Finishing Up US: Probate Records

By Shannon Combs-Bennett, Student I have to say I had a lot of fun digging through the online probate resources for my family members after completing the US: Probate Records course.  I limited my afternoon search to online repositories since research into probate records for my family would take a plane ride or many long hours in a vehicle. With that being said, I think I hit the jackpot in a couple places. If you are in the same predicament that I am where your ancestors lived in different states, don’t forget that you can find books online. First place I always try is Google Books. They have quite a few older research books on there that you can read and download. Next I try WorldCat  because I might get lucky and see that a nearby library has the books I am looking for, or maybe they will inter-library loan it to me. Of course, don’t forget the Internet Archive for those out-of-print genealogy books.  I have found so many great resources on these pages and I know you will too! Since the majority of my family have lived in Indiana I decided to start there. Lucky for me, the books that are quoted as references to this section are now online at Ancestry.com. In fact, as I wrote this blog, Ancestry.com released their new probate collection. So, yeah, I went there and hit the jackpot.  Right now I am at a 25% success rate on searches for my Indiana ancestors…

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Learning More About Probate in the States

By Shannon Combs-Bennett, Student Up to this point in the US: Probate Records course we have learned a lot about the history and laws of the U.S. concerning probate situations. There were a lot of terms, examples, and information in the first three modules but I managed to make it through. The next two modules contained a directory of states which broke out information even more and concluded with a bibliographic resource list in Module 6. The directory will be a useful tool for me in the future as I research my family across the country. Each entry gave a brief description of what information you can usually find, where it is typically located and any interesting facts about the state. Particularly useful is the information on lost record locations. We all know of counties or towns that have lost records due to natural disasters or war. There are records still being lost today due to fire, flood, or neglect.  It makes us look outside of our comfort zones for more potential records, but it is nice to know some of the possible problems up front before you start looking for something that no longer exists. Finally, in Module 6 the course concludes with a directory of websites and books that are useful for research in each of the states. It is not a complete listing because let’s face it, that would be hundreds of pages long!  This listing contains larger inclusive books for the states and in particular indexes. …

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Learning More About the Law

By Shannon Combs-Bennett, Student The first three modules of the course US: Probate Records covered a lot of historical information and background on probate records in the U.S.  It was fascinating to learn about why and how the laws concerning probate records evolved over time from Colonial to the modern era.  It was obviously just a scratch of the surface since each state and jurisdiction is different but now students in this course have a great foundation to build on. Being originally an English colony, many of the U.S. laws are based on the English ones brought over with the colonists, particularly the idea of common law. Now, I grew up hearing this word bandied about frequently. Mainly it was in reference to  common law marriages, but still it is a term that many people are familiar with. Familiar, yes, but I would guess that not everyone knows exactly what it means. According to the course “common law governed the land.”  It appears to have evolved here in the U.S. as a way that the land is divided (there are actually multiple ways covered in the course) after a person’s death. However, each colony, and now each state, had their own laws and ways they liked to conduct probate matters. Which is why we all know nothing is ever as simple as it seems. If we are going to do extensive research into probate records we, as good genealogists, will need to brush up on the laws and regulations of…

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New Course: Life of Our Ancestors

Looking to learn more about writing a book about your family history? We have a new course that will guide you in writing a book that all your family will want to read. Life of Our Ancestors is written by researcher and author Jennifer Holik. Creating interesting family history stories involves adding details of your ancestor’s life that go beyond just names and dates. What was their occupation? What religious and political beliefs did they hold? Did they serve in the military, and why did they do what they did? This is an interesting way to start fleshing out the bones of your genealogy and to make your family history come alive. In this course we will explore how to find and incorporate information about your ancestor’s life to how to write and publish your family history story. Not sure how to go about writing the story of your ancestor? We cover the very beginning steps of writing to the final product. To learn more about this course and to register, see our website.

New Course: Italian Civil Registration Records Part 2

Researching your Italian roots? Check out our newest course: Italian: Civil Registration Records-Part 2. This course follows Italian: Civil Registration Records – Part 1. Civil registration is one of the largest and most important record sets in Italian genealogical research. It is certainly the most accessible, due to the efforts of FamilySearch (and now the main Italian archive) to microfilm and digitize these records. However, civil registration is more than just birth, death, and marriage records. In this course, we will delve into some of the more unusual civil records. We’ll not only learn what they are but also how to use these records. These records can be used to “flesh out” the history of your ancestors, providing unique details that may help you understand the ancestors in their social and political context. We’ll also delve more deeply into the Italian resources available through FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, and Portale Antenati, the Italian government’s website. Collections available at Italian Archivi di Stato will be explored. Students will learn what types of documents these archives contain and how best to access them. Written by Melanie Holtz, CG, Italian: Civil Registration Records-Part 2 will help you find and document your Italian ancestors. To learn more about this course see our website.