In this episode, Diana and Nicole discuss Phase 5, Part 3 of the search for Cynthia (Dillard) Royston’s biological father. They review the known facts about Cynthia’s life using census, tax, and estate records, as well as death certificates of her children. Diana presents her hypothesis focusing on three Dillard men who drew lots in the 1832 Gold Lottery in Cass County, Georgia: James Dillard, Joseph B. Dillard, and Roliver Dillard. She explains how they...
In this episode, Nicole and Diana discuss the crucial “Research Planning” stage of the Research Like a Pro process in the fourth part of their series on the father of Cynthia (Dillard) Royston. Nicole begins by emphasizing the importance of creating a thoughtful research plan rather than haphazardly searching records. Diana then walks through the specific steps she takes for this case study. She states her objective, which is to discover a candidate for Cynthia...
Researching a new locality is always exciting. Finding the extant records and learning the background of the area sets the stage for the research phase. My latest project on finding the father of Cynthia (Dillard) Royston involves research in a new area of Georgia. Using AI to help create the locality guide for Cass County, Georgia, speeded up this part of the Research Like a Pro process and gave me good insights. Here is the...
Diana and Nicole discuss using FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search to make genealogical discoveries. Diana explains how the tool helped her find new information about her ancestor, Thomas Beverly Royston, after previous searches came up empty. She details how to find and use the Full-Text Search feature on the FamilySearch website and shares tips for refining searches to get the best results. Diana describes using keywords and date ranges to narrow down the matches and emphasizes how...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Lillian Wingate about researching in courthouses. Lillian is the president of the Bulloch County [Georgia] Genealogical Society, Education Director for the Georgia Genealogical Society, and the Genealogy & Local History Coordinator at the Statesboro Library. Lillian actively works with GSU interns on various projects. She is also in partnership with the local courthouses and community projects. Join us as we learn what resources might...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the Georgia land lottery, how it worked, and how it was used as part of a case showing that Thomas Beverly Royston was the son of John Royston. Join us as we talk about the historical context of the Georgia land lottery and the Royston case. Transcript Nicole Dyer (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 268 John Royston Orphan Welcome to research Like a...
