Genealogy tip 6—Follow every clue in ancestry research.
Being a history researcher comes with the need to learn and understand how to research records, find the key information and develop a plan that will take you to all available information. Through the years, I have had the pleasure of conducting historical and genealogy research throughout the United States and Europe. Every time I conduct research in a new location, I feel like I have to learn/relearn how to conduct historical research. Why? I need to learn where the records are kept, what is available, develop a plan of how to research this location and so much more. I have written a series of Genealogy Tips to introduce you to what I consider to be the most foundational skills I use over and over. In this article, I want to share Genealogy Tip 6: Follow Every Clue in History And Genealogy.
Genealogy Tip Series
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Genealogy Tip 6: Follow Every Clue in History And Genealogy
Whenever possible, I make it a practice to collaborate with other genealogists on researching specific family lines. We will review our research, analyzing documentation, notes, and logs as a team. We identify the key questions we want to research and develop a research task list to research each question. We assign tasks and deadlines. And we schedule regular meetings to review, compare, and discuss projects and research.
During my collaboration with fellow genealogists on the Schreiber line, I requested the opportunity to help someone create a digital record that included scanning and spreadsheet catalog organization. Throughout the project, I compiled a list of seven of the family lines that seemed to be a dead-end (meaning no further extension of the line) in the 1750s. The surnames included Schreiber, Mullins, Fauber, Rennick, Bland, Lee and Caldwell in the states of Pennsylvania,
Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. During one of our scheduled project review meetings, we explored the following questions:
- Who did the original genealogy research on the family lines?
- Why were there so many dead ends?
- Is there documentation or a research log for the research showing all the resources that were evaluated?
Most of the research, which was well-documented, had been done by my collaboration partner during the 1980s and ’90s, but a research log no longer existed. We concluded that we would re-review the research and available resources. I found and reviewed available resources for the period at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
During the next ten weeks, I spent my research time reviewing period resources for every county in Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Surnames organized my findings into a spreadsheet that would allow us to quickly review the data and look for clues that might help us answer our questions and extend the various family lines. Even though other genealogists researched the resources before me, I often found bits of information that may have been overlooked or dismissed that shed new light on the project.
As I researched the Rennick and Fauber lines, I sought to find Ann Rennick, the wife of Christen Fauber, and their children who lived in Augusta County, Va., in the 1700s. In my research, I came across a single notation that a Rennick from Augusta County went to Ohio to see another Rennick.
Clue 1: A Rennick from Augusta County went to Ohio to see another Rennick. My first inclination was to dismiss the clue as irrelevant. Then I thought that I should focus on researching the account of the Rennick who lived in Ohio.
Clue 2: As I searched available Ohio resources, I came across an entry in the 1959 historical society newsletter stating that they had acquired a book called “Rennicks of Greenbriar, Virginia.” (Greenbriar used to be a county in Virginia and later became part of Monroe County, W.Va.)
Clue 3: I searched the Family History Library catalog and found the book in a minimal collection of Greenbriar County resources. Next to the book, I was seeking was another family history book on a related branch of the Rennicks.
Clue 4: As I read the books, I came across a section that mentioned that the Rennicks also came through Lancaster County, Pa.
Clue 5: I searched the Lancaster records for both Fauber and Rennicks. I found Christian Fauber and the Rennicks but could not find Ann or Barabra Ann Rennick.
Clue 6: I decided to retrace my steps from the previous three clues to see if I had missed anything. I came across an entry of a Thomas Rennick who had four children, one named Ann. The entry for Thomas simply said, “Little is known about this family.” This was the only Ann that did not have a spouse. Was this the Ann I was looking for? At least I knew that the Rennicks and Faubers were in Lancaster County at the same time.
For the next step, I went back to the Lancaster County area and looked through the four bookshelves, looking for a Christen and Ann Fauber. I didn’t find them, and I went home around 4:30 in the afternoon. For an hour and a half, I pondered all of my research that day, and I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that I needed to return to the library that day to find information that I knew existed. I arrived at the library at 7:30 p.m., went back to the Lancaster shelves, and looked over the same books I had looked through earlier. As I was getting ready to close the second-to-last book on the fourth shelf, the thought entered my mind to look again. There it was — a child born to Ann and Christian Fauber. I was excited. I didn’t find a wedding record, but I found several births for the Fauber family.
For more than 20 years, people have been looking for this family.
Lessons learned:
- Follow every clue, no matter how insignificant it may seem.
- One clue leads to another clue.
- Clues are linked together to form a picture.
- Research available resources to find overlooked clues.
- If you only search for surnames, you may miss the clues you need.
- Use spreadsheets to view all available findings.
- Follow the thoughts and promptings you receive during research.
Additional Articles on BeginMyStory.com
The following are other articles you may enjoy to help you find history and genealogy records.
- QuickStart Beginners Guide to Ancestry Research
- Introduction to Ancestry Research and Historical Records
- 7,500-plus Questions About Life to Ask People When Writing Narratives
- 1950 U.S. Census Research Guide for Beginners
- 4 Easy Steps to Google American Ancestry
- Preparing to Easily Google Ancestor Records
- Complete Guide for Conducting Oral History Interviews
- How to Get Great Google Search Results in Ancestry Research
- 9 Advanced Google Search Strategies to Trace Ancestors
- What It’s Like to Start Ancestry Research
- Search sites like FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com
