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Genealogy is not a secret

Don't keep genealogy information to yourself. Join a genealogy society and share what you're searching for. I did and someone handed me a notice of a family reunion with a listing of some family surnames that I was look for.

Newspapers

Even if you don't think your relatives would've appeared in the newspaper, look anyway. I found my father when perusing the newspaper. He bought bonds in support of the war effort during World War II.

Missing husband

So you look at the census and the husband is not listed. The wife is listed as head of the family. You assume that he died. Don't. I was looking for my husband's great grandfather and didn't find him with his wife and family. I thought he died until my mother in law mentioned that her father was always bitter because his father had left them. I took another look and found him in the home of someone else. He was not listed as the head of the family so I don't know if he had moved in with the woman listed or was a boarder. But he was alive. So I had to readjust the possible dates of his death.

Don't Forget to Look Through the Entire Book

Look through the entire yearbook. You not only want the photos of your ancestors in their classes, but also any candid photos. If somehow you inherited your ancestor's yearbook, look for the written comments his/her friends wrote. These can be helpful when writing the ancestor's stories. They can be helpful, too, when looking for friends, family, neighbors, etc.

City Directories

I always assumed that city directories only named people who lived in the city. You know what they say about assuming. I was wrong. I found my parents and my father's brothers all listed in the city directory even though they all lived on a rural route because they were farmers. Nothing else was listed next to their names except the rural route number and the name of the road.

Christmas Holiday

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and took advantage of visiting with family. Perhaps you were able to identify someone in a picture or were able to acquire a document that will help you with your search. One of the things I did was to try to get rid of excess paperwork. I came across an ancestor chart that I had printing out a few years ago. As I read it, I came across several errors, contradictory dates and notes that were incomplete. I thought it was a wonderful way to check my work. Perhaps you should try this?

RIO GRANDE VALLEY HISPANIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, INC.
A 501 C 3 NON PROFIT SOCIETY

Still Can't Find Your Elusive Ancestor?