Normally, we work our family trees backwards from present to past. Sometimes we get impatient. My Kellys were supposed to be in New Hampshire in 1849, so I jump the census years to see if the Kellys were there in 1850. I searched through many, many Kellys. Unfortunately, no one matched my family in Manchester…
Letting Time Pass
Genealogy Research Journal #5, Entry #7 I didn’t really know where to research next. I needed to see the newspaper obituary for Margaret to see if she had any siblings alive at the time of her death. Waiting for the 1889 Index The impatient genealogist that I am, I kept checking the Call Monitor index….
Calling on the Archdiocese
Genealogy Research Journal #6, Entry #6 I knew that the city of San Francisco would not have a copy of the marriage record as they were destroyed in 1906. I also knew that the state of California did not begin recording vital records until after 1905. I didn’t know what church they were married at…
The Beauty of Newspaper Indexes in Resolving the San Francisco Records Gap
Genealogy Research Journal #4, Entry #5 With death date in hand, I was ready to search for my great great grandmother. I still knew very little about her. I needed to figure out what sources would replace the death documents that were destroyed in 1906. Newspaper Indexes Help the San Francisco Records Gap By chance,…
Tip Toe through the Cemetery
Genealogy Research Journal #5, Entry #4 I needed to know more about Thomas, Margaret, and their children. I spent some time searching for obituaries for the Jones family. I learned that Josephine married Joseph Pohley, Alice married William Bourne, and Gertrude married John Burke. Most of the family was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in…