Why Create a Location Guide for Genealogical Research?

For some reading this post, its title may seem rhetorical – a forgone conclusion. Of course, genealogists create location guides. But why don’t more of us do it?

I consider myself a “good” genealogist. I’ve broken down many brick walls, but I’m also impatient and easily excitable. I’m perhaps too quick in following newly discovered genealogical breadcrumbs left by an ancestor in a location I had not previously considered or researched.

When researching our ancestors in new locations, we need to take a moment and learn about the location and its records. Otherwise, poor planning, an unfocused research strategy, and an inadequate understanding of a location can cause us to waste time, miss important documents, and increase our frustration with the outcome of our research.

This post has two aims. The first is to briefly describe the content and structure of a location guide. The second is to provide an example from my own research for what can occur if we don’t invest the time in creating one.

Location Guides
A location guide helps us understand a place’s history, what records are available, and serves as a one-stop reference for the all the websites, maps, books, libraries, archives, courthouses, and all the other sources that aid in our systematic identification records. Location guides can represent a township, county, state, region, or country depending on our needs.

You might be asking yourself, why create our own guide when similar ones exist at FamilySearch’s Wiki or elsewhere online at libraries and archives? In my opinion, we create our own guides because we get to choose what sources we include, how we want to organize it, and which sources we highlight as the most beneficial in addressing our genealogical problem.

There is no right or wrong way to organize or structure your location guide. It is yours to use, so do what works best for you. That being said, a location guide should contain at least two items: 1) a list of sources and where to find them, and 2) information about the location that helps you understand it’s people, history, and geography. Location guides are living documents, which means you should continue to update it with new sources and information as you discover it.

If you want to learn more about location guides, see Diane Elder and Nicole Dyer’s Locality Research chapters within their Research Like A Pro or Research Like A Pro with DNA books.[1] As an example, the location guide I created for Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is where I do a lot of my research, can be found here: Bucks County PA Locality Guide.

Case Study: Lydia Search McMasters
While investigating my McMasters ancestry in Bucks County, Pennsylvania from the mid to late 1700s, I discovered one of the possible candidates for the father of my 5-times great grandmother, Mary (McMasters) Boyd (1755-1832), might be John McMasters. John resided in Bucks County in the 1750s[2] but died in Byberry, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania in 1768.[3] No one knew what happened to his wife, Lydia Search McMasters, or whether he had any children with her.

In the previous blog post about city directories, I identified another John McMasters (1758-1845) who I suspected might be a son of John and Lydia McMasters. John McMasters (1758-1845) resided in Philadelphia, which seemed to correspond with John McMasters’ (d. 1768) last known location. Through serendipity, I discovered a 1780 tax record for a John McMasters in Chester, Burlington County, New Jersey, which is right across the river from Philadelphia.[4] Curious whether the 1780 tax record was associated with the John McMasters (1758-1845) of Philadelphia, I began investigating Burlington County — a location I had never researched before.

In reviewing land records in Burlington County, I made some interesting discoveries. John McMasters of Philadelphia purchased land there in 1813 and later sold the land in 1815.[5] In the latter transaction, Thomas McMasters witnessed the deed. The former land deed indicated John McMasters was a cordwainer (shoemaker) from Philadelphia. John McMasters (1758-1845), who resided in Philadelphia during this time, was also a cordwainer.[6] Additional research quickly established that Thomas McMasters had married in Philadelphia in 1786[7], but resided in Chester, NJ.[8] Thomas appeared to have been born about 1760 making him a possible brother to John McMasters (1758-1845).[9]

I’m embarrassed to say that the above and initial discoveries in Burlington County, NJ should have prompted me to construct a location guide. However, for more than a year, I struggled to learn more about the Burlington County McMasters despite my earnest attempts and unbridled excitement. Searches on Ancestry and FamilySearch came up empty handed as did broader searches on Google. That was until I decided to become more systematic and create a location guide.

