Re: Trace back Oliver Ancestry
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In reply to:
Trace back Oliver Ancestry
4/19/00
Jason, get all the info from relatives you can. Birth dates, death dates, and counties & states where born, and where lived.If you have death dates & county where a person died, you can call county clerk and get copies of death certificates, that will tell fathers name, and sometimes, mother's maiden name.If you know where buried, tombstones, give b.& death dates.If you have access to a library, go to their genealogy section.They'll have books, and microfilm of census records,tax rolls, marriage dates, etc. and the personnell are very helpful, in telling you how to go about researching. Thena lot of it is just digging, and putting it together piece by piece.Back before cars made it easier to move around, a young man often married the girl next door, so in the census records look at the neighbors next door for a girl with the correct name & age of the wife, whose maiden name you don't know. Look for similarity in names.A young couple often named their children after their parents, and siblings; a son or daughter would often be given the maiden name of the wife as his/her first name i.e. if John Smith, son of William Smith, married Sue Carter, dtr.of George Carter, the first son might be given the name of William Carter, or George Carter Smith. Dtrs. were often given the name of the mothers. Also look at who the siblings married, as two or three children fromone family would often marry the children from the family next door. Look in the library or courthouse for wills, as they usually listed the wife and all the children, and if the dtrs. were married they'd be listed by their married names, and sometimes their husbands as well.
A lot of information is on the internet now. Census records, cemetery records, land transactions, some wills, etc. Put messages on the message boards for all the names you know.But you have to start first by putting down all the information you know or can find out from relatives.And don't take anyone's word for who's related to who,just use it as a basis for researching on your own and confirming it with records.
My Oliver ancestry is from Tenn. & Texas, but I don't have your names.Sorry, but I hope the other helps.