June 2002 Genealogy Forum News

Brick Walls and Dead Ends ... What Next?

Greetings, one and all. A Brick wall is a formidable object. Dead Ends are warning signs.

What, you say, "a warning sign?" Yes, a warning sign, as much as we try to keep track of all our data and the have the help of a computer, we get warning signs. If we do not heed those signs we end up with Brick Walls.

What you say, "we can prevent Brick Walls?" In my mind, a brick wall is a state of mind. Have you ever noticed that your frame of mind affects how your research goes?

Okay, "get to the gist of the story." you say. As the leads dry up, think about what you have looked at, write it down, log where you have been and what you have done, to go back over it. Then set it down, go away from it and leave it alone. This log should be done steadily, for it and your old notes are your clues to the lost leads. Even without a log you can accomplish the same; it just takes longer the old way.

You start as though you are beginning, you go through each note, picture, document, reference you have already done. "Why?" you ask. Because then you had a more closed mind as to what you were looking for. Hopefully today, your mind is open to more spellings, more places, and variants in dates. Census records are not always correct, in fact I suspect, they are less than 50% accurate depending on years searched. Tombstone readings are also suspect to a point. Stone carvers are known to make errors and it is too costly to make changes. So you need to find their records to make sure date is right if it conflicts with other data. This is just a beginning. As you read your old notes, you may find you made decisions based on what you knew at the time; much data may have changed and some may not have changed at all. You also may find that data you needed, you rejected but it was at hand and not even considered.

Work through all your data. Surprisingly you will find data that was rejected that now will fit and work to move you forward. Do this with all your work, please?

My only thoughts on this is, as humans, we are creatures of habit. But until we break that habit that binds us, we will be bound. Genealogy of all things, seems to take a mind of openness, and few of us had that much knowledge when we started, whether we were 20 or 50.

Genealogy also takes patience and perseverance, so hang in there. We truly miss many things when we are doing research. We get excited, happy when we find data. We do not always analyze it to its fullest potential. Our excitement slows us at times.

Can you diagram a will and probate package like a sentence from high school? Do you know what the data in those packets really tell you? Do you believe the census takers when they all say Farmer? You better think again and analyze what is out there for you to digest. Most early Americans were farmers, to survive, but they were also bricklayers, carpenters, teachers, lawyers, wagonmakers, barrelmakers, shoemakers, etc. When you see a Will, besides being excited to see the names, are you aware, what the Will is telling you about the deceased person and the family members? The same is true for the probate packets and land records, etc.

Brick Walls are from our mind, and Dead Ends are what we create many times.

Once in a long time an area will have been so destroyed that little data can be found. Then you substitute with data from neighboring areas if any can be found and applied, but never let your mind say "never".

© 2002 GFNEWS, a monthly publication of the Golden Gate Genealogy Forum, Inc. of Franklin, MA.
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