Tag: geneabloggers Page 38 of 72

Tuesday’s Tip: Elizabeth Shown Mills’ FAN Principle

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On 2 June 2015

In Method, Research, Resources

By not mentioned [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

By not mentioned [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

MANY of us have that one brick wall that really just… irritates us. Well not irritates, but frustrates us because we can’t seem to figure out parentage, for example, on that person – or any family for that matter! There can be a variety of reasons for this to happen – the census records where the ancestor was living with his parents wouldn’t list everyone’s names, by the time you have records for him he’s already married with children, he has a very common name, etc.

So what do you do?

One principle that Elizabeth Shown Mills has created is called the FAN principle, or the FAN club, or cluster research. FAN stands for friends, associates, and neighbors, and the acronym makes it easier to remember, so I prefer that name. The idea here is to broaden your research scope to those whom your ancestor associated with on a daily basis. Who were his neighbors? Were they always his neighbors? Using census records, were there any families that moved with him or stayed nearby? Whom did he sell land to? Or buy land from? What about church associates? Colleagues? His children’s spouse’s family? Who were the witnesses to his marriage(s) or baptisms for his children? Did his children ever live with other people before getting married?

This goes beyond just searching for those with the same surname in the county and surrounding counties of your ancestor (but that is also a good idea)! It gives you a much wider picture of your ancestor’s life. The FAN principle is also EXCELLENT when documents you want/need have been destroyed or just don’t seem to exist. By using indirect and negative evidence like this, you can come up with a soundly researched, coherently written conclusion for a proof argument.

For more reading on using this principle, check out these resources:

Have you used the FAN principle before? Leave comments/questions below about your experience!

 

Happy hunting!

Genealogy Finds Week of May 23rd-29th

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On 29 May 2015

In Friday Finds

By United States Census records [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By United States Census records [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Blog/Articles

Webinars/Videos

Resources/Education

  • The Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research recently announced some new courses! Check out EOGN’s write up on that here.
  • New records on Ancestry.com: Jersey, Channel Islands, Wills and Testaments collection 1663-1948 and Jersey, Channel Islands, Occupation Registration Cards from WWII 1940-1945! Check out more information here.
  • AncestryDNA is now available in Australia and New Zealand! Check out Ancestry.com’s blog post about that here.
  • FamilySearch’s new records posted on EOGN! Check out all the records in a lovely list form here.
  • Book review from EOGN: “Book Review: The People of Ireland 1600-1699, Part Four“
  • FindMyPast Friday’s! New records include: England & Wales Merchant Navy Crew Lists 1861-1913, North West Kent Baptisms and Burials, and an Irish Newspaper Update. Click here for those records!

Wordless Wednesday: My Newest Treasures

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On 27 May 2015

In Personal, Pictures

New Records 2

 

My newest collection of records courtesy of my husband’s wonderful Aunt who sent them along to me! Birth certificates, death certificates, naturalization certificates, WWII papers! So exciting!

Tuesday’s Tip: Use a Research Plan

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On 26 May 2015

In Method, Research, Resources

How to do you plan and prep to go to an archive, library, or county building for genealogy research? Is it just a quick list of names? Do you know who you’re looking for and what you’re hoping to find? Do you have a plan in mind? You should!

Research Planning and Coordination Annual meeting (WHO?). Ph Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Research Planning and Coordination Annual meeting (WHO?). Photograph, 1960. Published: - Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Imagescimages@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Research Planning and Coordination Annual meeting (WHO?). Photograph, 1960.
Published: –
Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Okay, so your research planning probably wouldn’t involve this many people – but there could be this much paper and needed table room! 🙂

I’ll be honest, when I first started, I did not do that. So I ended up getting information rather haphazardly without really knowing what I was doing. Research plans stopped that for me. What is a research plan? It’s pretty much your plan of attack when it comes to a specific wall you may have hit. And that is the key here – it’s looking at a specific question to answer. That makes your work a LOT more focused. And, if you’re like me, it helps keep my lovely Genealogy ADD in check 🙂

I prefer my plans to be incredibly simple. The more complicated, the less likely I am to do something. So I first sit down and examine what specifically I wish to focus on:

The Question/Objective

This can be a birth/death/marriage date, a maiden name, parentage, etc. Anything that you’ve come across that you haven’t answered and you want it answered. This should be VERY specific – not a “what else can I find” type of question. So, for example, I would like to know an ancestor’s birth year.

Review Known Information

This can be a simple list – write down everything you know about that person. Where they lived, who they married, their children, census record information, etc. etc. Reviewing all of this information can sometimes make things very clear, and sometimes the answer you needed was there all along. I often have missed something in my information gathering and when I get to this point, it becomes quite clear!

Working Hypothesis

I don’t know if this is always necessary but sometimes after reviewing all of your known information, you may have an idea of your answer already or some clues about it. Go ahead and jot it down as this can also help keep you focused. I want to emphasize though that your results should be based on the information you gathered and your analysis of the information.

Sources

Here’s where you list what you have for the focus person. You can include this in your known information section too, which I’ll tend to do. I will include an analysis there too. Here’s where you really look at the information. Do you have a death certificate? Note who gave the information. Is that a person who would know? Why? Is a census record always accurate? Who lived nearby (neighbors may have given the census taker the information)? Etc. Etc. Really look at your sources and analyze the information that could come from them. This helps make your planning much easier.

Plan

Now is the good part! What is it you need? What records may have your answer? Do those records even exist?

This list  should include the records/sources you wish to find: marriage information, death certificate, baptism information, obituary, land records, etc. This part should also include WHERE those documents are. I normally list them in the order of the best record for what I need to the least.

Examples

Gathering information is what we do best! So, here is a list of places to get examples and more information on research planning:

Elizabeth Shown Mills Analysis and Research Plan (This is quite detailed and a great idea of what a professional may do).

Genealogy Research Plan by Genealogy.About.Com (simple and straightforward)

Cyndi’s List for Research Plans

 

Anything to add to this? Comment below! 🙂

 

 

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