How to Recognize your United States Ancestor: Difference between revisions

= Build the identity of your ancestor  =

Too many genealogists find a hopeful individual with the right surname and then try to establish a connection between that person and their known ancestors. Almost always, such attempts end up with erroneous connections. Correct connections must be built by working back from known information to the unknown.  

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You have searched a record and found a person who could be a possible match for your ancestor. Recognizing a person as your ancestor is one of the true joys of genealogical research. However, there are pitfalls along the way. Sometimes researchers want so much to find a person that they ignore these pitfalls and end up making inaccurate connections. This guide will help you ask the questions which will help you decide if a person is, in fact, your ancestor.  

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Once you have found a person in a record who may be your ancestor, the following 5 steps will help you determine if you have, in fact, found your ancestor.  

Do the following to identify your ancestor clearly:  

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Do the following to identify this person clearly:  

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See Tip 2 for questions to ask yourself as you compare these two time lines and analysis charts.  

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To decide about the possible match person, do one of the following:  

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<br>After your research, write a brief summary report about your ancestor. Either you can explain what records proved your ancestor's life events and can document his or her life history, or you can explain what records did not lead you to a definite conclusion. Either way, you will have made a valuable contribution to your family's genealogical research efforts.  

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To help you single out your ancestor, include on a time line:  

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To answer this question, ask yourself:  

Ask yourself these questions:  

<br>Is the possible match person too young or too old to have been my ancestor? <br>Are names of children, associated with the possible match consistent with what I already know about the children of my ancestor? <br>Do the ages of the children seem logical, or are they too young or too old to be my ancestor's children?  

To verify the name of a wife, check marriage records, children's birth records, land records, cemetery records, church records, and probate records.  

It is highly unusual for a wealthy person to suddenly be farming in a poor section of the county on a small, rented acreage, or a poor person to suddenly be a noted county official, living in a mansion. The following records give a good indication of the economic condition of the family.  

<br>Census records: see the column listing property values. <br>Tax lists: see property tax and personal property taxed. <br>Land records: see acreage of lands owned, and number of properties owned.  

<br>Check land records of the possible match person for neighbors and witnesses of deeds to see if their names are the same people you know associated with your ancestor. <br>Check marriage records of the possible match person and his children to see if the bondsmen and witnesses are persons who you know associated with your ancestor. <br>Check church records of the possible match person to see if the names of members in the congregation were also associates of your ancestor. <br>Check other records to see what the possible match person did after this record was made. Migration can be a good clue:  

- If the possible match person migrated to a new location, does that eliminate him or her because you have a burial record or other proof that your ancestor remained in the old location? - If the possible match person migrated to a new location, could this be your ancestor, and you did not know he or she had moved? <br>

<br>Does the possible match person appear in Presbyterian church records, but you know your ancestor was a Quaker? <br>Is there evidence that the possible match person changed religions, such as from Quaker to Presbyterian? Was he a Quaker originally, but then married out of the faith and was disowned? Could this actually be what happened to your ancestor, and they are the same person?  

Check county boundary changes on a map to see if the county where you know your ancestor lived could have once been part of another county. Your ancestor could have lived in the other county for a time, without actually moving his or her residence.  

For more information, see County Boundary Changes.  

The name of a person was commonly spelled differently in different documents. For more information, see Name Variations.  

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Choose another record which has a possible match person, and repeat the first 4 steps in this guide.