RLP 315: 5 Tips for When the Courthouse Burned

The Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast

Today's episode of Research Like a Pro, Diana and Nicole discuss the challenges of genealogical research in areas with severe record loss, using northeastern Arkansas counties as a case study. They offer five tips to help researchers make progress despite such setbacks. They advise starting by understanding the extent of the record loss, suggesting sources like the FamilySearch Wiki to determine what records might still exist despite events like fires or floods. They emphasize the importance of seeking alternate jurisdictions when county records are unavailable, exploring other jurisdictions such as state or federal records, or private entities like churches and newspapers. They recommend utilizing the FamilySearch Catalog to find digitized records from various jurisdictions, including federal censuses, land records, and tax records. Diana and Nicole stress the need to extract every possible clue from available records, keeping a detailed research log and using tables and maps to organize and visualize the data. Finally, they highlight the importance of comparing and correlating data from different sources to piece together family histories, demonstrating these strategies with an example from Diana's research on Clemsy (Cline) Weatherford’s family. Through these discussions, they illustrate how perseverance and meticulous attention to detail can yield significant genealogical insights even in areas with significant record loss.

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Links

5 Tips for Research When the Courthouse Burned - https://familylocket.com/5-tips-for-research-when-the-courthouse-burned/

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Research Like a Pro Resources

Airtable Universe - Nicole's Airtable Templates - https://www.airtable.com/universe/creator/usrsBSDhwHyLNnP4O/nicole-dyer

Airtable Research Logs Quick Reference - by Nicole Dyer - https://familylocket.com/product-tag/airtable/

Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide book by Diana Elder with Nicole Dyer on Amazon.com - https://amzn.to/2x0ku3d

14-Day Research Like a Pro Challenge Workbook - digital - https://familylocket.com/product/14-day-research-like-a-pro-challenge-workbook-digital-only/ and spiral bound - https://familylocket.com/product/14-day-research-like-a-pro-challenge-workbook-spiral-bound/

Research Like a Pro Webinar Series 2024 - monthly case study webinars including documentary evidence and many with DNA evidence - https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-webinar-series-2024/

Research Like a Pro eCourse - independent study course - https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-e-course/

RLP Study Group - upcoming group and email notification list - https://familylocket.com/services/research-like-a-pro-study-group/

Research Like a Pro with DNA Resources

Research Like a Pro with DNA: A Genealogist's Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Evidence book by Diana Elder, Nicole Dyer, and Robin Wirthlin - https://amzn.to/3gn0hKx

Research Like a Pro with DNA eCourse - independent study course - https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-with-dna-ecourse/

RLP with DNA Study Group - upcoming group and email notification list - https://familylocket.com/services/research-like-a-pro-with-dna-study-group/

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