{"id":316,"date":"2013-05-15T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/family-history-through-the-alphabet-queries\/"},"modified":"2020-03-18T21:56:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T02:56:56","slug":"family-history-through-the-alphabet-queries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/family-history-through-the-alphabet-queries\/","title":{"rendered":"Family History Through the Alphabet \u2013 Queries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Family-History-Through-the-Alphabet\"<\/em><\/p>\n

For 26 weeks I will take you on a family history journey through the alphabet, one letter at a time.\u00a0 I have decided that each post will be educational in nature, focusing on topics related to resources, methodology, tools, etc.\u00a0 Although the challenge is complete, there are still some people who are finishing up and Alona, the host, is encouraging others to participate anyway.\u00a0 Additional information on the challenge, can be found at Take the \u2018Family History Through the Alphabet\u2019 Challenge<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

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\"q\"<\/p>\n

Last month I posted about message boards and mailing lists<\/a>.\u00a0 Now that we\u2019ve gotten to the letter Q, it\u2019s time to talk about using those tools by developing effective queries.<\/p>\n

Since message boards and mailing lists offer the opportunity to post a good amount of information, it\u2019s much easier to craft an effective query in these mediums than in a publication where queries are often limited due to space restrictions.\u00a0 In other words, TAKE ADVANTAGE of this opportunity and offer as much detail as possible in order to ensure your query is read and hopefully you\u2019ll get some helpful responses.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Query<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hate to say it, but there are some really terrible queries out there.\u00a0 How do you respond to something like the following, posted to the Smith surname board on Ancestry?<\/p>\n

Title:\u00a0 John Smith<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking for John Smith died between 1880 and 1900, probably in Morgan County, Illinois.<\/em><\/p>\n

*Okay, this is factitious and may be a little extreme, but I have seen queries of this broad and undefined nature before.<\/p>\n

Chances are, you might not respond; heck, you may not even read the query since the title gives no indication of place, time period, or anything other than a very common name.\u00a0 The query is not any better than the title.\u00a0 Sure it gives a time frame and a place, but do you know how many John Smith\u2019s died in Morgan county between 1880 and 1900?\u00a0 (At least four.)<\/p>\n

Not only that, but when I see the range 1880-1900, I think, \u201cdestroyed 1890 census\u201d and \u201c20-year gap.\u201d\u00a0 Did John Smith really die, or did the researcher simply lose track of him in that 20-year span and jump to a premature conclusion?\u00a0 Who knows.\u00a0 There just isn\u2019t enough information in the query to work with.<\/p>\n

So how do you craft an effective query when you don\u2019t know much about the person your are inquiring about?\u00a0 Good question.\u00a0 In my opinion, provide as much information as you can about the person in question as well as those you DO know about, like a spouse, parent, sibling, or child.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know much about my third great-grandmother, Mary Ryan, but I do know a little bit about her children, which may help to identify her among the many Irish Mary Ryans out there.\u00a0 The following is what I would post:<\/p>\n

Title:\u00a0 Mary RYAN Millett (County Kilkenny, Ireland; b. abt. 1842, d. 1912)<\/em><\/p>\n

Trying to learn more about Mary RYAN, born about 1842 and died in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1912.\u00a0 I\u2019m particularly interested in finding out when and where she was born, as well as who her parents and siblings are.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I know about Mary so far:<\/em><\/p>\n