Genealogy Brainstorming: I'm Stuck. Now What?

Genealogy Brainstorming: I'm Stuck. Now What? | Ancestry

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11 жыл бұрын

There are times when we could all use a little help with our family history. Join Crista as she explains the best ways to share your research challenges to generate ideas for what to do next to break through those brick walls.
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Genealogy Brainstorming: I'm Stuck. Now What? | Ancestry
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Пікірлер: 43

@pravoslavn 4 жыл бұрын

Another sterling presentation by Crista, the world's most effective presenter on Ancestry topics. Love your enthusiasm and your competence with your material, Crista. Keep up the VERY good work !

@treeofme 5 ай бұрын

The tip about leaving notes about what you've looked for and can't find, to include details about search method, is gold. The negative evidence provides an excellent reference point to ensure that you don't repeat a failed search method and also could potentially be useful to make adjustments to hopefully lead to improved results.

@YHoitink 11 жыл бұрын

I love the example in the introduction. It can be hard to process that somebody who knows nothing about your family may see a way ahead that you, as the family expert, haven't. I had that happen to me and loved the experience because it showed me new techniques I could apply to other brick walls.

@LukeW1090 4 жыл бұрын

Love the story at the beginning! You may know your family best, but the genealogy experts know how to find the unknown better than you! Listen to them!

@DGKED-td7mf 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for your good advice. It has helped me find a way over one of my brick walls. Working on another one now. I am surprised how much misinformation is online. A lot of info sources from my original research has disappeared sadly . So glad I wrote down what I did. Even the message boards aren't what they used to be. It's a bit like "mud-larking".

@juliebevington2437 6 жыл бұрын

I am a computer programmer, I get the same problem trying to help others.

@alvarezgamers 4 жыл бұрын

Still watching this in 2019. Such great information! Love your presentation style. :) Thank you!

@CristaCowan 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Jay!

@CristaCowan 11 жыл бұрын

Samantha - Did they have children born or married between 1860 and 1880? What states were those children born/married in? Check there for the family in 1870.

@stereomois 2 жыл бұрын

Stuck on one of my 2nd great-grandmothers. I'll try to build other trees with the same hometown and last name (not very common) and see if I can somehow figure out some relation. The names of her kids should give a clue. Will bookmark the vid to watch later.

@dzyvla 11 жыл бұрын

This and the "Hints are not Facts" video should be required viewing for every Ancestry.com user. I've listened to this (in the car) 3 times and included it a blog post (Barking Up the Wrong Tree blog) today :-)

@rjb6327 3 жыл бұрын

One thing I have found is that you have to remember certain addresses and certain surnames. I have found much information just because a Surname or address comes up either in Ancestry or even on TV that I recognize. This would clue me into people on my tree. I once was looking for someones death certificate and happened to recognize an address in Philadelphia that happened to my Grand Parents old address. The person who died and happened to be living there was my Granduncle, who had been a brick wall for years. My Grandfather had died long ago and my Grandmother had move to New York and remarried years before. Apparently she had given the house to my Granduncle. Another time, I was watching a TV show, Who Do You Think You Are?' about Cortney Cox, the actress. Turns out, the people they started her tree with were also related to my son-in-law and I remembered the names. I ended up with a tree branch for him back to William the Conqueror and further using Google. If you are going to start a Family Tree, you have to keep at it and use logic before you accept information you're given. Remember they're Hints not Gospel.

@ajalicea1091 Жыл бұрын

Thank you Thank you Thank you With you telling the story about the lady who did not want to utilize the information you were giving her. I just came in position of some information about my grandfather and his father on my mother's side. It has stumped me for years so what I'm going to do is do like you said get the information that I need not only from my grandfather's birth certificate but from his siblings too.

@AncestryUS Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for watching, AJ! We're glad to hear that Crista was able to offer a few tips and tricks to you for conducting your research. We hope to hear you'll be able to make some rewarding and exciting new discoveries very soon! 😊

@samantha27161 11 жыл бұрын

Crista, i am having trouble locating a family in 1870 census. In 1860 the family was living in Logan County, KY. In 1880, the family had moved to Marion County, IL. I have so far been unsuccessful in locating any records regarding the move. Any ideas?

