Genealogy: The Dreaded Ancestral Brick Wall

Another holiday season has passed, all the Christmas decorations have been put away, and most of us have recovered from the hangover of New Year's! We are anxiously awaiting spring so we can get over the winter doldrums! Now is a good time to begin to work on our genealogy and get down to some serious fact-finding.

In this article I thought we would delve into some of the most common problems associated with tracing a family tree. At some point you are most likely to hit a brick wall in your search. Don't let this deter you.

Sometimes you will hit a treasure trove of information. I was able to connect with a cousin I hadn't known existed and I was able to add more than 1000 names to my database, thanks to her research. I want to stress this is a once in a while occurrence.

However, the longer you do this, you will find that even getting a name or two is just as gratifying. I know you are shaking you head, but trust me on this. I had not been able to find anything out about my maternal great-great grandparents and then all of a sudden, up pops another cousin and now I have names. We have been able to get no further, but having that bit of information just filled in a space in the puzzle.

Names are often both a good and bad thing. The good thing in a search is if you happen to have an unusual name. This often can speed up a search. As an example my family is full of surnames like Johnson, Jones and Adams. Since there are multitudes of people with these names, you can see the difficulty of searches here.

Now one of my ancestors had the forethought to name one of their children Golden Johnson. Laugh as you might, but this has aided me in my search. Other names that have popped up in my tree as first names are America, Tennessee, Patience, Obedience and Fulker; these have truly been a help to me.

But then there is the flip side to that. Some ancestors were not very creative in the naming department. They used the same name over and over, never changing a spelling or giving a new middle name. Thus, I have no fewer than 10 Benjamin Franklin Johnson's in my tree. I would like to send up a personal thank you to heaven to my blessed ancestor who named his son Benjamin Otto!

Another problem you may find will be spelling of names. You might have a name like Susannah in your family tree. Depending on how the person has entered the name there could be many variations to this. I have found Susannah, Susanna and Suesannah in my tree. You have to be careful when you are looking for names and think of many variations as you can for the name, which you are seeking. A misprint, a spelling mistake, all these can stop you from finding you ancestor, so be careful.

If you happen to come across this problem with a name while hunting on the net, there are a few ways you can check to see if the person is whom you want. Check birth dates or places, names of parents, spouse or children and the like. I have been able to link someone to my family whose name was spelled differently in my records by using other information.

In my next article, we will be taking a look at the some of the websites out there that help you to find links to your past, and even sometimes to links in the present!