Can a Complex Genealogical Problem be Solved Solely Online?
Presented by Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS
9232 Arlington Boulevard; Fairfax, VA 22031; Tom@JonesResearchServices.com
Step by step, attendees will suggest online sources and research strategies for tracing an
ancestor who seems to disappear and reappear. The interactive case study will show both
how such cases can be solved online and the limits of material online today.
The research subject: George W. Edison, who died in Decatur, Illinois on 9 January 1940.
The research questions:
 Who were George’s parents, spouse or spouses, and children?
 What biographical details make this son, husband, and father unique?
Session themes:
 Establishing ancestral “identity”: Uniqueness in the history of the world
 Recognizing identity despite name variants or changes
 Disproving incorrect information
 Pros and cons of haphazard versus systematic stage-based genealogical research
 Tracking one person to learn about another
 Online versus offline genealogical source material; using online research to locate
offline material
 Comparison (“correlation”) to reconcile seemingly unrelated information
 Assembling evidence to establish credible conclusions
 “Fleshing out” family history one ancestral biography at a time
Relevant online resources (accessed 30 January 2013):
1. Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), for censuses, city directories, family trees, marriage
records, and newspapers.
2. “Archived IBEW Publications,” IBEW . . . The Right Choice (http://www.ibew.org/articles
/menu/journal.htm).
3. FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org), “Record” tab for vital records.
4. FamilySearch: Welcome to the New Family Search (https://new.familysearch.org/en/action
/unsec/welcome), for compiled genealogies with contributor contact information.
5. Google (https://www.google.com/), to learn of useful resources and locate obscure
information about the research subject.
6. Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com/), for city directories.
7. GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/), for newspapers.
8. Illinois Secretary of State, “Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900,”
www.cyberdriveillinois.com (http://www.ilsos.gov/isavital/marriagesrch.jsp).
9. Illinois Map - Counties and Road Map of Illinois,” Ezilon Maps (www.ezilon
.com/maps/united-states/illinois-counties-and-road-maps.html).
10. Missouri Office of the Secretary of State, “Missouri Death Certificates,” Missouri Digital
Heritage (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/).
11. National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research
System (http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/?tab_id=0).
12. “Quincy Historical Newspaper Archives,” Quincy Public Library (http://www
.quincylibrary.org/library_resources/newspaperArchive.asp), for newspaper images.
Relevant offline resources:
13. City directories for Chicago, Decatur, Jacksonville, and Quincy, Illinois; Evansville,
Indiana; and St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri (microfilm at the Library of Congress)
14. Civil War pension application files of George W. Edison (Sr.), George Freeman, and
George M. Moody (textual material at the National Archives)
15. Criminal case file (Morgan County, Illinois)
16. DAR applications of George’s daughters (NSDAR library or PDF purchase via website)
17. Death certificates of George and his last wife (Illinois State Archives, Springfield) and of
George’s children (California and Illinois)
18. Divorce files (Sumner County, Kansas, and negative searches elsewhere)
19. Divorce records (Phelps County, Missouri, and negative searches in two Illinois counties)
20. Family Bible record (correspondence)
21. Funeral home record (Decatur)
22. Marriage files (Clark County, Missouri; Daviess County, Kentucky; Adams, Lake, and
Montgomery County, Illinois)
23. Marriage record for George’s parents (Ohio microfilm at Family History Library)
24. Newspapers from Decatur and Jacksonville, Illinois (microfilms at Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library) and St. Louis, Missouri (microfilm at National Archives)
25. Social Security applications of George’s children (Social Security Administration)
26. Soldier’s home file for George’s father (Illinois State Archives)
For the complete case study, explained and documented, see:
27. Thomas W. Jones, “Misleading Records Debunked: The Surprising Case of George
Wellington Edison Jr.,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 100 (June 2012): 133–57.
(PDF available in Members Only area, National Genealogical Society (http://www
.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/home).