In my location guide, I prioritized land and tax records as vital records for the time period were nearly absent. If I had created the guide earlier, I would have realized that the 1780 tax record, where I initially found John McMasters (1758-1845) in Burlington County, NJ, was the only indexed tax year on Ancestry.com. However, FamilySearch had a microfilm for tax records from 1778 through 1822, which could only be accessed at a Family History Center.

After a couple of hours in searching through the microfilm, I found no other tax record for John McMasters, but I did find tax records for 1796 and 1797 for Thomas McMasters in Chester, Burlington County, NJ.[10] Listed next to him was none other than Lydia McMasters! The representative portion of the 1797 tax record is shown below.

I don’t mind saying that I screamed loudly inside the Family History Center when I found the record. However, what I can’t say is whether I screamed in excitement with finding what others could not previously find or whether I screamed in frustration that I could have easily found this record over a year ago if I had simply been systematic with my research strategy and had created a location guide from the beginning.

The tax record, along with additional evidence presented in other blog posts (City Directories and Crowdsourced Genealogy), provided indirect evidence that Thomas McMasters (1760-1844) and John McMasters (1758-1845) were likely brothers and that John McMasters (d. 1768) and Lydia Search McMasters were probably their parents.

Summary
Shiny objects discovered during our search for our ancestors can build excitement and anticipation, but it can also distract from what should be an organized and systematic research process. Location guides can give us the content, structure, and process to be more productive and break down our brick walls more quickly. So, the next time you find a lead in a location you have not previously researched, heed this warning. Take the time to orient yourself to the records and historical context of the new location before your excitement leads you astray.

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Sources

[1] See https://familylocket.com/family-locket-books/ for more information.

[2] McNealy, Terry A., and Frances W. Waite (1983), Bucks County Tax Records, 1693-1778. Doylestown, PA: Bucks County Genealogical Society, John McMasters, pg. 12.

[3] Pennsylvania, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993, John McMasters (1768), case no. 53, Administration Files, no. 10-72, image 306-315 of 433; database with image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com, accessed 6 September 2022).

[4] Burlington County, New Jersey, Tax Ratables, 1778-1822, John McMasters (1780), Chester; database with an image (www.familysearch.org), film 865464, image 570 of 1,005.

[5] Burlington County, New Jersey, land deed, John McMasters from William Woolman (1813), Book A2, p. 11-14, County Clerk; database with an image (www.familysearch.org), image 10 of 12, film 8217364. And Burlington County, New Jersey, land deed, John McMasters to Emanuel Beagary (1815), Book C2, p. 208-210, County Clerk; database with an image (www.familysearch.org), image 116-117 of 342, film 8351263.

[6] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, land deed, John McMasters from Peter L. Berry (1813), Book MR3, p. 313-316, Recorder of Deeds; database with an image (www.familysearch.org), image 158-160 of 655, film 8067470.

[7] Pennsylvania, U.S., Compiled Marriage Records, 1700-1821, Thomas McMasters and Eliz. Palmer (1786), Christ Church, Philadelphia, p. 173; database with image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com, accessed 25 February 2023).

[8] Burlington County, New Jersey, Tax Ratables, 1778-1822, Thomas McMasters (1796), Chester; database with an image (www.familysearch.org), film 865464, image 576 of 1,005.

[9] 1830 U.S. census, Burlington County, New Jersey, population schedule, Thomas McMasters, Chester, p. 215, image 19 of 30; database with image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com, accessed 25 February 2023); Family History Library Film 337933, M19, roll 80. And 1840 U.S. census, Burlington County, New Jersey, population schedule, Thomas McMaster, Chester, p. 269, image 13 of 32; database with image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com, accessed 25 February 2023); Family History Library Film 16515 roll 248.

[10] Burlington County, New Jersey, Tax Ratables, 1778-1822, Thomas McMasters and Lydia McMasters (1796), Chester; database with an image (www.familysearch.org), film 865464, image 576 of 1,005. And Burlington County, New Jersey, Tax Ratables, 1778-1822, Thomas McMasters and Lydia McMasters (1797), Chester; database with an image (www.familysearch.org), film 865464, image 585 of 1,005.