Breaking Through Your Genealogy Brick Walls | Ancestry

[@patriciajrs46]

World War 1 and 2 draft cards have a unique feature: on the back of these cards is a desciption of your ancestor. This was very helpful to me.

[@taram9409]

Yep! I love that.

[@kathyl6677]

I frequently ignore the siblings et al. I'm learning, but... I'm in a hurry. It's just that it's so exciting. I know I need to slow down if I want to get it right. I've already spend 3 months on the wrong family. I finally broke down and got my pre-adoptive birth certificate, instead of just going by what my mom told me. So glad I did! What a difference! My birth mom wasn't 15 when she had me, she was 21! And I wrote and got in touch with those who turned out to be my half-siblings to verify my starting point. Again, soooo glad! My birth mom was adopted, too, so even *her* surname on my birth certificate wasn't the name I should start with. Boy, talk about needing the right documents.

[@nessduff2566]

wow..not once but twice..that was harsh...hope you managed to get the info you were after..

[@patriciajrs46]

Don't forget state census records. They were taken every ten years, but at the 5 mark between the Federal census dates. Tennessee had a state census in 1895, and in 1905. Kansas had a state census in 1905. These are just examples of where else you can look.

[@Tied2TheTube]

Thanks for these strategies for making more research progress. I'm researching a grandparent who deserted his family and fled the country, while leaving very few "footprints" in the USA during his 20 or so years here. Doing my best to apply these principals to the research, but flummoxed by his absence from Fed Census and Social Security records. I do hope you'll continue to revisit this topic from time to time. (I'm fairly new to the Ancestry KZbin station, so I haven't noticed yet if the brick wall topic is a recurring one.) Thanks again! ~CindyF

[@pdmshalom]

Thank you, Crista for all of your skills, time, and hard work. I greatly appreciate these videos and can't thank you enough.

[@moweaquas]

Very helpful. I like hearing the strategy and the limitations of records/technology. More please!

[@LanceHall]

On Ancestry there were massive mistakes in one of my lines. Everyone repeated the same info mis-identifying my ancestor (Walter Burris) living in Missouri 1810+ with a man with the same name living in Virginia in 1760s-1800. They then built a composite tree combining these two families. No one had considered following any alternative information. I decided to follow all the alternative information and connections to other men with the same surname. I also threw out the bogus un-sourced MO marriage information and started looking in KY instead based on the birth dates and places of his children. I finally found my ancestor's 2nd marriage in Kentucky in 1807 when everyone was expecting it to be 1813/1816 MO. I quickly began finding leads that suggested a South Carolina origin NOT Virginia. I checked the 1790 SC census and "lo and behold" found my ancestor listed but with the usual surname variant. Then I started looking at the other people who settled with my ancestor in MO in 1811 mentioned in a history book. I quickly found a family (Box family) that ALSO traced right back to South Carolina 1790s and were literally neighbors of my family along the same creek in SC 20+ years before. I then directly connected a member of that family (Muke Box) with another suspected Burris relative in Kentucky (Isaiah Burris). Muke Box was one of the men that settled with my ancestor in MO in 1811. Meanwhile the OTHER Walter Burris everyone assumed is the same guy was STILL in Virginia (1810,1820 census) while my guy was pioneering and dodging Indians in SC, KY, and MO. I have contacted over 150 Ancestry users with the old bogus information and only a handful of people have responded or corrected their info.

[@dhtsoaedsdhtnadi9575]

wait, BURRIS as in BURRIS FORK of moniteau?!?!

[@franceslock2058]

I have some distance kin DNA matches with the Box surname from SC. My family is Padgett , Ward on my father's side.

[@joyyoung7265]

Thank you. This is one of the most useful presentations I’ve seen. A good way to start organizing all of my findings and fill in the gaps. Going to do all of this step by step.

[@CristaCowan]

I am thrilled to hear that this is helpful for you. Let me know how it all works out.

[@danielluce3109]

I noticed you forgot an important detail about the 1900 census. You can always find the birth month and year for someone if they were in the 1900 census which can be a vital piece of information in breaking down a brick wall.

[@stingrayofcincinnati]

Daniel Luce Hey, wow, I did not know that. Thanks

[@jennifiercoffey1034]

billy flowers1980 Denton man saves women from fire ft page storyline

[@jennifiercoffey1034]

,

[@kariturnerart]

This was super helpful :) would love tips on searching European records

[@Castlemom7]

Helpful to know that I'm searching correctly (checklist beginning with census and searching all members). Didn't know about card catalog, yay! New tool!

[@mysterj1]

An oldie but goodie. Like you say, back to the basics and look at what we know.

[@AncestryUS]

We hope you enjoyed the clip! Have you broken down any brick walls of your own recently?

