Step Four: Search for New Evidence

Now that we’ve defined our brick wall, created a timeline, and evaluated our existing evidence, the next step in the Busting Your Brick Wall Challenge will be to search for new evidence.

When you created your timeline or when you reviewed the existing evidence, did you uncover any gaps that suggested records that you should search for? Now is the time to go and find those missing pieces.

Create a Research To Do List or Research Log

There are many ways to create a research to do list for your genealogy. The most important thing is to create one. You can do it the old fashioned way by using a pen and paper or you can create your to do list in Excel, Word, Evernote, or even in your genealogy software program if it supports that.

Your to do list item or research log should include:

1. The ancestor’s name
2. What you want to find out
3. Where you will look
4. Any details that you will need to know about the person or family
5. A date that you made the search
6. Any notes about finding the source

I use RootsMagic and it has both a To Do List feature and a Research Log. I like to create a to do list item for each thing I need to look for, assign it to the person and add a repository. I use the repository short name in the task so that all my Ancestry tasks sort together. When I’m ready to research that thing, I use the built in option to transfer that task to my research log for that person where I can make a note of what sources I checked and what the results of my search were.

If you prefer to use pen and paper, you can find research log forms in PDF and Word format on the Family Search Wiki page for research logs. Make sure you record your searches even when you don’t find anything. For static resources, such as books, you won’t want to search that resource again. For resources such as databases, you might want to check back later in case there have been any records added.

Work Your Timeline

Step your way through your timeline and look for missing information. Do you have all of the basic information about each person and family?

1. Birth
2. Baptism or Christening
3. Marriage
4. Death
5. Obituary
6. Burial
7. Probate
8. Census

Are there any specialty records you should consider looking for?

1. Land Records
2. Military Records
3. Hospital Records
4. Poor Law or Workhouse Records
5. Parish Chest Records
6. City Directories
7. Employment Records
8. Emigration Records and Passenger Lists
9. Tax Records
10. Newspaper Records
11. Legal Records
12. Naturalization Records
13. Adoption Records
14. Business Records
15. Funeral Home Records
16. Voter Registration
17. Slave Records
18. School Records
19. Books, magazines and periodicals
20. Notarial Records

Each person and family is different and your family may not have all of the records on the preceding lists, and they may have other records not mentioned. Think about every situation in which your ancestor’s name might have been recorded somewhere on some list or record and make a note to look for that record if you do not already have it.

Sources

Just because you have your ancestors’ civil marriage certificate, doesn’t mean that you should not look for the church record of their marriage and the record of when banns were called if that is applicable. If you have their obituary, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t send for their death certificate or that you should not try to find their burial record or the funeral home record. Each source about the same event may have additional or possibly even conflicting information. Look for all the evidence about any event in the lives of your ancestors.

If you can’t find your ancestor’s census record in one database, search another one. Their name might have been transcribed incorrectly or an image might have been missed. If all else fails, browse the census images in your ancestor’s location to see if you can find them the old fashioned way.

Use indexes and abstracts to help find the records you are searching for but don’t neglect looking for the original record. These frequently have more information than the index or you might find that the copy contained an error.

Handwriting and Other Languages

As you research your ancestor, don’t let old style handwriting or records in another language stand in your way. There are many resources online that will help you read old handwriting such as the paleography tutorial on the UK National Archives website. A great resource for Latin words can be found on the Family Search wiki. Google Translate will help you translate almost any language, even Latin.

Circle Back

As you uncover new evidence, in addition to recording it on your research log and in your genealogy database, don’t forget to update your timeline and certainly don’t forget to cite your sources! Revisit Step 3 and be sure to work the Genealogical Proof Standard with everything you find.

Finding New Evidence on My Brick Wall

Checkout my first post on finding new evidence for my Brickwall Browns and then work your way through the next six posts as I work my way through the Brown timeline.