I have attack my reveal of "brickwalls" in the study of my own family tree. What I have learned is that our ancestors were a whole lot more portable than we ever thought. To help you in your look for missing ancestors and the "missing hyperlinks" that will solve your genealogy mysteries I am discussing the methods which have led to finding people you may think were dead or never relied on community records.
1. Region Lines: The US was a quickly creating country beginning in the 19th century. Regional functions sometimes confused wherever one county started and another finished and at different situations counties were included as governmental
revolutionary war bounty land districts were reassessed and villages were integrated or expanded. Long lasting purpose don't write off the possible an ancestor may maintain an alternative state than expected or that documents might occur in multiple counties.
Hint: Try neighboring areas and larger towns which could have cultivated in distant counties. I found more than one ancestor measured twice (and in two different counties) on the census documents!
2. Migration: It's known from even rank college record courses that there clearly was a significant migration to the american United States and territories. When an ancestor moves lacking from the records it's a great practice to try looking in the files of adjacent states or just opened territories. Understanding when territories were exposed for homesteading and where land was handed for military service also helps in investigating challenging ancestors.
Idea: Use Wikipedia to find times areas were formed, territories were opened, and when claims were granted statehood.
3. Opposite Migration: An avenue of genealogy research that's frequently neglected is opposite migration-when the land was not beneficial to farming or the problems were also tough, or homesickness turned too much, our ancestors at times gone home or returned to the East. My personal favorite example may be the 1860 Census of Lee State, VA. The census taker not just was thoughtful about listing the birth state of every resident, but also listed their beginning county. The number of people born in Eastern Tennessee to parents have been natives of Lee State is fascinating.
Suggestion: Do not exclude people of related names but created in numerous claims that you can kin to your ancestors. That individual born in Missouri who reveals through to a Virginia census might be a missing relationship!
4. Traveling: We shouldn't believe that touring began with the technology the big plane! I've discovered ancestors in New York accommodations and on vessel manifests either going to or returning from trips abroad. An ancestor's occupation could have called for travel. Like I came across persons chose to political company residing much from home in Washington, DC. I discovered one household who seemed to have faded on a UK Census!
Hint: Even though you're persuaded an ancestor was a non-traveling farmer, search border crossings, ship individual lists, and also international census records-you may possibly maintain for rather a shock!
5. Civil Conflict: The Conflict Involving the States was the first conflict which caused an important change in a number of our ancestors'locations. Soldiers were transferred from North to South, and South to North, and in one side of the nation to another. Crops were damaged alongside livelihoods creating families to maneuver from homesteads. The African-american American population composed mainly of lately separated slaves, were first enumerated by title on the 1870 census after many had remaining the plantations wherever they lived ahead of the War. I discovered one ancestor from Tennessee who had been caught by the Union military in the North and remained there after his release.
Idea: When investigating an ancestor who served in the Civil Conflict be sure to search at their date and place of release because it can be a concept to wherever they might have stayed following the War.
Don't provide up. With perseverance you will discover who you are searching for where you least expect to find them.
