Genealogy Clues and Where to Find Your Ancestors Online
One of the fun things about tracing the ancestors is finding them!
Most people nowadays expect to find their ancestors in the same state or county. Yet, people were on the move during the 17th, 18, and 19th centuries. First, there was the immigration from foreign shores. Then, a temporary home. It was a time frame that spanned some three hundred years!
The reason is simple: to find a home. During the agricultural economy, families were dependent upon the fertility of the soil. For example, the lucrative tobacco crop disappeared after the Revolutionary War. Why? Acreage became untillable for extended periods because it robbed the soil of its nutrients.
The clues to economic changes lie in the movement of American families across the western frontier. Today, one sees the economic dilemma at work as families leave states where living costs exceed their budgets.
Another place to detect change is in the old county wills. Typically, the eldest son inherited the home plantation, while the others inherited smaller tracts of land, if available, in the estate. A clue is that those sons who inherited smaller tracts or no land won a land lottery or petitioned for land elsewhere. After the Revolutionary War, the vast veteran soldier population relocated via land grants for his service.
This means that the genealogist should focus on American geography and history. What was learned in school was but a primer of actual history. Many history books were written. Genealogy-Books (included with the Georgia Pioneers membership) has a great history and genealogy collection. County histories, church histories, genealogies, and military wars are included on the site. The advantage here is the index. One can quickly learn if one's ancestor was mentioned.
The research should include searching county records because this is where people resided, filed deed records, paid taxes, married, and died. Clue: When I find one of my ancestors in a county record, I read every last will written. If my ancestor resided in that county, so did his relatives. Often, if a marriage was not recorded, that person can be found mentioned in an old will, deed, or tax record!
I once discovered what happened to the first wife by reading an old county will that recorded the event when the Indians stole a daughter! Another old story emerged in an old will that mentioned the name and location of a brother in London.
Thus, tracing families is also a lesson in historical facts and events or clues that often do not appear in history books.
Joining newsletters that offer clues to finding the ancestors and depicting the historical picture is a good idea. There are four free newsletters listed on the following site: (scroll down the page and add your email)
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-A lifetime's work is available in a vast collection of genealogies in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, included in the Georgia Pioneers membership. These states are vital to finding families that moved across the plains. Members have been with us for many years and have written their books using our material.