I recently used that text search at Family and it appears I've broken down a brick wall I've been struggling with since 2002.

@JosephSmith-mb7jj

3 ай бұрын

Congrats! Same here! It's a powerful search engine!

I have a huge brick wall and I am researching multiple families that show up heavily in our dna matches and trying to figure out timelines and hypothesize possible parents

@Hamuel

3 ай бұрын

I've built a few trees of my matches' shared ancestors in the past few months

Family Search's full text search recently added "US Plantation Records" and some probate records from Australia and New Zealand.

@sr2291

3 ай бұрын

Nice :)

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

YES!

I'm revving up my notes on a brick wall GGGrandfather, and I added all the historical stuff in his timeline, but put it in green. It has not only big things like the Civil War starting but also all the boundary changes of his county. Keeping it in green helps me focus on the his main events but they are there to help.

I definitely want to watch this later when I have time. My great grandmother was Mary F. Smith and I know from census records that she was born in Indiana but I haven’t been able to find her family. Also my 2nd great grandmother, Mary Smith’s mother in law, Indiana Jones was born in Indiana as well, in 1818, probably in Floyd county, but I can’t figure out her parents either. I only know they were from Pennsylvania.

Thank you so much for this video. I have research notes but they aren’t organized in one central location. It seems that when I’m researching information for one ancestor, I find a ton of information for another which makes it difficult to stay on track. From now on, I’ll just remember GONE! 👍😃

Loved this video. I am going to give this a try for my most difficult brick wall - a 2nd Great Grandfather in Scotland. Have his marriage record and some census - supposed parents. This has driven me crazy for decades!

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

Good luck! I hope you find what you seek.

@neecie645

Ай бұрын

I watched all 34 minutes expecting you to say “ok, let’s see how to break down a brick wall about my ancestors father. Or mother’s maiden name.” So, how did all this documenting break down any walls??? I don’t get it.

@fabianmckenna8197

21 күн бұрын

Scotlandspeople.gov for Scottish research.

I wish there were something like this for UK records. Find My Past is close, but not as detailed. If I ever find USA people in my tree, I will sign up to learn about how to research their records.

Connie - you have talked about research notes and source citations before, but this video IS THE BEST EXPLANATION AND EXAMPLES! I am bookmarking this one for many future references. Thank you!

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

Awesome. Thanks

Hey Connie! Good morning, can you make a video explaining exactly how you discovered Henry Gustave Henley’s father? I have the same problem. My 2th great grandmother was born out of wedlock and I want to discover her father’s name

@jessikamoore5033

3 ай бұрын

Mine was, too.

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

Hi Ben. This is an old episode but I think it best explains how I narrowed it down. I still have not solved it with absolute proof. I have it narrowed down to two brothers, one being the father. I'm still working on it. Hopefully more DNA evidence will come to light. Check out this episode. kzread.info/dash/bejne/poGfo7l-fcWdabA.html

@fabianmckenna8197

21 күн бұрын

Good luck with that........ My wife's aunt had two children to her husband then a child registered in mother's name only, so no father's name. I think she ended up being adopted as her death certificate at the age of five showed a different surname and a guardian in attendance. The whole family closed ranks on that one so no news at all even though the couple remained married until their deaths.

Great info and great process. I've done this on one of my more difficult ancestors, and it really did help me fill in the gaps. But it's hard to document info in research notes when you can't find relevant documents in the first place. How does this method apply to ancestors before, say, 1850, when records are scarce?

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

Same process. Document everything you do find in chronological order. As more records are found and come online hopefully you can piece together the details.

A great overview. It works.

Your method / design for research notes helped me tremendously !! And also your method using excel files for mapping out the DNA cousins was a game changer !! Thank you so much for all that you do to help us with our research. Those two items alone unlocked so much more progression for me.

Thank-you Connie for such informative videos. I have spent the last two months watching many of them, and it has guided me to many new ways to research! After almost 14 years working on my family tree I think I have finally solved the identity my great-grandfather's father. My great-grandfather was born out of wedlock. He was one of 4 childern born to my great-great grandmother, and he and his siblings were all given her surname and the birh certificates of all them lists no father.

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

Wonderful! Thanks for supporting the channel.

What a FABULOUS video---so informative!!!!! Thank you....

Marriage return problems aren't merely ancestral issues. I met a couple several years ago. They were planning a 25th-anniversary vow renewal ceremony and couldn't find their marriage license. They inquired at the courthouse for a copy and.... the minister had never returned the license. They were never legally married. They had a large church wedding covered in the newspaper (when there was once a society page in local papers). I never found out if they were able to post-date their license. Can you imagine the legal issues that might have arisen if something major had occurred during their first 25 years of marriage?

