Thinking of Ancestors

GASP!~~~GRASP?

We've all hit our brick walls, searching for ellusive ancestors, disappearing relatives, and far-flung cousins.  Miles and states separate families, as well as old hurts and feuds of the past.

We see a same first name and we get excited!  When a query mentions the last State where our ancestors lived, we get hopeful! 

But, seasoned researchers know (and follow) some tried-and-true "rules" of research. 

One such rule is, start with what you KNOW and work forwards or backwards.  Another rule is STAY with what you KNOW and restrain yourself from responding to every query that mentions "your ancestor's" FIRST NAME (or entire State).

So often online I see posts where one person says their 1700s ancestor named George BARNES lived in say, Pennsylvania.  And an excited searcher replies "My George Michael Barnes lived in PA!"  But, you go on to read that their George Michael Barnes was born in 1899 and died in 1974. 

It's often such a waste of energy, time, and space to make these replies.  Just because 2 same-first-names lived in the same state means...well... not much, truthfully.  If we could list every George that lived in PA from the discovery of the USA to present.... well, it is an impossible number to calculate.   Now, if my ancestor's first name was Isabye and you posted about your Isaby Barnes, well then I might jump through the computer to see if your ancestor was the same as mine or a descendant!

If your post seems to be a very "long shot" (shot in the dark, throwing a dart, taking a stab), you should re-think about replying.  Seriously.  Instead, write out ONE well-worded post about YOUR ancestor.  Use their full name, include dates.  Who did they marry.  Where did they live.  And post that.

And if your first-name ancestor lived in the 20th century, review whether or not you have covered all usual routes first.  Usual records include, in part: Birth, death, marriage, Wills, Probate, Deeds, Church...and going on from those.  Follow leads from record to record, moving sequentially through records that document your ancestor's life. 

There are times when long-shots pay off.  But usually long-shot searches arise from suspicions that were developed from usual research FIRST.  To give an example, we had a heck of a time in SW PA about my LANE family; we had two names, John Lane Sr and Daniel Lane.  We were stuck.  So I researched anything and everything IN that ONE county where I **KNEW** they had lived.  Eventually, I learned one son Joseph Lane had gone to Carroll Co OH.  That is when I jumped in my car and took a fast day trip to that county, where I found another lead to Indiana for a brother, John Jr.  That led me to search, systematically, the State of Indiana, county by county.

BUT, when I was stuck in Washington Co PA, with nothing but brick walls, it would have wasted my time to simply pick a State and fling out a wide research net to find "anything" about ANY John Lane SR.  By concentrating on what I already knew, in a county I knew he had lived, I finally found his other sons.

So, until you have developed a good lead, or well-researched suspicions, RESIST the urge to reply to every post with "Looking for my ancestor somewhere in the USA" -- because you probably won't find the person that way! 

~ Lace

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