Michael Neill

Do you have a Valentine relative? Here's mine--John/Johann Valentine Senf...from his 1850 arrival in the US. He went by Valentine. Was in Campell County, Kentucky for a while, then I lose him. #genealogy

Genealogy Tip of the Day Genealogy can be confusing and sometimes what the family historian needs is something short and to-the-point that can help them get their research back on track. That's the intent of "Genealogy Tip of...

If you have #kindleunlimited, our "Tip of the Day" books are free. #genealogy amzn.to/4qDZUO2

Used NotebookLM to make a #genealogy infographic about a relative. But I only used 1902 as the death year and it used 1802 instead. Interesting.

Question: An 18th century Virginian owns approximately 500 acres of property, 10 enslaved individuals, and a mill. Considering his literacy, I would surmise that he's basically literate. I tend to think that we assume fewer people were literate than actually were. #genealogy

Making their mark does not mean they could never write their name or were illiterate. This "marker" in 1902 signed their name on numerous records from the 1850s through the 1880s. Chances are this was a "getting up in years" or physical health issue. #genealogy

Always review what a document says before writing anything about that document. Memory cannot always be relied upon. #genealogy

I would say it depends. Best bet is to not forget to do an exhaustive search on the actual person of interest even if some FAN work has been done...and to remember that an exhaustive search will prevent overlooking unknown FANs.

Should you think about the FAN network before you've done a reasonably exhaustive search on the ancestor and his family? #genealogy

Did you mail a card for national Mail a Card to a Friend Day? The address was not marked out on the one I actually mailed.

Local Contact, Goal Review, First Time Use, Who Knew, My Partial DNA Map, and Manual Searches Our most recent social media postings.

My most recent social media #genealogy postings open.substack.com/pub/genealog...

I'm not opposed to the use of AI for #genealogy research, but I think it's still best to use your noggin when you can and while you still can. We've opted to not use AI for illustrations of social media posts unless necessary--actual records, our camera, and our crayon are being used ;-)

Instead of those AI-generated #carticatures, I created a self-made image. Those AI ones all look the same.

When your ancestor is first in a new area, the associates they have are more likely to be from "home" or where they used to live than are their associates decades later. #genealogy genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/20...

I use it with my DNA results. I can't keep track of all the double connections in my head.

A chart to keep track of all those double #genealogy connections--unless you don't have siblings of g-grandfather married 1st cousins of another g-grandparent...among other things.

All the what I would do differently in #genealogy from the start really don't matter as much as identifying pictures and asking more relatives questions. Other stuff can wait. Memories matter.

One thing that is so hard to get through some #genealogy researcher's heads is that there can be variations in naming practices from one part of a country to another. Not everyone is the same. Generalizations create brick walls.

Before responding to an online post: read the whole thing, read the whole thing, let your eyes view all the letters--let those letters form into words, let the words form into sentences, interpret the thoughts the writer expresses, determine if you agree/disagree, respond according, PROOFREAD.

Instead of reapeating some #genealogy chestnut about what "always" was the truth...do some research and find out. The example discussed was children always being named for baptismal sponsors. Do some research. It's not that hard. genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/20...

I have, too. It's just that I see a significant proportion of people not know what they have when they have it.

I love the full-text searching for #genealogy at FamilySearch, but sometimes it does seem like records drop in your lap from the genealogy powers that be. Don't just download the image and move on to the next hit. Find out what you have, source it, save it with a name that makes sense...then move on

Doesn't really sound all that surprising. 1/2 an acre of harvest at that point in time represented work and money...lawsuit sounds pretty expected if there wasn't some compensation made.

An 1886-era newspaper reference to damages case where my ancestor's cattle damaged a neighbor's property. Out of curiosity, I decided to see what PerplexityAI would suggest. Really got some good #genealogy suggestions of where to go next--needed some correction and refinement, but not too bad.

The Other Side of the Wall, Grandma's Baptismal Story, A Trivial 1924 Estate Sale Purchase, Heirs Overriding, What Hamp, Converting VHS to Digital,

Our latest compilation of social media #genealogy postings...not our tips of the day though open.substack.com/pub/genealog...

Finger hair? Of all the #genealogy mysteries I hoped to solve with my DNA test, this was not one of them.

#Genealogy Tip of the Day books on the shelf at the Wordsmith Book Shop in Galesburg, Illinois.

Today's tip on our #genealogy tip of the day website was about keeping a list of the "not mines" you have. Good to add reasons why that specific person is not your person of interest. genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/20...

I really don't need writing prompts. #Genealogy research gives plenty of writing ideas. I need to force myself to actually write. That's the problem. Ideas are never a problem.

Relative wants the picture. Now to mail it. One item out of my house. #cantkeepitall #genealogy

Reached out to a descendant of my aunt (by marriage), Anna (Schildmann) Trautvetter to see if they wanted this picture. #cantkeepitall #genealogy