Hi there! I'm Lisa Lisson, and I'm passionate about helping people like you discover their ancestors and expand their family tree without feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next steps.
Your ancestor's death certificate is hiding something
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Hi, Reader, You found the death certificate. Name, date, cause of death confirmed. Filed away. Most genealogists stop there, but the four most useful clues on the document are still sitting unread. I just updated this post with exactly what to look for and why each one matters: → 4 Death Certificate Clues Everyone Misses The first I'd start with: the informant. Who reported the death? If it's a neighbor instead of a family member, that's not random. It's either evidence of estrangement, or a relative you don't know yet using a married name. Either way, it's worth researching. The other three are birthplace discrepancies, occupation changes, and death location. They look like administrative details. They're not. If you have death certificates you've already found, this is worth going back for. The records haven't changed. What you're looking for in them is about to. If you want to go deeper, my Beyond the Grave webinar covers the full process for finding an ancestor's date of death when the obvious sources aren't working. $37, one hour, instant access. Happy Ancestor Hunting, Lisa |
Are You My Cousin? Newsletter
Hi there! I'm Lisa Lisson, and I'm passionate about helping people like you discover their ancestors and expand their family tree without feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about the next steps.
Hi, Reader, You've checked every database. Searched every spelling variation. Tried soundex, wildcards, and every creative workaround you know. You've gone back to sources you've already searched, just in case you missed something the first time. And your ancestor is still....missing. After years of searching for brick wall ancestors exactly like yours, I've learned something valuable: the wall isn't the problem. The research direction is. Let me show you what I mean. I've been working a case...
Hi, Reader, If you've been doing genealogy research for more than five minutes, you probably have them. A box. A folder. A stack of photographs with faces and zero names. They arrived from an aunt who was cleaning out a closet, or a cousin who "heard you do genealogy," or in my case — literally in the back of a car at Thanksgiving. They're sitting somewhere right now, and every time you look at them, you think: I should do something about these. Here's the thing — you can. And it doesn't...
Hi, Reader, As I shared last week, I lost access to a large chunk of my digital life. After a very stressful few week, I have good news! The Are You My Cousin? YouTube channel has been restored. 🎉 It still looks a bit barebones, and it will take me a bit of time to get it looking more organized. But, all of the videos are there. :) The loss to many of my digital assets was not permanent, and I did have backups in place. But this experience got my attention. It also made one thing very clear:...