A very special kudos to my genealogy buddy, Lowcounty Africana, for her dedication and ongoing spirit as she has built many pages for the free Footnote Collections on South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732-1872.
She has transcribed the slaves' names of many of the early plantation owners and invites other family researchers to contribute pictures and documents to the pages.
Just in case you have roots in the lowcountry, you may want to check it out.
http://www.footnote.com/page/282783107_lowcountry_africana_south_carolina/
I keep watching in the hope you'll get around to finding an estate for one of my elusive ancestors.
Ahh, genealogy. Got to remember the past in order to learn and improve our future.
©2011 AS Eldredge
Ahhh, genealogy. A glimpse of the past shows of what I am made.....
Showing posts with label estate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label estate. Show all posts
Friday, February 04, 2011
Friday, August 06, 2010
Use Your Imagination to Investigate the Past
We've all heard it. "My family can't be found," or "The census didn't list slaves," or "The courthouse burned."
Well, yes, this can be a real mind blocker. Use your imagination when looking at various resources. Don't just depend on the census lists. And, for the sake of all genealogy racing heartbeats, don't grab a name from the census and plop it in your tree just "cause it was the same name." Like no name has ever been duplicated in history!!!!
Look at everything.
Examples include:
Wills
Estate Inventories - (can be great if the estate had owned slaves)
Land Records
Church Records
Cemetery Records
Bibles
Local County Histories
Orphans Court Records
Local Tax Records
Local Historical Societies
Local Genealogy Societies
Probate Court Records
Lawsuits - (I found a part of one family after I ordered the records about a trial.)
Asylum Records
Old Church Magazines
Journals of old genealogy societies
Newspapers of the era and place of interest (1888-1899 newspapers are great finds.)
Family History Library
As you look at every source you can find, have an open mind. Don't be stuck in the "blame game" of genealogy. Perhaps someone moved away. Perhaps someone was listed as "chattel." Perhaps you've looked in all the wrong places. Perhaps the trail has gone cold. Keep looking as it may warm back up one day.
My tip of the day: Be open as you continually search for documentation to support your theories. Be open to investigate the not-so-readily-available sources. Be open to traveling to the area of your interest and digging in the old records or hire someone to do it for you.
Use your imagination to investigate the past. And use the facts to document your current family trees.
Ahh, genealogy. It's only as good as the documented research. Otherwise, it can make a pretty good bed time story for the kids, not to mention the hair pulling of someone who has documented the facts:)
©2010 AS Eldredge
Well, yes, this can be a real mind blocker. Use your imagination when looking at various resources. Don't just depend on the census lists. And, for the sake of all genealogy racing heartbeats, don't grab a name from the census and plop it in your tree just "cause it was the same name." Like no name has ever been duplicated in history!!!!
Look at everything.
Examples include:
Wills
Estate Inventories - (can be great if the estate had owned slaves)
Land Records
Church Records
Cemetery Records
Bibles
Local County Histories
Orphans Court Records
Local Tax Records
Local Historical Societies
Local Genealogy Societies
Probate Court Records
Lawsuits - (I found a part of one family after I ordered the records about a trial.)
Asylum Records
Old Church Magazines
Journals of old genealogy societies
Newspapers of the era and place of interest (1888-1899 newspapers are great finds.)
Family History Library
As you look at every source you can find, have an open mind. Don't be stuck in the "blame game" of genealogy. Perhaps someone moved away. Perhaps someone was listed as "chattel." Perhaps you've looked in all the wrong places. Perhaps the trail has gone cold. Keep looking as it may warm back up one day.
My tip of the day: Be open as you continually search for documentation to support your theories. Be open to investigate the not-so-readily-available sources. Be open to traveling to the area of your interest and digging in the old records or hire someone to do it for you.
Use your imagination to investigate the past. And use the facts to document your current family trees.
Ahh, genealogy. It's only as good as the documented research. Otherwise, it can make a pretty good bed time story for the kids, not to mention the hair pulling of someone who has documented the facts:)
©2010 AS Eldredge
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Free Lowcountry Estate Records?
Yeppers, they are. Thanks to a super effort of Low Country Africana and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History teaming up with Footnote, there's some great early records online.
Just yesterday, my buddy, Low Country Africana, sent a message out to one of the groups I follow that said the estate records and inventories from 1839-1867 were available for FREE on Footnote.
Since they were from the center of the universe that some other non-knowledgeable folks call Charleston, I thought I'd take a look.
If you've ever used Footnote to view their collections, this is a cinch to find. Just type in "South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732-1872," and you're there. It's easy to use the index pages for each of the volumes.
While I did find some preliminary info on the estates of a COX and of a COWARD relative, I was disappointed not to find more. Of course, it would have helped if my family members had been so kind as to pass on during 1839-1867, and if they had all lived in the Charleston District!
These records are a tremendous resource for those who are looking for information on slaves owned at the time of the estate owner's death.
Many thanks to Low Country Africana for pointing me to the estate inventories. I look forward to seeing more years up soon. You're doing a super job!
Ahh, genealogy. It's always neat to find such great volunteers to give of their time so others can reap the harvest.
Just yesterday, my buddy, Low Country Africana, sent a message out to one of the groups I follow that said the estate records and inventories from 1839-1867 were available for FREE on Footnote.
Since they were from the center of the universe that some other non-knowledgeable folks call Charleston, I thought I'd take a look.
If you've ever used Footnote to view their collections, this is a cinch to find. Just type in "South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732-1872," and you're there. It's easy to use the index pages for each of the volumes.
While I did find some preliminary info on the estates of a COX and of a COWARD relative, I was disappointed not to find more. Of course, it would have helped if my family members had been so kind as to pass on during 1839-1867, and if they had all lived in the Charleston District!
These records are a tremendous resource for those who are looking for information on slaves owned at the time of the estate owner's death.
Many thanks to Low Country Africana for pointing me to the estate inventories. I look forward to seeing more years up soon. You're doing a super job!
Ahh, genealogy. It's always neat to find such great volunteers to give of their time so others can reap the harvest.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Feeling the Old Country in Your Bones?
Feel like doing some genealogy digging in the old country? You're in luck today if your old country is Sweden. Today, it's free.
Go try out Arkhiv Digital. You do have to register first-- and then download a program-- but then you get to go and look at some old estate records in living (or rather, dead) color! In addition, AD is also trying to photograph all the church records thru 1894.
As genealogy buffs, we know how valuable it can be to see a digital photograph of records, and as Swedish descendants, we know how valuable the Swedish Parish records are to our research.
AD is even running a special from now until the end of the year. I do suggest you check out their records to see if now is the time for you to hop on the Swedish train or to wait until more records are digitized.
Check out their site: http://www.arkivdigital.net/
As for me, I'll be staying up late tonight to try and put some meat on my bones of the past.
Go try out Arkhiv Digital. You do have to register first-- and then download a program-- but then you get to go and look at some old estate records in living (or rather, dead) color! In addition, AD is also trying to photograph all the church records thru 1894.
As genealogy buffs, we know how valuable it can be to see a digital photograph of records, and as Swedish descendants, we know how valuable the Swedish Parish records are to our research.
AD is even running a special from now until the end of the year. I do suggest you check out their records to see if now is the time for you to hop on the Swedish train or to wait until more records are digitized.
Check out their site: http://www.arkivdigital.net/
As for me, I'll be staying up late tonight to try and put some meat on my bones of the past.
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