Brick Walls

Photo by Marl Clevenger on Unsplash

We all have them. Brick walls in our family research. Brick walls  come in all shapes and forms, from tiny garden fences for small missing pieces of our ancestors’ lives to giant brick walls that tower over our heads. There are resources to help us think of new ways to climb or go around those walls. Let’s look.

We all have at least one ancestor who provides challenges in research. I have an Irish ancestor who immigrated to the United States then to Canada and finally back to the United States. I can find CAN and ND census records, many land records and deeds in both Canada and the United States but I cannot find any record of his birth or death dates. According to family lore, he was a “Kerry man.” Based on that he was likely born in County Kerry, Ireland but finding a birth record will be challenging because the last name Sullivan is like Smith here. Without a record to note that village, the odds of finding the correct village, without his parents or siblings names or the correct birth date, are slim. To make matters more confusing, his year of birth noted in census records and immigration records varies by as much as ten years! His death date is another enigma. Because of the loss of the 1890 Census in the US, I am not able to pinpoint his exact death date. There is information related to a land deed which declares he is deceased but it is related to the sale of land that my ancestor sold years before. It was more of a formality so that the title of the land was clear for the next sale. While I am able to narrow the death date search down to about 7 years, not a burial record, death record, gravestone or obituary have been found despite years of searching. Do you have an ancestor like that?
So, what more can we do for these challenging ancestors? I say never give up. Genealogy often has moments of serendipity. And besides part of the reason, we love writing and researching our family history is the thrill of finding those hard-to-find answers. Here are articles with ideas to help you break through your brick walls.
10 True Genealogy Brick Walls and How to (Possibly!) Break Through Them (familytreemagazine.com)
13 Reasons You Can't Break Down Your Genealogy Brick Wall (familyhistorydaily.com)
29 Tried-and-True Brick Wall Strategies from Our Readers (familytreemagazine.com)
Tips for Breaking Down Brick Walls in Genealogy - Who are You Made Of?
I also find stories of how others overcame their brick walls helps me think about other ways that I can break my brick walls. Here are three books that I have found helpful.
Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques by George G Morgan and Drew Smith
Genealogy Helps, Hints, & Hope by John W. Heisey
More Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems by the Publishers of Family Chronicle Magazine
There are no easy answers when trying to track down our ancestors and scramble over those brick walls. The key is to keep trying to find those answers. It’s amazing what might turn up when you tackle an old problem with innovative ideas. Happy wall climbing!