Zeroing in on Lost Daughters By Jeannette Holland Austin

Ancestor detectives search for every minute detail and comparing those details with the records. Start with the 1800 census because it provides age ranges for the children. Write down the age ranges. Nex, go to the 1810 census, repeating the process through the 1850 census. Now, let us determine who left the family for the various decades. See who is still there in 1810, 1820, 1830 and 1840. Next, go to the county records and examine the female marriages. If a daughter age 10 to 15 in 1800 was gone in 1810, look for a female who married before 1810. Let us say that one, Matilda Martin married John Franklin in Lunenburg Co., VA in 1809. Locate the county in which John Franklin resided in the 1850 Virginia Census Index; then look up the family in that county and follow this family through for subsequent decades to learn if any of her brothers and sisters later resided with her. Compare the names to the earlier established family group sheets from these census records. Next, locate the family on the 1880 census to learn where Matilda's parents were born. Does this match? Next, search the deed records to see if one, John Franklin and his wife, Matilda, were deeded any land from the Martin family. Wives did not inherit directly and gift deeds for land, slaves, etc. were given directly to the husband.

Jeannette Holland Austin, Georgia Author of Genealogy Books

Georgia County Records (digital images) wills, estates, marriages

New Additions to Georgia Pioneers
Dade County Index to Wills & Estates 1884-1904; Index to Will Bk A 1903-1948; Index to Inventories, Appriasements, Sales 1853-1877 Decatur County Will abstracts 1828-1838; Index to Minutes Bks A & B (includes wills); index to Wills 1828-1913 Dooly County Wills 1849-1931 (abstracts); Index to Annual Returns, Vouchers, 1847-1859; Index to Wills, Bk A, 1847-1901 Dougherty County Index to Wills, Vol. 1, 1854-1925 Douglas County Wills 1870-1916 (images); Wills and Letters of Guardianship 1871-1885 (images); Index to Will Bk A, 1870-1932; Index to Annual Returns 1871-1897, Bk A Early County miscellaneous wills (images); Index to Will Bk B 1839-1895; Index to Will Bk 2, 1896-1941 Echols County Index to Wills 1875-1952 Effingham County Wills 1826-1856 (abstracts); Index to Wills, Vols. 3 and 4, 1829-1898; Index to Inventories and Appraisements, Vol. 3, 1827-1865 Elbert County Wills 1791-1826 (abstracts); Index to Misc. Wills, Inventories, etc. 1791-1806
Cherokee County Miscellaneous Wills & Estates (digital images) Estates and Wills Miscellaneous Wills & Estates (digital images)
New Additions to Virginia Pioneers
* Amherst County Wills (abstracts) 1762-1782
* Bedford County Wills (abstracts) 1763-1775
* Campbell County Wills (abstracts) 1782-1801
* Fairfax County Wills (abstracts) 1740-1749
* Grayson County Wills Index
* Loudoun County Wills (abstracts) 1761-1774
* Norfolk County 1675-1675 Court Orders
* Prince William County Wills (abstracts) 1734-1742
* Rockbridge County Wills (abstracts) 1778-1790

New Additions to South Carolina Pioneers
Gedcom Files; you can view and/or download - Adair of Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia; Camp/Camps of America, begins 1559 in England (356,752 bytes); Evans of DeKalb County and Anderson County, South Carolina.

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