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Honestly, how could any genealogist resist a talk entitled “Are You Your Own Brick Wall”?
The concept of the “brick wall” (a roadblock in one’s research) is such a truism in genealogy that I quickly opened this video from the RootsTech conference and settled back for some words of wisdom from Utah genealogist Beth Taylor.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Taylor builds her talk around mistakes many genealogists make – mistakes that lead to confusion or a total breakdown of research.
For instance, family trees abound on the Internet. But how good are they?
“You have to be really careful with these online trees,” she said. “Do not treat them as facts.” In other words, you can find yourself smack up against a roadblock because something from an online tree does not match up with other material you’ve found about your family.
The solution? Read the online trees, but do your own careful research as well. The problem might be that a mistake is being perpetuated online.
We genealogists can inadvertently create our own brick walls in other ways.
Tracking your research can pay big dividends, she tells us. A good way is by creating a research log of every piece of material you’ve come across and what’s in it. That way you won’t tend to lose or forget items of information, thereby slowing or halting progress and finding yourself smack up against you-know-what.
Correlation of records is also vital, Taylor reminds us. Correlate as soon as you find yourself with key dates about a person or event. Don’t wait until years later when you discover you have conflicting dates for a birth or death and all progress halts.
Your log, she urges, should include saved images as well as wording. She even offers a helpful form to use.
While Taylor makes many more good points, one in particular appeals to me. Genealogy, she contends, is inseparable from history. That means we should study up on the historical background against which our ancestors played out their lives.
Knowing when a war — large or small — took place, for instance, can be a clue to an ancestor’s military service and help us straighten out confusing dates. Don’t let your geography study end with elementary school, either. She offers a map from early America showing that population movements tended to be north-south rather than east-west, since the west was as yet unsettled, precisely the type of fact that can help you find and verify key names.
Taylor’s message is clear. Don’t create brick walls for yourself. Following some simple precautions like the ones in this video can open up the road to success as you trace those ever-elusive ancestors.
Genealogical Society: The Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society continues to add to its huge storehouse of materials. The high school yearbook collection has been beefed up with additional volumes from Hanover Area and Hazleton Area. This month the society is working to add yearbooks from the school districts in Columbia County.
The society reports that it has also added to its collection of military, coal mining and railroad materials and has worked to make them easier to negotiate and utilize.
News Notes: Hats off to AARP for its promotion of genealogy among its many members. The seniors’ organization recently brought back a story, originally published in 2021, urging older Americans to use their life experiences to teach young family members how to do genealogy via interviews and videos. AARP shared the article to a whole new audience on Facebook recently.
Tom Mooney is a Times Leader genealogy writer. Reach him at tommooney42@gmail.com.