The Brick Wall Metaphor
[the following excerpted from Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques, p. xv]
"…get up close to the wall and examine (it) in detail, checking to see if there are any weaknesses you can push through.
…with a sledgehammer…keep striking the wall as hard as you can…this might take a while.
…examine the ends of the wall, and see if there's a way to travel around it.
…describe your brick wall to each person that you encounter. Maybe someone else has an idea…
… get a large number of people to help you all at the same time. … forming a human pyramid that you can climb…over the wall.
…return home and bring back a ladder.
...Hire a demolition expert who has years of experience…
…follow one of the either paths, and return to this brick wall later…maybe it will have crumbled a bit or you'll have some additional ideas…"
Use Best Practices
Read more about genealogy in general: books, blogs, magazines/journals, websites
Read more about developing your skills.
Here are some examples: the first 3 are in the County Library catalog. The last three three can be obtained through Inter-Library Loan, but #6 could be difficult.
- The Genealogist's Companion & Sourcebook by Emily Croom (1st or 2nd Ed.)
- Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones
- Advanced Genealogical Research Techniques by George Morgan & Drew Smith
- The Family Tree Problem Solver by Marsha Hoffman Rising (1st Ed.) [2nd Ed. co-authored by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack]
- Becoming an Excellent Genealogist: Essays on Professional Research Skills edited by Meyerink, Tolman, & Gulbrandsen
- Pitfalls and Possibilities in Family History Research by Pauline Litton
Get organized
- have a database
- filing system
- research log
Have a clear goal
Most importantly, what is your specific problem?
- Not specific: "I want to know all there is to know about Fred Zellnikoff."
- Specific: "Who are the parents of the Norton Bates who married Betsey Sweet in Essex, Chittenden, Vermont in 1816?"
Review all the info you already have on the question. (Seriously consider throwing everything you have on Norton Bates up in the air and reading everything as you re-organize it all!) What are your sources? … Is there any info you really should verify before starting this search?
Talk it over with someone, even a non-genealogist is ok.
Write up what you have and what you want as though you are sending it to a professional researcher…you might be surprised by what you find in the process!
Location, location, location!
http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2014/06/more-sources-than-you-can-imagine-five.html
More Sources than you can imagine -- Five Steps to their Discovery by James Tanner. Excerpt below:
"Step Two -- Begin your search for records, not for people.
Too many inexperienced genealogical researchers start immediately looking for names and dates rather than understanding what kinds of records might be the most useful given the times and places where events may have occurred in an ancestor's life."
Read more about the locale where they came from
and the locale where you think they should be. Have you looked at all the county histories in both areas? In all the areas their children (not just your ancestor) moved to?
What kind of records exist in the target locale?
- Family Search Research WIKI -- https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Main_Page
- US GenWeb -- http://usgenweb.org
Local historical society &/or genealogy society email list, websites, blogs
County historical &/or genealogy societies publications
State historical &/or genealogy societies benefits ...
Make a Timeline
FAN techniques
- Family [all siblings, all kids, all spouses…]
- Associates [travel/migration companions, deeds, witnesses, clergy, same occupation/boss, …]
- Neighbors [20 families both directions on censuses; census "boarders" most often related…]
