Genealogy Jottings

“Until you look, you don’t know what you’ll find.” I first heard this piece of advice from Pat Hatcher several years ago, and since then it has served me well. Most recently, I followed it and ordered the homestead file for my great-grandfather, Ole Bentsen, who settled in northeastern Montana. The National Archives charges $40 for a homestead file, so they are not cheap. I hesitated to order this one because I already knew where and when my ancestor had homesteaded. I finally decided to spend the money and get the file anyway just to be thorough in my research. I was glad I did! In addition to all the homestead information, the file contained Ole’s naturalization papers! This saved me hours of looking through court records and passenger lists for this information. Moral of the story: Always look; you may be surprised at what you find.

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