Setting A Goal
And
Determining Jurisdiction
By
Karen Coombs
Analysis
your findings:
Look at the information you have gathered from various sources. Are there inconsistencies that need to be checked for accuracy? Look for some of the following frequently made mistakes:
Children
born too early—before the mother was of age to have children.
Children born too late—after
childbearing age.
Couples married too young.
Parents died before children were
born.
Individuals with excessive wives or
husbands.
Couples with duplicate children.
Mark
all mistakes or possible mistakes with a red pencil.
This
gathered information then becomes your road map. Start your research process by solving some of the red-penciled
areas.
Why
jurisdictions are important:
Each government jurisdiction is assigned by law specific record keeping functions and specific duties. We need to understand who created the records and where they would be stored.
If
there is a major record loss in a particular record keeping level, then you can
move to the next level of records and find the necessary information.
The
history of the area determines the way the records were kept:
The population is the Southern States immigrated to obtain land. Land records become one of your primary sources for research in that area. Church was not much of a factor so very few church records contain vital information.
The
population of New England came to America to obtain religious freedom because
of this the church records are prevalent in vital information.
The
states of North Carolina and South Carolina when first organized were set up on
a district system. The organizers of
these states set them up so they could become nations unto themselves if
necessary. Be sure to include all counties
that district was divided into when you begin your research.
Before
1837 in England the church and the state are intertwined. The church kept all records. There are different levels of jurisdiction
in the church. Depending on what you
are looking for determines where the records will be. The levels are:
Parish
Peculiar Court
Rural Deaneries
Archdeacon Consistory Court
Episcopal Court
Prerogative Court
County
Boundaries:
As the states became more populated, the counties divided into two or three new counties.
The
“Redbook” has a chart for each state that lists when each county was
organized and the original county.
Note: Remember the records always stayed with the
original counties.
Name
Variations:
When
records were created the recorder would spell the name as he heard it. Because of the diversity of nationalities,
this caused a spelling problem.
Create
a name variation list for each last name in your ancestry.
Do
not get stuck on spelling of names.
This
is my name variation chart for my Myers research.
Myre Mire Meyers
Moyers Moyer Moires
Miers Mier Meare
Mayres Meirs Meir
Meyer
When
I am researching this chart helps me remember all the variations so I can
include that spelling when I am looking in indexes and records.