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

Wow

Am I too early for the handout? I'm so excited to watch this video!! It's exactly what I need right now.

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

I was late uploading it. Sorry. kzread.infomembership

thanks, I have been trying 2-3 ancestors, not just one. So I have backed up regrouped, one ancestor line at a time! again thanks for that tidbit.

I was never a research notes person, but you have convinced me to start there on my 2 brick walls. Thank you again for a great vid!

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

Great to hear!

Connie, I think you have finally convinced me this is a necessity for me. I have watched a number of your videos on this topic, or those in which you have talked about it, and I have kept thinking I may do this... if/when I have no other choice. Well, I think I may have reached that point being as I have a brick building in front of me in not being able to find anything on my paternal great-grandmother. She was wife number one (of three) for my great-grandfather and the spelling of her family name has appeared with two different formats in family materials (Aumann and Amann). Even worse, I have wondered if there could be other spellings, depending on different vowels/letters being used (Auman, Aman, Amenn, Amen, etc). I need to find something otherwise I'm going to start thinking I may have some ghosts in my family tree!

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

You can do this. Research Notes! I have faith in you.

Thanks Connie. Are your research notes on paper on your computer or both? Do you have a video on the structure of the organization of all your notes? I’ve learned so much from watching your videos.

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

I use word for my research notes, so they are on my computer, but could be printed if I wanted... but I never do... because they are constantly being updated. Here is a playlist of videos about research notes. kzread.info/head/PLiMXWjHlj5RSjs3MExHoP5xShSejkN0iu

When you learn new info on a brickwall person, do you recommend immediately adding that info to the other spouse and/or children as appropriate or just make a note to do that at a future time - or - just know that when you move on to work on the spouse or child that you need to check back to see if you have accumulated new information that affects their story (such as moves, family additions, new county lines, divorces/marriages).

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

For me, just when I move to the research on the family members.

Something to consider... Find a Grave is very helpful, but the way the sites are managed is nothing but unhelpful. Would it be possible to do an interview with Find a Grave and ask your audience for their concerns?

@GeraldM_inNC

3 ай бұрын

FG will answer that they are not a genealogy site, rather they are a site for locating the graves of family members and giving them an opportunity to leaves photos, memories and flowers. I know because I've had it out with them. Their sole concern is with the feelings of the living ancestors, not with genealogy.

@pattyh2410

3 ай бұрын

I have found errors in Find a grave, and contacted the point of contact. I have yet to get a response.

@GeraldM_inNC

3 ай бұрын

@@pattyh2410 The managers of the memorials refuse to accept correction even if you have firm documentation to support it, and FG's mods refused to get involved.

@pattyh2410

3 ай бұрын

@@GeraldM_inNC that is what I gathered. Too bad.

Great information! Question...How do I begin using Research notes now that I'm into research for the past 40 years?

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

Here is a playlist about Research Notes kzread.info/head/PLiMXWjHlj5RSjs3MExHoP5xShSejkN0iu

Our family has been searching for my paternal grandfather's family. He was sent to an orphanage when he was only 2 yrs old in NYC. I have been able to find his mother and her family, but not his true father. His mother kept her previous married name, so it makes it more difficult. I believe the father was a one-night stand. I have worked on triangulating the DNA results in Jed match, but have only been able to narrow it down to three possible paternal surnames. From there I have hit a brick wall.

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

You may need to research those three families to see if anyone fits the right place and right time. Then reach out to descendants who are close and pay and ask them to take a DNA test.

@fabianmckenna8197

21 күн бұрын

​@@GenealogyTV Love it........ Excuse me but would you mind doing a DNA test as we think your relative had a one night stand with my relative. 😐😐😐

Most of the time this works. Still waiting for one brick wall to fall. Been working on John L Smith for twenty years now. I know tons about him in Indiana and Illinois, Even went back to St. Joseph IL. and did some library research looking for an obit. Still can't find his parents. I know that Family Search, about a year ago, scanned a lot of Maryland files, Just haven't found a clue yet to his parents.

I have a large brick wall. My dads stepsister, whom I love, and she has always just been my aunt. Me, my mom, and my brother did our DNA and so did my dad's stepsister neice and nephew. When we got the results the niece and nephews were related on my mom's side of the family. So I had my aunt (dads stepsister) take the DNA and she is related to my mom and to me and my brother. She is only 50cm to my mom and less to us. I can't figure out how to find the connection.

