Brick Wall Ideas:



       Re-examine and look closely at the documents and sources you have.  You have more information now, than when you first looked at the document, so you will see things differently.  Information on those documents may mean more to you now.  Look at EVERYTHING on the document—witnesses, notes in the columns, the previous page and the next page especially on census records.  Look at the neighbors on the census records; do they have the same surname?  Try searching 5 pages before and 5 pages after your ancestor. 
          Re-consider the spellings and misspellings of the surname.  The further back in time that you go, the less educated people were.  In addition to the lack of education, you may have immigrants who were speaking a new language with a heavy accent, trying to give information!
          Draw a timeline:  As you enter the information, re-examine the information you have.  A timeline will narrow down the time frame and place you are looking for information.
          Search online:  Do a basic Google search (or other online search engine).  [“Ancestor’s given name and surname” in “state”]
       Ask family members what do they remember about what they were told?  (See lesson 5)
          Take a class:  During classes about research, place specific or other records, you may learn something that may help you.  Things are changing; records are being released and indexed at a very fast pace.  You will be surprised at what the Spirit will tell you while you are doing your best to learn.
       Re-trace your research.  If you checked FamilySearch and Ancestry.com six months ago, your search may already be outdated.  Yes, some records are being added that fast!
          Think outside the box:  If you have looked online, then try searching films and books at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  Yes, it takes a long time to look at a film, but if that is where your record is, that is where you need to look.
          Do a collateral search:  Collateral lines indirect ancestors.  They are not direct line ancestors, but they tie into the SAME family.  Your aunts and uncles marriage certificates will list your grandparent’s names.  So, if you cannot find your parents’ marriage certificate, look for your aunts and uncles marriage records.  Search collateral line censuses because sometimes relatives lived with each other especially when a person lost a spouse.
          Talk to someone else:  Take the basic information you have and ask a ward consultant, or staff at the Family History Library, Riverton Library, or local library to give you some direction or other places that you might search.
       Research Wiki:  Re-examine the FamilySearch Research Wiki for new or updated information.
          Search online for local Historical Societies and Genealogical Societies:  Some of these organizations have indexes or original records.  You have to go to their web-sites and look through the information they have.  You may also try to email or call them with specific questions.
          Pay for that certificate:  If you are stuck, fork over the money and pay for the original document (birth, marriage, or death certificate) that MAY give you the information that you need.  If the document you order has missing information you won’t be sorry.
          Be proactive:  Join Facebook groups, read blogs, read books, read magazines, take classes, and join user groups. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walking Where They Walked: Park Hotel

Image
Park Hotel, Rock Springs, Wyoming, September 2013, RR&B 19 Elk Street, Rock Springs, Sweetwater, Wyoming The Park Hotel opened in 1914 and was the hub of Western Wyoming until the late 1950’s. It was the largest and most modern hotel in the city. Advertisements boasted of hot and cold water in each of its 38 rooms, twenty of which had private baths and toilets. The fourth floor was added in the 1920’s. The Park Hotel catered to commercial men and automobile tourists traveling the Lincoln Highway. The hotel had a boisterous barroom and a sedate restaurant with sparking white table cloths. Rock Springs Miner, 30 January 1914, page 1, Wyoming Newspaper Project online. One memory of the Park Hotel, is related by Thomas P. Cullen, “One summer afternoon while walking up Elk Street toward the C Street Crossing, my attention was drawn to the small crowd assembled near the north end of the Park Hotel. A slight man, of short stature, stood rolling up his pantlegs...
Read more

What is a mortcloth?

A mortcloth, or pall, is a funeral cloth used to cover a coffin in the funeral ceremony or the deceased prior to burial.   The deceased’s family usually rented a mortcloth from the local church and after each use, the fabric was washed and readied for use again.   The word comes from the Latin word “pallium” meaning cloak. The Mortcloth case of 1792 begins:   “ For many centuries, and probably up to the 20th, the Church of Scotland was the sole supplier of mortcloths.   As the name would suggest, they were cloths used to cover the dead prior to burial, and after use, were washed ready for rehire. The Church hired these for a few pence, or in some cases loaned out these cloths, until the time of the funeral. The revenue raised by this service, typically around £40 pa, was distributed to the poor of the parish at frequent intervals.”   In the late 1780’s a local Society of Colliers decided to purchase and rent out their own mortcloths preventing the loc...
Read more

Bagillt, Flintshire, Wales

Image
Bagillt, Flintshire, Wales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagillt) The parish of Bagillt was gazetted on 23 May 1844, having been created from the townships of Bagillt Fawr, Bagillt Fechan, Coleshill Fawr and Coleshill Fechan, which were formerly in the parish of Holywell. It is located in the Northern part of Wales. (Genuki, http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/FLN/Bagillt/index.html)   The 1841 British Census finds Margaret(2) Roberts, aged four years living with her parents and siblings in Bagillt, Flintshire, Wales. In 1831, J. Poole penned: "Bagillt is a bustling place, and will continue so, as long as her smelting and coal works go on in their present prosperous state. Well conducted boats go from this place to Chester every day; with a favorable wind, these little barks make the 17 or 18 miles in little more than two hours."   (J. Poole, Gleanings of the histories of Holywell, Flint, St. Asaph and Rhuddlan, 1831 as qtd.  in http://www.genuk...
Read more