Brickwall Problems-

What constitutes a “Search”?

1. Use a Genealogical Software program for organization
2. DNA test
3. Search online databases such as Ancestry and Family Search
4. Search online censuses for every census a person may have lived and possibly enumerated in.
5. Consider military service and look for service records, pensions and widow pensions or look to see if your guy may have given testimony for someone else
6. Look for wills, probates, marriages, land records, etc
7. Search for records online and in book form
8. Correspond and communicate with other genealogists and descendants
9. Search published genealogies-print and online
10. Consider misspellings and misprints and bad indexing
11. Use PERSI to find genealogies and local records in print and online
12. Maintain a timeline of the ancestor
13. Study the ancestor’ s FAN Club
14. Study  the migration trails of your ancestor and his FANs
15. Evaluate and analyze periodically

Finding Birth, Marriages and Death before civil registration:

Finding people on census 1850-1940, 1790-1840

Finding Ancestors who lived before 1850

Finding Collateral Kin FAN Club

Court Records:

          Probate

          Guardianship

 Land Records:

          State Land States

          Federal Land States

Individuals of Same Name

10 Mistakes to NOT Make in Family Research:

1. Learn to use just one or two good sources and stick with them
2. Once you have formed a good theory/hypothesis, hang on to it.
3. If the records conflict, come up with a good reason for the discrepancy
4. Find a desirable ancestor in the colonial period and try to link up to him
5. Avoid confusion-study only one piece of data at a time
6. Keep looking for the “magic” document
7. Hopscotch across decades
8. Only go after one surname
9. If it looks old, it is probably a primary source
10. When it comes to assembling, organizing and publishing your work-always plan to do that tomorrow

How Would You Solve Problems With:

Signatures-Gift of Bible- Mrs E.L. Welch, Mother

About Pearl Green born 1913 Dallas

Wheeler Ball born December 1888

          Ferdinand Ball and Margaret Ball

Which Millard Finch in Social Security Death Index?

Family traditions

Name Changes

Military medals or photographs

Death notices, obituary, tombstone and death certificate differ

Marriage dates differ

Age in different records differ

Two or more people with same name

Sources give different names for parents

Find maiden name of wives or mothers

Is it a nickname or real name?

Who signed a 50 year old wedding or funeral book?

Chain migration and married family

Identifying unidentified Family photographs

Bible Record entries

Instead of going backwards, go forward

Naming patterns

Name switching-first and middle to middle and first

Three first names before the surname

Middle names

Pat HatcherArticles https://dallasgenealogy.com/dgs/new-to-genealogy/pat-hatcher-articles/

Men of the Same Name https://www.dallasgenealogy.com/DGS_Docs/Hatcher/04_Separating-Men_of_the_Same_Name.pdf

Corroborating or Conflicting Information https://www.dallasgenealogy.com/DGS_Docs/Hatcher/4748%20Corroborating%20or%20Conflicting%20Evidence.pdf

Elements of Genealogical Analysis-Robert Charles Anderson

Hugh Montgomery: Two Men of the Same Name or One Man with a Fast Horse-Jo White Linn

But How Do I Prove This is the Same Man? Helen F Leary

Dominique Guerin of New Orleans: Two Men? Or one Man with Two Households? Shirley Chaisson Bourquard