@TheMaggieMia 6 жыл бұрын

I would love to know how you get around knowing all or most of the records burned in a fire at a county court house, as I was a child, living a couple blocks away, when the fire happened, I know the courthouse burned in Summit County Colorado before November 1963, we moved then, so that’s a fixed date in my little head, I was school age so that puts the fire after 1960.... and since it was probably before records were sent to the state, a LOT of data was lost.

@AncestryUS 5 жыл бұрын

In Colorado, only Conejos and Douglas counties have suffered any record loss due to fire (and in both cases it appears to be minimal). www.raogk.org/colorado-genealogy/co-counties/

@CharlesHarper7596 2 жыл бұрын

I’ve been searching for awhile and I’ve checked many resources. On FamilySearch, Ancestry and WikiTree, through Census Records and Military Service Records but the only record I’ve managed to find of my 5th Great Grandfather is his 1801 marriage certificate. I really want to trace my Harper linage but I can’t find a single record that could tell who his parent or siblings are.

@Ratchet4647 5 жыл бұрын

Crista, you mentioned still births at one point. Are still births generally included in family trees?

@AncestryUS 5 жыл бұрын

It depends. Some parents receive a birth certificate for a stillborn child. Some do not. Sometimes the parents gave the child a name. Sometimes they did not. Sometimes the child's birth and death are recorded in a family bible or elsewhere in family papers. I have decided that if the child was given a name and their birth and/or death was recorded somewhere, then I will include them in my tree. Everyone can make their own decision about how to handle this for their own family trees. (~Crista)

@constanza1648 4 жыл бұрын

I have one big problem very early on my tree. I can't find my great great grandmother born, married and deceased in Italy. I have the husband name, birth record and death record. I have the children records. But there's no indication of where to look for marriage record for her or birthday record for her. Also I have no one to ask about death certificate. I get a big asumption: there's only one family with the same last name of her on the village she lived. And one of her grandchild has as godfather one person with the same last name. So... I assume the same father for the godfather and de grandmother of that child. I have a lot of doubts of doing so.

@Musikat92 5 жыл бұрын

My Woodruff great grandparents are also not who I thought they were hahaha

@BobTheSchipperke 2 жыл бұрын

One issue I have is I'm missing a census for several people when I'm confident they did live there that year. I have matched city directories up with censuses, looked page by page at place of birth (Lithuania) in that Midwest census, used FAN approach x many. It's the Iowa 1925 census and 1900 N. Arkansas or Ozark, MO and still nothing. Wildcard searches. Nothing. Ideas?

@AncestryUS 2 жыл бұрын

Sounds like you've done some thorough searching. There might be a tip or two here you haven't tried. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bNeSn8uCxLzDiY0.html

@rogerjeffrey 3 жыл бұрын

I have a brickwall on my ggg grandfather William Jeffrey born abt 1784 in NC and died in Boone County WV 1865. My main problem is There are a ton of Jeffrey's in North Carolina. I find the name of William Jeffrey but nothing I can confirm.

@wunderfulworld 5 жыл бұрын

If there were a specific shoebox for each profile, I'd be happier to not attach records I'm not sure of. Seems like if I put things in one big shoebox, they will be as good as lost.

@CristaCowan 5 жыл бұрын

If it is a record hint, you can use the MAYBE button. This, essentially, puts it into a person/profile specific "shoebox" on your tree. To access it again, just click on the HINTS tab when viewing the person profile page and then click "Undecided."

@MastaSergeantShelly 4 жыл бұрын

Hi. I just found your videos. I found out in Dec2018 that my biofather isnt who I thought. I have reviewed all 1st and 2nd cousins which I can link all to my maternal side. Then finally one 3rd cousin that can not be linked to my maternal side. There are 5 DNA that link to the 3rd cousin and myself. All of which link to the same family name which would be greatgrand parents. How do I narrow the field? Please help.Thanks

@CristaCowan 4 жыл бұрын

Hi Shelly - How many centimorgans of DNA do you share with the 3rd cousin in that cluster of matches?

