Case Study Webinars

Seeing how someone else solved a problem can help you on your own. These three case study webinars do discuss specific families, but they make various points about methods, sources, and analysis along the way. These presentations don't focus on the individuals involved as much as they do the methods and sources. In virtually all these presentations a discussion of "what was not written" is also included. Our approach is down-to-earth and practical and these are actual research problems Michael has worked on.

Download until 7:00 AM Friday 20 April 2012 for just $5. Yesterday's offer is still running here if you missed it.

Proving Benjamin. This presentation discusses work on a New York 1820 era native who appears in Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri census records. Combining those records with a probate, we show inconsistent 1850, 1870 and 1880 census entries are actually for the same man, and using land and tax records (combined with census records) get a good foundation for researching his family of origin.
Sarah and Susannah-Two 18th Century Virginia Women and Their Property -This presentation discusses the will of a 18th century Virginia woman and how another family "moved" a widow's life estate from one county to another.  Includes recording and PDF of handout.
Barbara's Beaus and Gesche's Girls--Case study of two German immigrants to the American Midwest in the mid-19th century. Barbara was married 3-4 times, one marriage which left no hard paper trail. Gesche disappeared in Germany in the 1880s and through a somewhat involved search was located in Illinois in the 1920s. Of course neither search was straightforward.
The Missing 1840 Census Enumeration. This webinar discusses a couple "missing" from the 1840 Census in Ohio and how they were eventually "found" and the indirect evidence that was used to locate them. A good overview of using land records to solve a "non-land record" problem with some points along the way about organization and visualization. Suggestions for additional research are also discussed.
Preparing for Mother's Death . It's not quite what you might think. This presentation discusses an 1889 will that was denied in 1900 with no stated reasons. An exhaustive search of records resulted in the likely reason and made the machinations of one son a little easier to see and made the reasons behind some documents a little more clear. Along the way we discuss a few key terms and also see why chronology and context are always important--especially so when things are confusing.