E is for Extended Family

If you are only researching your direct line there is a good chance you are overlooking records and information. Siblings, cousins, and in-laws of your ancestor may give enough clues to extend your direct family line into earlier generations.

F is for Finances

Did your ancestor's financial situation impact the records he left behind? Typically the less money your ancestor had the fewer records he created. Or did a financial crisis cause him to move quickly and leave little evidence of where he settled?

G is for Guardianships

A guardianship record might have been created whenever a minor owned property, usually through an inheritance. Even with a living parent, a guardian could be appointed, particularly if the surviving parent was a female during that time when women's legal rights were extremely limited (read nonexistent).

H is for Hearing

Think of how your ancestor heard the questions

Think of how your ancestor heard the questions he was being asked by the records clerk. Think of how the census taker heard. what your ancestor said. How we hear affects how we answer or how we record an answer.

I is for Incorrect

Is it possible that an "official" record contains incorrect information? While most records are reasonably correct, there is always the chance that a name, place, or date listed on a record is not quite exact. Ask yourself how. it would change your research if one "fact" suddenly was not true?

J is for Job

What was your ancestor's likely occupation? Is there evidence of that occupation in census or probate records? Would that occupation have made it relatively easy for your ancestor to move from one place to another? Or did technology make your ancestor's job obsolete before he was ready for retirement?

K is for Kook

Was your ancestor just a little bit different from his neighbors? Did he live life outside cultural

norms for his area? If he did, interpreting and understanding the records of his actions may be difficult. Not all of our ancestors were straight-laced and like their neighbors. That's what makes them interesting (and difficult to trace).

L is for Lines

Do you know where all the lines are on the map of your ancestor's neighborhood? Property lines, county lines, state lines, they all playa role in your family history research. These lines change over time as new territories are created, county lines are debated and finalized, and as your ancestor buys and sells property. Getting your ancestor's maps all "lined" up may help solve your-problem.

M is for Money

Have you followed the money in an estate settlement to see how it is disbursed? Clues as to relationships may abound. These records of the accountings of how a deceased person's property is allocated to their heirs may help you to pinpoint the exact relationships involved.

N is for Neighbours

Have you looked at your ancestor's neighbours? Were they acquaintances from an earlier area of residence? Were they neighbours? Were they both? Which neighbours appeared on documents with your ancestor?

O is for Outhouse

Most of us don't use them any more, but outhouses are mentioned to remind us of how much life has changed in the past 100 years. Are you making an assumption about your ancestor's behaviour based upon life in the 21st century? If so, that may be your brick wall right there.

P is for Patience

Many genealogical problems cannot be solved instantly, even with access to every database known to man. Some families are difficult to research and require exhaustive searches of all available records and a detailed analysis of those materials. That takes time. Some of us have been working on the same problem for years. It can be frustrating but fulfilling when the answer finally arrives.