Names

Some names are easy to research because they are so unusual.  Unusual because they are not necessarily used in the everyday context of conversations.   Keep in mind that my definition of 'easy' to research simply means I don't get a bunch of other stuff when searching for hits on the name.

Scott is not an easy name to research.  It is common as a first and last name.

Snyder is not easy because it can be spelled more than one way and is a fairly common name.

 Ulshafer, now that one is easy to research.  You will either find it or not. However, I suppose it could have more than one spelling, too.

Valentine, well, I'll let you decide on that one!

How about the name Mary Sprinkle?  Nope, not easy.  I received many hits where the sentence had something along the line of "Mary sprinkled..." when searching.

Try searching for Robert Lick!

I could list more but I have research to do.  :)

You have to be kidding!

Warning!  This is a disturbing story!

Don't mess with this widow!  Her husband died in 1889 and the life insurance company contended that he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.  On that defense they were denying the $11,000 claim.  The widow exhumed her husband's body, had his head cut off, and brought the decapitated head to court to prove he died of other causes.

I don't know if she won her case or not, and no, she's not related.
 

Research by others

I complain (a lot!) about sloppy research by others and how it is posted and reposted online without care it seems.  Why do I bother to look at other people's research? Because it can provide clues.

I found a tree for a 4th great grandfather on my husband's side that had information I have never seen before.  I wondered where the information came from.  The tree had one source linked to it.  That source sent me on a treasure trove of information.

That source was from the War of 1812.  It was a pension index card.

I have a subscription to Fold3 which I haven't been all that happy with as I haven't ever found anything of real value in my opinion there.  That changed last night.

I found the entire pension file for the 4th great-grandfather.  His wife, my husband's 4th great grandmother, filed in 1819.  Now I had documents for information in the family tree I found plus more.

One of the grandmother's sisters provided an affidavit for the marriage of the veteran.  Now I had her married name and location in 1819.  That led to census records and finally her family information.

I am now building a family tree for the 5th great grandparents, parents of the 4th great grandmother.

All because I took the time to investigate a clue from a family tree posted online.

Riedy or Donat

I have two Williams both married to a Sybilla.  One William had no parents listed, the other did.  One William had children listed and the other did not until I started working on his line.  The children are the same as the other William.  Makes you think they are the same, right?  The only problem is the maiden names of the girls.  They are different.  Everyone has the wives' dates of birth/death the same on the internet.  Did Syblla remarry after her husband's death?  Is that where the other name comes in?  He did before 1900 and she lived to 1936 so it is possible.  However, I have parents for the Riedy wife and I am unable to find anything that makes me think she remarried.  

Did Ms. Riedy marry a William and researchers have confused the too?

I am confident of her maiden name as Donat, finally.   I found her marriage record and her maiden name is listed on several of the death certificates of her children. 

Now to figure out the Riedy.

Update:

They are the same person.  Her father died when she was young and her mother remarried.  Wow.  It has taken me hours to get this figured out, but I did it! 

1895 Estate

Just read about an estate worth $80,000 in 1895 in Pennsylvania.  Wow.  Wonder what the same estate would be worth today?