Marriage

Marriage Records  The marriage certificate is the only civil record that actually records a union between two individuals, whereas other marriage records indicate that a marriage was “projected or planned.” So be cautious regarding which marriage document is being reviewed and understand the difference. Information you will always expect to find on a marriage certificate:  the name of the bride and groom  the date of the marriage   location of the marriage (at least the county in which the marriage was filed)  the individual who married the couple  name of the clerk who recorded the marriage with the county  The type of information recorded on a marriage document will change over time and will vary from county to county and state to state.   The US Federal Census can also help with finding a marriage record. What kind of marriage information can the census provide? While the 1850 to 1870 census doesn’t record marital status, it does note if the person was married within the year. The 1900 through 1940 census will provide the marital status “married, single, widow, or divorced,” the “age at first marriage” (1930), or the “number of years of present marriage” (1900, 1910).   Record Keeping  In our modern society (the 20th and 21st century), marriage records are typically kept at both the county in which the ceremony took place and the state bureau of records. There is a central gathering point in each state, typically known as the Bureau of Vital Records or Statistics (or something similar).   For most states, marriage records began being kept at the time a county was formed at the county level. These early records…

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Keeping In Touch With The National Institute For Genealogical Studies

In the genealogy world we need to communicate with each other to keep abreast of the constantly evolving research methods and resources. The same is true within The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. As a student of the National Institute, there are various ways you can communicate with us and your fellow students. Here is how: #1 By email to the National Institute NOTE: When contacting us please include your FIRST & LAST NAME and the COURSE TITLE, including the COUNTRY the course applies to. It is also helpful if you include the module number and section title you are referring to. i) admin@genealogicalstudies.com – for general questions; ii) alert@genealogicalstudies.com – to advise us of broken links in your course materials and assignments–please be specific as to where problem is; iii) exam@genealogicalstudies.com – questions pertaining to your course exam. #2 By email to a fellow student When you view a fellow student’s public assignment SUBMISSION/ANSWER and you would like to contact them about something in their posting, simply click on the envelope icon to the right of the student’s name. A new window will open where you can type your message. For privacy reasons, you will not see the recipient’s email address and they have the option to reply or not. #3 Attend a Virtual Meeting VIRTUAL MEETINGS ARE THE BEST PLACE TO COMMUNICATE with an instructor and fellow students. Anyone can participate! You do not have to be registered in the course to attend. When attending virtual meetings, please…

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Friends, Associates and Neighbors

Your FAN Club  FAN is an acronym that stands for Friends, Associates, and Neighbors. The “FAN Club,” coined by Elizabeth Shown Mills, represents a person’s network of people to whom they connect. You may also hear the term “cluster research,” which is essentially the same thing. The idea behind using the FAN principle or cluster research is to identify and research the people involved with your ancestors, as those other people may have left a trail or clues that your ancestor did not. For example, you could be looking for the maiden name (and perhaps the parents and/or siblings) of a female ancestor. Studying the people in her FAN Club, as well as those in her husband’s, may provide clues or may even reveal the answer. Oftentimes, the FAN methodology is implemented when all resources have been exhausted and there is still no answer to our research question. Instead of throwing in the towel, we turn to the people around our ancestor and explore their lives.   Keep in mind that studying an ancestor’s associates will add more work to your plate, but the benefits are usually well worth your time and energy. With our Skill-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls course you will learn more about applying the FAN principle to your research.  

Please Join us for Student Presentations!

We have a couple of student presentations coming up. We hope you can join us to show your support! The National Institute for Genealogical Studies course, Lecturing Skills Including Preparation, teaches the skills needed to present genealogical-related lectures. It is a “hands on” course where the student presents a lecture via our Virtual Learning Room. We invite you to participate and hear your fellow student. This is a 30-minute lecture, followed by a 10-minute Question & Answer period and a short poll to provide the student with feedback on their skills. Please come and support your fellow students! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join us on Thursday, February 28th at 7:00 PM EST when  Victor Corrales presents “Hispanic Naming Conventions”. Presenter: Victor Corrales is a genealogist with more than 25 years of experience in South America and Spain. He is a member of OGS, Hispagen, and UGA. Presentation Description: An introduction to the naming conventions in Spain and Hispanic America. Learn about the origin of surnames, the double surname system and challenges in the immigration records to North America. Time zones: Wednesday, November 8th – 7:00 PM Eastern; 6:00 PM Central; 4:00 PM Pacific; Thursday, November 9th – midnight in London, England; 11:00 AM in Sydney, Australia MEETING LOCATION: http://genealogicalstudies.adobeconnect.com/lecturing/ (NOTE: No user name or password required. Please type in your first and last name; then click “Enter as a Guest”.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join us Thursday, March 7th at 5:00 PM EST when Brian Maclachlan presents “My journey researching ancestors”. Presenter: Brian Maclachlan is a qualified genealogist, retired statistician,…

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Timelines are Important

Why Use Timelines  A timeline is a visual representation of events in sequential order. Timelines are often used in genealogy to place an ancestor in a historical context giving us a better understanding of their lives and how they fit into the world around them. Timelines can help break down brick walls allowing us to see:  Where a person was and when.  Gaps in time where information is missing.  Instances where two people of the same name might be combined.  Possible scenarios (for example, finding a large gap in the birth of children during the Civil War period).  But also keep in mind timelines are a great basis for writing biographies and genealogies, as well as a visual component to share with others. Timelines are great tools to help us put our research in a different perspective. The visual nature of a timeline often reveals clues for additional research. There are three general types of timelines: basic, comparative, and historical.   With our Skill-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls course you will learn more about building your own timelines and how to use them in your research.