In my last post, I said I was going to go over some of the basic how-tos and some tips I’ve learned. However, I have another example of how amazing this tool is.

Working on my client’s Gallimore family from the last post, I needed to try to prove a father-son connection. One great place to look for that kind of link is in probates, wills, and estate files. Using Full-Text Search, I found the Gallimore will quickly and easily. However, when I went to formulate my citation, I realized that I likely wouldn’t have found this estate packet if it weren’t for the Full-Text Search!

The estate states that the heirs of Isom Gallimore, deceased, are to receive his portion of William Gallimore’s estate. That is not the important part of this story, just a little bit of background. It turns out that these estate papers were filed in the middle of another probate packet!

Here is the file folder of Michael Garoutte, image 411 of 625:

On image 421, we find the first of several pages of the Gallimore file:

Then, on image 431, we are back to the Garoutte file:

Are there more Gallimore papers elsewhere in this film roll? Possibly. I found what I needed for the purposes of my original search. However, again, it was when I went to begin crafting my citation for the one piece of paper I wanted to reference that I discovered that I had found something that is probably lost. Maybe these missing documents are part of why my clients’ family have had so many brick walls with this family.

It makes me think of this image I found for my own ancestors:

I’m going to have to go back and use the Full-Text Search to see if I can find William Long’s file stuffed into someone else’s packet!