Monday, November 20, 2017

Using Ancestry's Public Records Collections

I noticed a "shaky leaf" hint on my own entry in my Ancestry tree when I looked today. I wondered about the content of this new record with my personal information. It belonged to Ancestry's "U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 2" collection. I find this collection frustrating because it lacks record dates, a feature that volume 1 generally includes. According to the hint I resided at an address where I never officially lived. My parents moved to that house after I graduated college. In fact my graduate course work neared completion by the time they resided in that home.

So how did this collection decide I lived there? I decided either banking or insurance records must be some of the records in the collection. My parents added me to their bank accounts during my college years, and as they aged, they kept me on the accounts so I could take care of emergencies as they traveled the country in their RV or as their needs dictated. Dad purchased life insurance policies on all his children when we were young, and until near his death, the mailings for those policies continued to go to his home with our names on them.

For most persons, the addresses in these public records collections are places they've actually resided. However, mine was an exception, and I occasionally note other discrepancies in addresses, particularly in young adult years, where children seem to be with their parents but in another location at the same time. In my case, no record date was given, but since I never lived there, it doesn't matter. For others whose parents did not move, they may truly not be "back home" but still out on their own while addresses for some activities continue to remain at their parents' home.


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