It’s amazing how much information I actually have for many of my relatives.\u00a0 The problem:\u00a0 I didn’t know it until a few months ago.<\/p>\n
I had the obvious sources:\u00a0 birth\/death\/marriage certificates, obituaries, memorial\/funeral cards, and the like.\u00a0 And of course I used the sources to figure out names, dates, places, relationships, etc.\u00a0 And while I knew I had other items, I thought them to be unessential for my research.\u00a0 And then it hit me…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I use obituaries wisely, capturing all of the information I possibly can from these gems.\u00a0 In addition to information about the person who died, I gather information (if noted) about their living and pre-deceased relatives including names, spouses, residence, and other haphazardly noted items.\u00a0 Whenever someone was listed with a residence, I added it to my database.\u00a0 Whenever someone preceded in death, I noted it in my database.\u00a0 One thing I didn’t do, was record what I now term “living” information.\u00a0 If there wasn’t a residence for a living relative, I didn’t add an event.\u00a0 I’ve since gone back and added a “living” event for these individuals.<\/p>\n
What the heck is a “living” event?\u00a0 Well, it’s easy to add the typical events such as residence, military service, and graduation.\u00a0 But what about non-events?\u00a0 To solve this, I created an even type called “living” to record dates that a person was alive, when there is no event associated.<\/p>\n
What type of sources do I use to get these “living” event nuggets?\u00a0 Well, first off, the aforementioned obituaries are a great source.\u00a0 Additionally, I have things like gift lists for weddings, baby showers, and such.\u00a0 I didn’t find these to be of much genealogical value, since it didn’t seem like an event because I didn’t know if they actually attended the event.\u00a0 But they do provide clues that the person was alive (and hopefully well) in order to have given the gift.\u00a0 So I record these as “living” events.<\/p>\n
I also glean “living” information from things like letters, postcards, and forms that list other people (such as next of kin, spouse, etc.).\u00a0 For example, I have several letters that are dated, but do not necessarily indicate a residence for one or both parties.\u00a0 I record these as “living” events (unless the residence is know, in which case I record it as a “residence” event).<\/p>\n
In the example below, I have recorded two “residence” event, an “attendance” event, and a “living” event.\u00a0 The “living” event came from her brother’s obituary that list her as a survivor, but did not indicate a residence.\u00a0 I know that if I am searching for a death record, I need to be looking at records dated after 1970.\u00a0 Had I not recorded this “living” event, my search scope goes all the way back to 1946.\u00a0 By recording this “living” event, I shaved 24 years off possible death records.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’ll admit that when I started researching my family tree, I recorded only the basic information.\u00a0 Heck, for several months, I didn’t even realize the power of census data!\u00a0 But I’ve learn just how invaluable recording events can be, and in some cases, all I have for some individuals are these “living” events.\u00a0 So, these days, I pretty much record anything and everything I come across.<\/p>\n
Of course events add life and character to my relatives, but it also helps me speed up my research by making the pool of possibilities, if even only a little, smaller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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