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RESEARCHING, TIPS AND TACTICS

        Tracing family lineage is now easier than ever, thanks to the Internet.  The Social Security Death Index, which draws on more than six billion death-benefit recipient records starting in 1937, is now available on-line and is just one of many sources.  Scores of other Web sites make it easy to find information.  However, be forewarned that much of what is on the Web is akin to signposts, that is, lists of documents, but rarely the documents themselves, and much of the information posted on the Internet is posted by volunteers who transcribe cemetery headstones or newspaper obituaries – with predictable error.

        If you are interested in genealogy and want to pursue a family in your lineage, you must be willing to commit to a search that is bound to be both labor-intensive and time-consuming.  To start, you must first decide on a data-collection system to record each new twig on the family tree.  Computers, with their ability to organize massive amounts of data, are much preferred to cards or other manually inscribed data sheets collated into three-ring binders.  Remember that for each generation back, the number of parents’ doubles; so that by the time you hit twenty generations, your database is up to more than a million.

        Once you have a system, record everything you know about your family.  Then interview relatives, oldest ones first, obtaining exact full names, dates, places and as many details as they can remember.  Copy all official documents: birth, baptism, marriage, and death certificates, school and medical records, Bible inscriptions, property records, and military papers.

        Genealogy unites families who have become splintered in today’s mobile society.  Research not only provides unexpected results, but also opens new avenues of communication.  Who knows, you may get to know your family in an entirely different light after reading this Heuer family history or through conducting your own research.

        Additional information on "How to Research" can be found on our website by following the link located in the left frame, titled "Researchers Guide".

POINTS TO REMEMBER WHEN RESEARCHING

        Records discussed in this book generally provided the most useful information.  If the name of an individual appears different from what was commonly known, it is because the record was copied from either the baptismal name in the church records or from the original court house birth record.  Even these recopied records did not always agree.  Sometimes the only way to differentiate people with similar names was to identify them by middle name.  For genealogical purposes, the most complete name is always most helpful; this included the first and last names.

        Dates of birth at courthouses are frequently incorrect.  For example, it was uncovered instances where a person was a year old when he was born.  Some church records were not reliable to verify births either since errors were found in many of the different church records that were researched.  However, if it were not for the churches and the information they kept in their records, all of us would be infinitely poorer in our knowledge of our ancestors.

        Many death records are missing in courthouses (likewise marriage and birth records).  Further researching was always necessary because we knew a person existed but vital information was not recorded.  The next place to research was the church.  Occasionally even a church record was missing or wrong.  For example, Ernestine Heuer Gericke was born 21 May 1845 according to St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Algoma, Wisconsin records.  Other official sources like the original church records from Borntin, Kreis Greifenberg, Prussia where she was born, documents her birth on 2 May 1845.  One can only conclude that human error was responsible for the disparity in Ernestine’s birth date.

        Regarding marriage records, we were challenged to find accurate information due to a variety of circumstances.  For example, since most marriages occur in the bride’s hometown, we started data gathering in that city.  When out-of-ordinary marriage arrangements like elopements or civil ceremonies occurred, we searched newspapers in either the bride or the groom’s hometown paper.  We sometimes learned that notices of civil ceremony weddings were published in the newspaper of the locality they will reside.

        Property and probate records are often ignored by genealogists but they contain a wealth of information that fills in the gaps frequently left by records of vital statistics.  Establishing where your ancestors lived provides information concerning a number of basic elements of their lives.  For the early pioneers, it is essential information.  Property records not only develop the history of a family’s existence at a defined location but offers the researcher the opportunity to visit the scene and view the land, home, and surroundings.  Once there, the experience is similar to seeing a photograph of an ancestor for the first time.  Property records also frequently contain vital information about parents, siblings, and other relatives.  Once the location of domicile has been pinpointed, neighbors can be identified, and their lives are almost always intertwined with the family being researched.  In the research for this Heuer history, many basic questions about the family were solved by information found in property records.