When you are looking at a marriage record, you expect to find the names of the bride and groom, the county and
state issuing the marriage license and the name of the person performing the ceremony. Perhaps you may also find the names of witnesses.
But a family researcher was surprised by the handwritten note in the margin of one marriage record book: “The new Mrs. Smith is actually Bella Morgan, not Bella Jones, and she has been married at least three times before that I know of.”
Land records contain the names of the buyer and seller, a description of the property, and the price being paid. But you may also find
a description of a family cemetery plot that is being excluded from the sale, or an unusual stipulation that “if said Franklin should build a wood boat or boats, it or them shall be retained on said premises for my use until he pays the first five hundred dollars on the 1st day of March 1839.”
Tax records contain the usual accounting of real estate and personal property owned, the assessed Genealogy Rocks! value and taxes due. But some tax records identify the building material of the house, the neighbors in all directions, and luxury items, such as a carriage, a bicycle or a musical instrument, owned by the family.
The unexpected information comes from reading the original handwritten record that details all of the whys and wherefores of the situation, whether it’s a land deed, a mortgage, a marriage contract, or a court record. This is the information that’s missing when documents are indexed by name, date and event. The details are lost – and so may be the answers to the questions you’ve been trying to
answer.
Use indexes as a pointer to locate those original handwritten records. Then get the record from microfilm at the Family History
Library and transcribe the record. Write down every word in the document. Leave blanks if you can’t figure out what a word is. You can fill in the blanks later. That way you will have all the details and perhaps unlock some of the secrets of your family history.
Carol Cooke Darrow, Certified Genealogist, is an instructor andf past president of the Colorado Genealogical Society. For more information, CGS Website and for details about free beginner and special interest genealogy classes offered at the downtown Denver Public Library.