm finding that my ability to interpret my DNA matches is affected by whether I have those family connections correct. This became more apparent to me when I was studying my ThruLines and discovered that I didn't have any DNA matches thru siblings of my ancestor. (See Crawford ThruLines Question ) As I'm researching the James Crawford(1758-1836) who married Rebecca Anderson, I'm finding that what I have ...

Garrard County Kentucky Index to deeds, 1797-1935; deeds, 1797-1866; births, 1789-1801 Deeds, Vols. N-O 1838-1843 FS Film 183247 DGS 8568105 Book N page 406 No 1387 James & John Crawford to Wm W Duff

Jefferson County Indiana Deeds Book E page 452 Image 239 Family Search Film 1310268 DGS 8059613 page 453 This Indenture, made this nineteenth day of November in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and twenty two between Isaac Crawford & Nancy his wife of Jefferson County [and state] of Indiana of the first part, and Thomas Alexander of the same County of the second part witneseth that the said Isaac Crawford & Nancy his wife for and in consideration of the sum of eight hundred dollars lawful money [?] United States to them in hand well and truly paid [?]

Do you research the spouses of your ancestor's siblings? If you are like me, you don't spend much time identifying let alone researching the parents of an ancestor's sister-in-law. However, with my Crawford research, I'm finding valuable clues from published genealogies. Many of those published genealogies are for the families of women who married into the Crawford family. There are a couple of McPheeters genealogies that include the family of Alexander and Mary (McPheeters) Crawford. These works have helped me separate my Crawford line from the descendants of Alexander Crawford.

Do you just rely on Ancestry's record information for census records prior to 1850? Or do you locate an extraction form for the census year to verify the interpretation of the check marks? I have to admit that I often just use the information provided by Ancestry. I'm not sure why I decided to locate an extraction form and record the census information for myself today. However, I'm glad I did since I think the Ancestry record had one piece of information incorrect. I was researching Isaac Crawford of Jefferson County, Indiana. I suspected he was living in Jefferson County in 1820 but hadn't obtained a census record to support that suspicion. So, I searched Ancestry and was able to locate a record for Isaac Crawford in Jefferson County, Indiana.

Jennings County, Indiana Deed record v. A Apr 1818-Nov 1828 Family Search Film 1305298 DGS 8059848 Book A Page 115 J Vawter to deed James Crawford

Madison County, Kentucky Family Search Mixed Probate Records, Vols. A-B 1787-1819 FS Film 183266 DGS 007553082 Will Vol. A page 351 (Image 184)

Do you try and connect with other genealogists to pick up tips and tricks? Living in rural America, I rely on connections over the Internet to pick up many of those tips and tricks. I've recently been watching one of the Barefoot Genealogists' recent videos: Making Discoveries with the New and Improved AncestryDNA Match List .

What are your feelings regarding the FamilySearch tree? Do you dislike it because anyone can change anything? Or, do you like it because of the ability to collaborate? Even though I get frustrated with unexplained changes that don't fit my conclusions, I like the FamilySearch tree. I like it because it is the one of the places where collaboration happens. When someone else makes a change to one of my ancestors that doesn't agree with my research, I see the opportunity to collaborate. When this happens, I will often add a discussion item either questioning the change or explaining my conclusion. I also use the messaging tool to contact the contributor and inquire about their sources and reasoning.