Common Difficulties When Investigating Family Trees

Common Difficulties When Investigating Family Trees

Every hobbyist genealogist encounters brick walls at some point. Stay positive. You can find what you're looking for on the internet. It may require further effort to unearth. Many people who are trying to trace their family tree run into the same issues, and here are some ways to deal with them.

Step one: alphabetizing.

When multiple forebears share the same name, it might be difficult to tell them apart. It's possible that three of your ancestors shared the name James Clifton Sterling because names are often passed down from one generation to the next. Who are they? Talk to the more seasoned family members immediately if you're having trouble keeping track of everyone's names. The initial step is the most important. You'll have to approach them eventually if you don't do so now. You should inquire about your ancestors' entire names and nicknames, as well as their birth, marriage, and death dates. Inquire whether any family members have a copy of the family Bible. Someone in the family may have already researched their lineage, which can only help your own efforts.

What should I do first? How do I know which line to draw?

It's totally up to you. Because there are so many members in your family tree, researching their origins could take a long time. You should begin by using your own surname, the one you were given at birth. This refers to the woman's "maiden name," if she is married. You can utilize the public library and the record's office in your neighborhood, so begin with the family that lived near you and your four grandparents, whether they moved away or are still in the area. Choose the most uncommon last name from the four options if you'd rather not follow that family tree; it's frequently simpler to track down less common last names than more common ones.

My third great-grandfather has vanished!

If you've hit a brick wall in your family tree research, the first thing you should do is request the birth certificate of the ancestor about whom you have the most information. It's annoying to have to wait, but once you get the paper in hand, you'll probably understand where you went wrong. Let's imagine you've been trying in vain to track down your great-grandfather, Edward Thomas Carmichael. You might learn that David Thomas Carmichael was your grandfather's father if you apply for his birth certificate. What this means is that the person who gave you their name has a faulty memory and called you by the wrong one. Don't take at face value the stories your relatives tell you; it's typical for people to mix up names, locations, and even family lines.

For what reason is it so challenging to trace European ancestry?

Since 1837, the government of England and Wales has been required to register the births of every person born there. However, because there was no punishment for parents for failing to register until 1875, it is claimed that as many as 15% of all newborns were not documented in various parts of the country in the decades after 1837. Additionally, some parents thought that registering the birth wasn't necessary if their child was going to be baptized. The birth register is the first place to look for your English ancestors.

Distraction is the root of your problem. When researching your family tree, it's always best to begin with the people closest to you, including yourself, your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. You shouldn't go too far back in time until you've collected everyone's names, birth dates, marriage dates, and death dates (as well as the locations of their deaths). 

Never try to remember more than one or two names from different branches at once. When you have all the details on those, you'll realize there's no need to worry because you've found what you were seeking. Don't forget to document your claims. A family member's photocopy of your great-great-grandfather's birth certificate will suffice as evidence. But it's hardly proof if someone tells you when and where they think he was born. You could find yourself tracking a branch of a family that you're not even related to.

I spent hours at the library, and I didn't find a thing!

We all have days where the pickings are slim, and we feel as if we're not getting anywhere. However, consider that you did find that your forebears are not in those particular records. You've eliminated those sources, and it's one more place you won’t have to search in the future.

I've received contradictory data.

This occurs more frequently than you might imagine. If the census paperwork claims your great-great-grandpa was born in 1840, the ancient family Bible says he was born in 1852, and burial records show he was born in 1848, which do you believe? When this happens, attempt to corroborate one of the dates from another source. Census documents can be inaccurate, as can the information in the family Bible. Infant mortality was high in the 18th and 19th centuries. When a child passed away, the name of the deceased was sometimes given to another child. Perhaps the undertaker made a mistake or a member of the family submitted the erroneous date when recording the burial.

The family isn't listed in the census.

There could be a number of reasons why you can't identify your relatives in the county census, even if you're positive they were there at the time. Check:

That you're looking at the right county in the right state; several states have more than one county with the same name; that you're looking at the right county in the proper spelling. The final count of counties is complete. The county enumeration was microfilmed in its entirety, including any pages that were missing due to sticking together.

Please keep trying. It's possible that the indexer made an error. There were errors in the alphabetization of names, misreadings, and omissions. If the census you're looking at was indexed by more than one group, you might want to see if your family shows up there instead. It's hard for us to fathom the amount of effort required to hand-write everything and then create copies.

Have two potential ancestors who lived during the same period and share the same name; how do I tell them apart?

This problem differs slightly from the one described above, "sorting out names." When researching your family tree and you discover two persons with the same name living in the same place at the same time, and either one of them could be your ancestor, you'll need to carefully study the material and, if necessary, acquire more details before you can write a biography. 

Check the records: did they have any land? Where were the records from that era's census taken? How about finding a will for one of them, if possible? Examine what you know, go out and gather more data, and then decide who among them was your ancestor. Due to the small marriage pool in the 19th century and earlier (when travel was expensive and difficult), certain names became popular in families and in specific regions. The use of particular names was handed down from one era to the next. This makes it tough for you to identify them all these years later.