In this episode, Nicole and Diana discuss Nicole’s research adventures in Love County, Oklahoma, focusing on tax records. Nicole shares her experience of finding valuable genealogical treasures in an old jail, detailing the challenges she faced, such as a lack of workspace and a dying phone battery, and how she adapted. She explains the organization of the tax records, including multiple volumes per year and different organizational systems for land versus personal property and poll...
Today, Nicole and Diana discuss Nicole’s genealogical “treasure hunt” at the Love County Courthouse in Marietta, Oklahoma, where she uncovered land records for her Harris family ancestors. Nicole shares her preparation process, including calling the courthouse and using RandyMajors.org to map out locations. She recounts her journey to the courthouse and how she became oriented with the deed books and indexes. Listeners will learn about Nicole’s first discovery of records for her second-great-grandfather, Dock Harris,...
Diana and Nicole discuss comparing marriage records, specifically original licenses and returns versus marriage book entries. Diana shares her experience analyzing the marriage record of her 2nd great-grandfather, John C. Harris, to Rebecca D. (Alford) Harris in 1888. She explains how her father received the original marriage license and certificate from the Milam County, Texas, Courthouse in 1977. They examine the details of the original document, noting the different inks and handwriting from the county...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss Nicole’s second great-grandmother, Alice “Allie” Frazier Harris, focusing on her nurturing nature. Listeners will learn about Alice’s birth in Montague County, Texas, and her parents, Richard Frazier and Nancy E. Briscoe. Richard was a Civil War veteran. They also discuss Alice’s school years, her marriage to Dock Harris in 1904, and her experiences with motherhood. Alice had four children, two of whom passed...
My second great-grandmother, Alice “Allie” (Frazier) Harris, was a special lady. I thought about her today, on Mother’s Day, as she was not only a mother and grandmother to her children and grandchildren but also to many others. She cared for her son-in-law’s baby sister after her mother died in childbirth and was recognized for her nurturing nature towards many in her community. Alice (Frazier) Harris Alice is my second-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She...
Diana and Nicole explore the mystery of Diana’s great-grandfather’s nickname, Dock Harris. They discuss how his name was recorded as D.H., Dock H., or Dock in records, which was puzzling because it seemed like a nickname. They explain how this caused confusion for Diana’s father, Bob, when he began researching the family history. Bob knew his grandfather as Grandpa Harris and had no other information to go on. The family bible even listed his name...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Malissa Welch, Diana’s 2nd-great-grandmother. We discuss her life and sources we have found for her, and how we incorrectly attached the parents of Meredith Welch and Susannah early in our genealogy research. Later we discovered a conflict with her name which led to discovering the correct parents for Malissa. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 261 Malissa Welch Correcting incorrect parents Welcome...
Despite our best intentions, we all make mistakes as we fill out our family tree. Perhaps we were baby genealogists and simply didn’t know how to analyze records or maybe we were copying another cousin’s tree without verifying the information. For whatever reason, errors can be corrected and we can improve the veracity of our tree. An early mistake I made in my research was attaching the wrong parents to my ancestor, Malissa (Welch) Harris....
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about our ancestor, Ettie Belle Harris, Diana’s paternal grandmother. Diana is doing the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. We discuss writing letters to relatives to learn about Ettie, an heirloom passed down from Ettie, and her life story. We also talk about a few tips for writing about ancestors. Transcript Nicole (2s): This is Research Like A Pro, episode 237...
Do you find yourself wanting to write more about your ancestors but needing some motivation? It can seem challenging to write a full history or biography, but what about small bites? If you could write a little each week, at the end of a year, you’d have 52 small bites. This year I’m committing to the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks yearly challenge.8 Each week brings a new prompt and an opportunity to explore...