I have one very frustrating ancestor: my great grandfather. The only record of him before adulthood is a single 1880 census showing him age 9 and born in Kentucky but living with an unrelated older couple (relationship shown as “adopted”) in Missouri. His brother is 8, living as a boarder with another unrelated family in a different county in Missouri. DNA has connected to two families in Kentucky as the parents but no records have been located to explain what happened. Not sure how to proceed.

I have a "Brick Wall" that I can't seem to break down. It is my Great Grandfather. I have been given a couple of names that have not planned out

I had a grandaunt that told me that her parents married in New York. Didn’t make sense as my great grandmother was born in Kansas and that’s where the family settled. I looked into Kansas after years of finding nothing in NY. Found it in Kansas. We were under the assumption that my paternal grandparents married in Nebraska in the town that they lived in. Found out that they had married in Kansas (grandma was a teacher. Our theory is that they married in Kansas so that the school board wouldn’t know. She did have to quit, though, because a year after they married, my aunt was born)

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

Good super sleuthing.

I have several brick walls and unknowns due to NPE's and there not being any documentation, etc. My 4th great grandma is one for example. No information has been found for her prior to her marriage who is not my biological grandpa. There is not even a marriage record for them.

My gramma was raised by a family from 8 years old. we caled them aunt and uncle all mt life. they called each other sisters. how do i get them connected into my tree. thanks

Connie, can't get to document for this presentation. Link says unavailable

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

I was late uploading it. Sorry. kzread.infomembership

I have a brick wall regarding my paternal grandmother's parents, one from a Palermo background and the other from Genoa. I have their names but nothing more. I joined Ancestry DNA specifically to solve this problem, but my only relevant DNA matches were to common ancestors in the 18th Century and before -- no clues how these ancient ancestors link up to my grandmother's parents (born mid-1860s), about whom I can find nothing but their names, Giovanni Anelli and Elena Razore. I have put in countless hours and achieved nothing.

I'm not able to get to the handout...why? TIA

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

I was late uploading it. Sorry. kzread.infomembership

Are you currently taking clients?

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

Only academy students right now. I teach you how to do the research. 😀

I checked and they do not have any records for state of Nebraska. On Family Search Expand your search with Full Text.

@jeanksiazek9223

3 ай бұрын

Oops Connie they do for probates but not Wills .

I have living relatives that don't want to share information, what can I do.

@GenealogyTV

3 ай бұрын

Respect their wishes.

@fabianmckenna8197

21 күн бұрын

How hard can it be........ Your mum and dad marriage and birth. Their parents death, marriage and birth. Their parents death, marriage and birth. Etc, etc, etc. No need for relatives input but just means a bit of work to get there.

you want to let them know to put a tree up and not put a private tree, because other families are looking for you, and can compare family members. also, set up a tree and get a DNA test. Not only you will find more families, but you will also get other families that can find you. my tree grew double. found lost family. will be worth the cost. believe me, I'm cheapo also, men always doubt that if your child is yours, this is the cheapest way.

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing.

I have no way to break through my brick wall. It is from my great great grandfather, who committed suicide in 1874 at the age of 38. He found his wife in bed with his best friend and went out to his barn and hung himself....no will, his land went to his wife. Much info was not recorded as suicides were shameful and not spoken about back then. Now where I am in Canada. Ships passenger lists were not recorded until mid 1860's. Sadly my ancestor arrived in Canada between 1855-1860. He first appeared in Canada on the census in 1861 at the age of 25. According to his birth and death and census records he was born in Scotland in 1836....according to what I have discovered his name was a common one and there is more than one person of his name born in Scotland in 1836....I can only eliminate the ones who died in Scotland as I knew he died here in Canada.

@Hamuel

3 ай бұрын

No descendants of him have DNA tested? A second great grandparent should be fairly easy to solve with DNA

@ruthking7884

3 ай бұрын

@@Hamuel We have a few but they are all in Canada thus far and he is as far back as we can trace. We have no idea if he was an orphan, an only child or what....we only know he arrived from the old land and appears to have come alone .... we think he came over when he was 21 in 1857. But again no ships passenger lists were recorded until after 1865. He married and had 7 children before he committed suicide. But any records his older kids may have kept were destroyed and erased because of the stigma of suicide back then.

@jessikamoore5033

3 ай бұрын

​@Hamuel not really. I Don't know who my one 2nd great grandpa is and I don't know who a 3rd grandpa was to a 2nd great grandma, and so on

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

You might consider using DNA to help solve where in Scotland he was from.

@GenealogyTV

2 ай бұрын

You might try transferring your DNA to MyHeritage.