“If it was easy, everyone would do it.”
I have that quote on a highlighter-yellow post-it note on a shelf above my desk. It’s something that I have to tell myself when I keep running into those ‘brick walls’ that family historians seem to know so well. I have been ramming my head against it so much over the past couple of weeks, that I honestly think I should buy a metaphorical matress – preferably pillow-top.
But getting comfortable with the brick wall should never be a goal. We may hit a dead end going one way, but one of the best things about genealogical research is that it encourages you to challenge your own way of thinking. Adapt and overcome, as my husband often says.
While I’m compiling the next series of posts about another wonderful ancestor of mine, I thought I would take a break and just exhale in the bloggosphere about my searching.
:: WHEW!! ::
Okay…. so, now that I’m back to breathing right, I want to share some of my methods. I find that sometimes just writing them out may lead to new ideas, sometimes other not-so-obvious options may pop up right in front of you. So, here are my little things that help me knock some cracks in brick walls.
Jillian’s Tips for Brick Wall Demolition
Tip No. 1: Write down what you THINK you know
I like to start each nuclear group of my family with composition-style notebooks, the old-school black and white ones with all of the handy info printed inside the front covers. I grab my favorite pen (Sharpie Pen, black, fine point, respectively), and I jot down, in list format, what I have been told for ages about that family. My father has told me for years that his great-grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee Indian. This is a very common family tradition, “She had Indian blood,” has probably been passed down as much as your deep brown eyes. Unfortunately, it’s rarely as accurate as oral tradition may represent. But, if you don’t write it down, remember it when you get to her, you may forget it as you try to compile all of the facts, and it could lead you to another clue.
Tip No. 2: PDFs on Drive E
If you live in a location like mine, the middle of nowhere and miles from anywhere, your best friend is a good WiFi signal. Time seems to escape you when you sit down at your desk, and you start on your ancestor of the day. And it’s very easy to get in a rush (“Yes, I promise you, dear, I planned on doing laundry today….”), and in that dash, it’s a quick jot to remember the vitals and then you plug it in later. This can lead to so much heartache later! Say you leave it up on your computer and, uh, oh – your browser crashes and you didn’t bookmark the page. Or worse, your computer kicks the electronic bucket. That short-hand note is essentially worthless, and you’ll pile up additional hours of research, seeking out that same record to confirm what you remember. My recommendation: Keep a blank DVD disc in your disc drive. Date it for that day, and when you find something that you think you’ll need to reference or cite, or even want to investigate, go to the Print option. Change the Destination to Save as PDF, and save it in the appropriate folder, on your blank DVD disc. Now you have a copy to print, that has the source info on it, and the website at the bottom of the page. And, an additional bonus, you aren’t saving and saving and saving files that you may or may not use to your computer’s already bulky hard drive. Score!
Tip No. 3: Utilize Your Utilities
I subscribe to Ancestry.com, and Fold3. I love the records that span continents, centuries, and languages, and how easy they are to locate with these services. But these are not the only two I use. I frequent the websites for Find A Grave, FamilySearch, The Library of Congress, Google Maps/Earth, Google Newspaper Archives, Montana Memory Project, National Parks Service, and a handful of others. Why so many? Well, here’s an example. Robert Roberts, as you may know, was my great-great-grandfather. He had several siblings, many of whom were married to quite prominent citizens in the town they lived in, Big Timber, Montana. Ancestry showed me the census records for Robert: 1900 and 1910. But this wasn’t enough for me – I wanted to know more about his life, and where he went, what he did. I wanted a timeline like I knew him personally, like we shared summers under pecan trees, clanking glass bottles of Coca-Cola together. So, I kept digging. I did an additional search in Ancestry, but for City Directories. They are a WEALTH of information. What he did for a living, where he lived, other Roberts’ in the area, if he was married (another name in parentheses?), and if he owned the home or rented. Yes! But not enough. So I wondered, where is this address? Enter Google Earth. Plugged it in, and it was like walking down the street, looking at his neighbors homes. Hm. Wonder if his neighborhood was ever impacted by wildfires, or avalanches or something like that? That would be newsworthy, right? Here comes the Montana Memory Project: digitized newspapers from decades upon decades, fully searchable. Newspaper articles that lead to sibling’s spouses and children’s names, that lead to obituaries and marriage/birth announcements, social club briefs, legal notices, etc. Now, I can probably tell you more details about Robert’s life than I can remember of my own.
Tip No. 4: Take the Lead
One of my ancestors is a bit of a ghost. Now and then, I get glimpses of their residence, but years can go by before they’re in a newspaper again, and often times, it’s in a totally different city. I had a name – one that was spelled in various ways throughout birth, baptism, and marriage records. I had a place of birth – from a country that didn’t exist anymore. But I had nothing about where he died or was buried, for him OR his spouse. ::Banging my head against a brick wall.:: So, what now? His name is common (there are so, SO many men named Johannas Haebel), and the locations don’t hit close to the children I know of. So…. Hm. Well, let’s go this route: I know he had a sister, one with a rather unique name, and one that he came to America with. I located her, then went to Find A Grave and searched for her in the location of her latest census. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and your ghostly ancestor will be buried there as well, but often times, not. However, don’t dismiss the site yet. Click on the page of the sibling and see if someone has entered connections on their memorial page – maybe your 3x great-grandfather is listed as a sibling, or if someone has left ‘Flowers’ or a ‘Note’ and said, “For my 2x great aunt,” you can contact them through Find A Grave’s profile for the user, and through that connection, you may be able to, not only find your ancestor, but perhaps find a relative who has pictures or stories of him!
Tip No. 5: Won’t You See My Neighbor?
Compare census records and city directories to your ancestor’s siblings. Do they have a sister that you can’t really find much on? Could it be that they married and the name was easily misspelled? And maybe that neighbor is her? Take this as a lead and track it down! Maybe you have a census record for your 4x great-grandfather and his wife’s maiden name is a mystery. You look through the census and at the bottom of the household members list, living with them is an older woman, with a different last name as the head of house. She’s widowed, and born in the same country as the wife – could this be her mother? Take that tidbit and turn it into an expedition – search Ancestry for your 4x great-grandmother with the mystery woman as her mother. Often times, you’ll get a substantial clue that will lead to documents and facts supporting what was once only a theory.
So, those are just five tricks that have really helped me out a bit, and I hope and pray that if you are stuck, that these help you out, too. Pay it forward, guys, and keep on learning!