@NicholeLovins 4 жыл бұрын

I am stuck and would love some ideas. My Grandmother on my dad's side. We are not sure who her dad is. My Great grandmother was a young teen mom and there is no father listed on her birth certificate. I have her death certificate but no father is listed because we were not sure. My great grandmother would never say or didnt know either. She married shortly after and that was who until many yrs later my grandma believed was her father. I did my DNA and no one with her supposed dad last name has never shown up, which leads me to believe that is for sure not her father. But how do we find who is her real dad? I am going to get my dads DNA but are there any other ways, besides asking my DNA matches who i dont know if they have ever had any family rumors about a kid no one is supposed to know about? Her obituary also has no father listed because aging we are not sure. ANy help would be appreciated so much. Also how on earth do I even approach people in my DNA matches and ask them something like this haha?

@CristaCowan 4 жыл бұрын

Getting your dad DNA tested is a great first step. Since you inherited half of your DNA from him and the other half from your mom, working with his results will remove all the matches that are from your mom's side of the family tree. The next step would be to get another family member tested to compare against your father's results. So, for example, does your dad have an aunt/uncle or 1st cousin on his father's side of the family? Any match he has in common with that person you could group together in order to filter them out. Any match your dad has (particularly those that are 3rd cousins and closer) that do not match his father's side of the family tree are matches to his mom. While you are waiting, if you look at your DNA Match List, do you know who the top 5 or 10 matches on your list are and how they are related to you?

@BobTheSchipperke 2 жыл бұрын

That first brick wall story is someone who doesn't really want to solve the mystery. I'll bet I could get that maiden name in a few minutes. Sad, really.

@AncestryUS 2 жыл бұрын

Everyone is at a different place in their genealogy knowledge and skill level. Brick walls can be defined differently for each person in pursuit of their family history.

@wizzobabe50 5 жыл бұрын

What if a parent is born with one name "John" and I only new him as another name "Joseph" and there is no record of it being changed, I'm talking about first name....then...come to find out that the last name I was born with which he grew up with was not his actual birth last name... He went to the court in 1985 and legally changed it to the name I grew up with and that I was born with... Because my mother retired and found out there was no birth record of him with the name she married him by... So the name he was born with was not the name he married my mother with.. and he changed it in the courts in 85... Also the name that I found in one census 1940 has him listed as"John" "magdziarz" at 9 yrs old "Jr" after his father's name supposably... In 1940 there are tons of John's out there with around the same birth date, how do I know who his father is for sure? And why that last name was changed and also the first name changed?? It's so confusing!!.. I need help...

@AncestryUS 5 жыл бұрын

I would recommend that you contact the court and get a copy of the paperwork that he filed in 1985 for his name change. This is information he would have provided about his birth name and the name he changed to. It is also likely to have his birth date and place and possibly even his parents' names. This will help you know you are identifying the correct person in other records.

@wizzobabe50 5 жыл бұрын

@@AncestryUS I have records of my father's birth, it has the name of what I've known him by my whole life, but documents I have found on ancestry 1940 census has him listed as John Junior my father has always gone by the name of Joseph his birth certificate says Joseph and mine (our) last namebut the 1940 census has him listed as a different last name that's why in 1985 he had to go to court to change his last name,sounds to me like something fishy was going on in the family with my father that no one in the family wants to talk about... I definitely need help with this... Thank you

@lindayoung6515 3 жыл бұрын

In 1870 I am stuck. 1890 I am stuck.I can not find my gg grand father and mother. I found marriage bond for my g grand father. It said father and mother living .I can’t find gg grandfather 1880 Census I found great grandfather and mother.. I found gg in 18 1850 1860. Burke county nc. I find Robert R Carswell

@dorenepalmer6431 6 жыл бұрын

What if grandmother gave incorrect maiden name, we have reached a brick wall…

@AncestryUS 6 жыл бұрын

When you say she "gave incorrect maiden name," what do you mean? What does it say on her death certificate for her father's name? Have you located a copy of her marriage license/certificate? What does it list as her maiden name? What about the birth certificates for each of her children? What do they list?