Family History Compass
Turn Your Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones
by Juliana Smith
Looking at the row of binders that contain my family history, you can always tell which ones contain my brick wall ancestors. They're the binders pushed way back into the corner accumulating a nice even layer of dust. I tend to shy away from these ancestors' binders because they're so intimidating. In fact, when I touch them, scary music begins to play.
OK, so that's just me being overly dramatic, but they're still scary. And I'm a big chicken. But lately I've been getting brave. I even went to the movies with my husband and saw one of "his movies." You know, one of those movies in which the last macho guy standing with all his limbs intact wins? I didn't like it, but I managed to sit through it. The traumatic nightmares have just about stopped now, and he owes me a "chick flick." I'm waiting for something extra sappy to come out.
It's time to get brave and face the scary music with my family history too. Here are some ideas that I hope will help me to turn my brick wall stumbling blocks into stepping-stones:
Have Fun with Geography
I have collected every historical map that I can get my hands on for the areas my ancestors hail from. I go to copy machines and make photocopies of sections and use the copies to do some plotting. When I'm having a hard time with a family, it's good to really explore the area in which they lived. I plot ancestors' homes, churches, ward boundaries, geographical hazards, and transportation that was available at the time. If I have the address of the ancestor's place of business (from city directories), I plot that as well.
Each location is marked with a number that corresponds with a noted entry on either the back or on a separate document, usually in electronic format so I can add to it easily. For churches, I note any records of family events that have occurred there with the date of the event. By arranging the places chronologically, by the date of the record that references them, I can see patterns that may help with my research as I search for records that were created when the family lived in a particular place.
Cultivate Thyself
It can be difficult to put yourself in your ancestors' shoes and try to understand their lives. They lived in different times and different places, and their culture, language, and traditions may be quite foreign to us. Your local library or bookstore is a great place to start learning more. If you had told me fifteen years ago that the books I'd read in my leisure time would be primarily history books or social histories, I would have never believed it, but it's true. Because they talk about things that affected my predecessors, I find them much more interesting than fictional characters and places. Although I have bought a couple books that I like to call "snoozers," for the most part, what I've found makes for very interesting reading, and I often find items that I need to keep in mind through my research. For example, in Erin's Daughter's in America, I learned that Irish immigrants tended to marry later in life than other ethnic groups. In looking at my Kelly family, of the four daughters, two of them married in their thirties and one never married. The exception was my third great-grandmother Catherine Kelly who married at around age 20 or 21.
So why is this important? Genealogists often have to estimate ages and dates to locate the records we need, so this little tidbit reminds me to leave a wider window as I try to estimate when and where to look for the marriage records of my Irish ancestors.
As you learn new things about the customs of your ancestors, make a note of them, possibly in a notebook devoted to this type of information. When you're stuck, go over the notes and see if there isn't an explanation or idea lurking in the cultural aspects we too often overlook.
Organize, Reorganize, or Review
When I look at the research I have gathered on one of my families after a long absence, I often notice things I may have overlooked when I was "too close" to the research. Often I find that the process of organizing, or reorganizing, the information I have collected lets me see things in a different light. If your research is perfectly organized and completely up to date, go back and review it. And I must add, you're my idol!
Get Some Collateral
When looking back isn't working, maybe it's time to look sideways. Pick one collateral relative and do some serious research on him or her. The trail on siblings or cousins may be a bit easier to track,
and as you go back, you'll eventually get back to a shared ancestor. It also makes for a fuller, more complete family tree.
Explore New Horizons
Investigate a new resource or repository and see if they hold any options for you. Is there a particular record type that you haven't really dealt with and are unsure how to obtain? Look for a reference book or search the Internet for information on how to acquire these records.
Is there a library or archive that you have been dying to visit, but haven't quite been able to squeeze into your schedule? Set a date and make it happen. Don't look at it as something that "you'll try to squeeze in," but rather as an obligation. If you have a genealogy buddy, set a date together and hold each other to it.
Is there a class you have been meaning to take, but are waiting until things "settle down a bit?" Make the best of each day and schedule some time to expand your horizons.
Get Writing
Start writing a history of that branch of the family, or a biography of a favorite ancestor. Don't worry, it doesn't need to be fit for publication immediately. Just get started with the information you have. Look for facts to add meat to the story, and as you progress, you'll find yourself getting new ideas for research.
Well, I hope this has taken some of the "scary" out of your brick walls. I'm ready to go step up on some bricks and check out a new view of my ancestors.
References:
1) Diner, Hasia R. Erin's Daughter's in America. (Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1983). Chapter Three: "Undefeated,
Unafraid: Women in Irish-American Families."
Juliana Smith is the editor of the Ancestry Daily News and author of The Ancestry Family Historian's Address Book. She has written for Ancestry Magazine and Genealogical Computing. Juliana can be reached by e-mail at ADNeditor@ancestry.com, but she regrets that she is unable to assist with personal research.
Copyright 2004, MyFamily.com.
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