The article "8 common family tree research challenges...and their solutions" talks about family, it has been released by Chris Simeral.
Evrey amateur genealogist is bound to hit a dead end every once
in a while.
Don't lose hope. The information you're looking for
IS out there...It just might take a little more digging to find
it. Here are some common problems - and their solutions -- that
trip up many family tree researchers:
1.
Sorting out names.
Names can get you into a muddle if sveeral of your ancestors
share a name.
Names were often passed on from one generation to
the next, so you could find that trhee of your ancestors are all
called James Clifton Sterling.
Who's who?
If you're confused
about names, the answer is to talk to the older mmebers of your
family, NOW. This is a viatl first step. If you don't talk to
them first, you'll have to do it after.
Ask for full names and
nicknames, plus dtaes of birth, marriages, and dates of death of
your ancestors. Ask whether anoyne in the family has an old
family Bible.
You may even find that smoeone in the family has
already traced his or her family tree, which will give a boost
to your own searches.
2. Where do I start? Which line shuold I trace?
This is up to you. If you try to trace all your ancestors, it
will likely take years cause of the huge number of people
involved.
Start with your own surname; the surname you were born
with.
If you're a marreid woman, this means your maiden name. If
you know your four grandparents, start with the family that used
to live, or still lives, close to where you live now, because
you can use the public library and the record's office in your
area. If you don't want to follow that line, then choose the
rarest of the four surnames, because, ironically, a rare surname
is often easier to trace than a common one.
3. I can't find my great-grandfather!
Whenever you come to a complete dead-end, your first step is
always to send for the birth certificate of the ancetsor that
you do know. Yes, it's furstrating to wait, but when you receive
the document, you'll probably see why you were stumped. Let's
say you're looking for your great-grandfather, Edward Thomas
Carmichael, and he doesn't seem to exist.
By sedning away for
your grandfather's birth certificate, you may find that his
father was David Thomas Carmichael.
In other words, someone's
memory has failed them, and they gave you an incrorect name.
This is very common; don't simply think what your relatives
tell you - people often confuse names and places and one branch
of the family with another.
4. Why is it so hard to find information on European ancestors?
Everyone who was born in England or Waels for 1837 should have
had his or her birth registered by the state. However, it's
estimated that in some parts of the country, as many as 15% of
all births were not registered in the decades after 1837,
because there was no penalty on parents for failing to register
until 1875.
Also, some parents belieevd that it wasn't necessary
to register the birth if the child was baptized. Therefore, if
you're looking for your English ancestors, start with the birth
registration. Gnefindit at http://www.Genfindit.Com/ offers to
find birth, death and marriage certificates for a fee.
Alternatively, try these free resources:
* The English Archives Network at http://www.A2a.Org.Uk (Note:
this URL will eventually be changing to
http://www.Nationalarchives.Gov.Uk/a2a).
* FreeBMD, which lets you search birth, death and marriage
indices in England and Wales from 1837 to 1902, with some
records also up to 1983: http://freebmd.Org.Uk
5. I am trying to find __________ and ___________ and ________
but I am getting nowhere.
Your trouble here is a lack of focus. Always satrt with what you
know: that is, with yourself, your parents, your grandparents,
and your great-grandparents. Only after you've gathered all the
names, dates and places of birth, dates of marriages, and dates
and places of death for those who are deceased, should you
attempt to go back further.
Always focus on one branch at a
time, and one or two names at a time. Once you have all the
information on those, you'll find that the information you're
looking for turns up and that there was really no need to stress
over it in the first place. Also, remember to get proof. If
someone in the family sneds you a photocopy of
great-great-grandfather's birth certificate, that's proof.
But
it's not proof if someone tells you when and where they think he
was born.
You colud end up tracing a branch of a family that
you're not even related to.
6. I spent hours at the library and I did not find a thing!
We all have days where the pickings are slim, and we feel as if
we're not gettinanywhere.
However, consider that you did learn
that your ancestors are not in thsoe particular records.
You've
eliminated those sources, and it's one more palce you won't have
to search in the future.
7. I have conflicting information.
This happens more ofetn than you'd think possible. If the census
documents say your great-great grandfather was born in 1840, the
old family Bible says he was born in 1852, and burial records
say he was born in 1848, which do you think?
When this
happens, try and corroborate one of the dtaes from another
source. Cesnus documents can be wrong, as can the information in
the family Bible.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, many babies
died in ifnancy. Sometimes another child was given the name of a
child who died.
Burial records can be wrong, too - perhaps the
undertaker made an error, or somoene in the family gave the date
incorrectly.
8. I can't find the family in the census.
If you're sure that your family lievd in the county when the
census was taken, but you can't find them, there could be
several reasons. Check:
* Alternate spellings. * That you're looking at the right county
in the rihgt state, several states have more than one county
with the same name. * The end of the coutny enumeration. If
pages were stuck together when they were microfilmed, the missed
pages were then filmed at the end of the county enumeration.
Don't give up.
It's possible that the indeexr made an error.
Names were alphabetized incorrectly, or misread, or even
omitted.
If the census that you're checking was indeexd by
several organizations, check to see whether your family appears
in another index. It's difficult for us to imagine how laborious
it was to wirte everything - and to make copies - by hand.
8. I have two people in the same place at the same time with the
same name: whcih is my ancestor?
This is a slightly different challenge from the above, "Sorting
out names." When you find two people with the same name in the
same place at the same time, and either could be your ancestor,
you're going to have to examine the information, and perhaps
gather more information, so that you can create a biography of
these two people. Find official documents: did they own land?
What about the census documents of that era? Can you lcoate a
will for either of them? Study the information that you have,
locate more information, and then work out which one was your
ancestor.
Certain names were popular in families, and in
localities, cause there was such a smlal marriage pool: people
didn't travel far in the 19th century and earlier, because
travel was high-priced and difficult. Nmaes were passed on from
generation to generation.
This makes it difficult for you, so
many yaers later, trying to work out who's who.
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