When I'm researching a surname that has probably been in one locality for more than one generation, I often make a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has headings for first and last name, maiden name, birth, marriage, and death dates and places, father's and mother's names, census addresses, and a column for sources. I then plug in every individual with my surname or a variant that I find for that town into the spreadsheet, regardless of whether I think they are directly linked to my current research family or not.
By doing this, I can do such useful things as sorting by parents names, sorting by birthplaces, etc. It's amazing the details you notice when all the facts are in a table, side by side. This is especially true when an individual's name has been altered, mistranscribed, or misspelled on various documents. In addition, while you may not believe that "John Smith" was related to your "Smith" ancestors, there is always the possibility that a new clue will emerge five years down the road. The spreadsheet gives you a quick reference to go back to when assessing new information.
Finally, I am a firm believer in helping other genealogists on their journeys of discovery. If someone searching a similar name in the same location contacts you, you may be able to save them some work or offer a breakthrough on an elusive ancestor.
Thanks to Carli Francies of Southfield, Michigan, for today's Quick Tip! If you have a tip you would like to share with researchers, you can send it to ADNeditor@ancestry.com.
Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Daily News and Ancestry Weekly Digest, please state so clearly in your message.
Ancestry Quick Tip
