
DearREADERS,
Here in the United States we celebrate March as Women's History Month, so let's focus on the wives of your first four generations in your family tree. We've got some simple rules to follow that will make things a lot easier for you in the long run.
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IMAGE: Courtesy of http://womenshistorymonth.gov |
- If the christening record of a child list "John and Mary Smith" then you are to enter "Mary" as the given name, leaving the surname field blank.
- If the marriage record lists "John Smith" as the groom and "Mary Morgan" as the bride, then you may begin to construe that "Morgan" was Mary's maiden name. Is this always true? Well, be sure to see if "spinster" is listed, meaning she had never married.
- With this same couple, never list Mary as "Mary Smith" as that implies you know her maiden name is Smith. Indeed it is possible that a woman marries a man with the same surname, but that is usually an exception. Think of Megan Smolenyak who married a man whose surname is Smokenyak. She then became known as Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak. Like I said, highly unusual.
- If you do not know the given name for "_____________ Morgan" merely list her surname as "Morgan." In other words, do not assume anything.
- It isn't necessary to use the terms like "unknown" for either the given name or the maiden name.
- Do not refer to an unnamed wife as Mrs. John Smith, as this is confusing, particularly when the gentleman in question was a remarried widower.
It would be much easier if the women of the world
merely kept their birth name
after marriage.



So ask around at the public library and local Family History Center to learn about genealogy society meeting times and dates. Attendance will open up opportunities to meet interesting folks with varied talents and experiences who might be able to help you learn better research techniques. At the very least, they will understand what it means to be ancestrally challenged by those aggravating brick walls.
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IMAGE: Licensed from Adobe Stock. |
- tracing immigrant ancestors
- report on research trips overseas
- what's new at our local Family History Center
- migration patterns
- New England
- printing a family history book
- preserving photos
- new software options
- inferential genealogy
- ordering microfilm
- websites worth visiting

We will be discussing this week's checklist during our Mondays with Myrt hangout.
Here's the link to the calendar of other upcoming DearMYRTLE genealogy hangouts: http://hangouts.dearmyrtle.com/calendar.html

Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Your friend in genealogy
http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com
http://hangouts.DearMYRTLE.com
http://www.facebook.com/groups/DearMYRTLE
https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizedgenealogist
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Your friend in genealogy
http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com
http://hangouts.DearMYRTLE.com
Twitter: @DearMYRTLE
Second Life: Clarise Beaumont
http://bit.ly/DearMYRTLEonGooglehttp://www.facebook.com/groups/DearMYRTLE
https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizedgenealogist
Check the DearMYRTLE Hangouts Calendar for upcoming study groups and hangouts. There you'll find links to the GeneaConference (in-person) and the GeneaWebinars Calendar with over over 200 hours of online genealogy classes, webinars, live streams and tweetchats from other hosts and presenters over the next 12 months.
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