[@LanceHall]

YES! Everyone needs to add notes to their information if it's a guess or estimate. People will repeat stuff like it's a fact or there's an actual record behind it.

[@debjoevans7706]

Thanks so much for these great ideas. I've got a few 😉 in my tree that I'm having trouble in finding them. Tomorrow I can't wait to try what you showed us here. Again thanks!!! It's greatly appreciated.....

[@AncestryUS]

Hiya Debjo! It's a real pleasure to hear that this video has given you some food for thought to mull over and try out in your own project. We hope you make lots of progress in the months to come and trust you will call on our team if you ever get stuck or simply wish to share your latest discovery. This guide acts as a useful accompaniment to keep close by when attempting to overcome such long standing research brick walls : support.ancestry.com/s/article/Overcoming-Roadblocks-in-Your-Research?language=en_US. In addition, our back catalog of FB events and videos are also available to view here: facebook.com/AncestryUS/videos/?ref=page_internal . We wish you every success and thank you for your support of our community!🌳

[@patriciajrs46]

One of my brick walls is the 1920 census. My grandfather had a job that required him to move around a lot. The census was not done in April that year, it was in January. I have not been able to find out where my grandparents were at that time in that year. Thanks.

[@LindaMeade]

My grandmother was adopted. She was born in 1909 and adopted at six months of age. I know her birth mom's name, but nothing else. It's like a quarter of my heritage is a complete blank.

[@AncestryUS]

Linda - Have you taken an AncestryDNA test?

[@nancysouthern1487]

Thank you again for your knowledgeable insights.

[@deniseclay8533]

Thank you so much for the information. I have been trying for about 5 years with very little to go by. This is a good start.

[@tyedyeblue1]

Great video!! lots of tips and things to look out for to help you in finding the answers to some of the tough questions in are searches.

[@cathyhughes991]

Thank you for this information. I will now apply it to my "brick wall" and see if it helps.

[@dollyhernandez3504]

this is very helpful but what about ancestors born in different countries and what happens if one knows that they were an orphan but not sure which country they were born in. How would u go about finding the facts?

[@joanncampbell1940]

Loved the tutorial. I will use information to find maiden name of my ggg grandmother and dna connection to my family.

[@thedeterminedgenealogist3835]

Thanks for sharing great tools

[@roslyn8323]

You focus on the USA is there a Ancestry associate that focuses on South Africa?

[@stingrayofcincinnati]

Technically, the 1811-12 earthquake hit the town of New Madrin (hence the name of the fault) in the Louisiana territory. Later became Missouri. there is a wiki on it. Really interesting read.

[@iz8904]

New Madrid

[@stingrayofcincinnati]

@@iz8904 you're right. Typo. Still a great read.

[@Richiedei50]

Very helpful indeed. Thank you.

[@michellet1490]

Fantastic, very helpful, lots more please.

[@pamsmithson6830]

OK, all this is good advice, but it's only useful for people who lived in the twentieth century -- or possibly the latter half of the nineteenth. My brick walls are mostly women who lived in the 18th century (or earlier!), or the early part of the 19th -- and often they didn't live very long. I've managed to break through a few. I found one by looking at the sureties on the administrative account of her husband, who died intestate, and finding that one of them was her brother, but that doesn't always work. Finding records is great, but what do you do when there are no records?

[@cliffordhughes8535]

Great Ideas on how to break thur the brick wall. Cliff. Hughes

[@ivoe1574]

Could you recommend the best and safest way to obtain a social security death record? I have my grandfather’s No#, the question is what type of information can I expect to retrieve from the record?

[@laurajustice211]

Mine is a brick wall. Everyone in the forums is stuck since we do not know if the last name Stalvey was changed as they migrated from England. Some say we we're huegonots. The last person anyone can find is Peter stoulvoyer stalvey. Born 1720 in Georgetown South Carolina. His father is John Jacob but all we know is he is born in England and before 1705. It's very frustrating.

[@AncestryUS]

It looks to me like you might have two last names for Peter there. Are you sure the last name wasn't Stoulvoyer before they immigrated?

[@susandavis9723]

This was great, very helpful, thanks

[@dennisgranzow6597]

I watched this really good video and pretty much did everything you suggested, but I'm still having a problem finding my grandfather's parents. I've worked on this for hours and hours. Here's what I know. My grandfather was born Clarence Arthur Granzow Oct. 4, 1888 in New Haven Village, Macomb county, Michigan. His spouse was Adeline Lafferty, born Oct.3, 1889. He died in 1958, she in 1978. According to all of the census documents I looked at, his parents were both born in Michigan. I have seen his WW 1 and 2 draft registrations, several resident directories, and SS life claims. I also looked at Granzow's that would have lived in New Haven when he was born, and came up short. Does anyone have any ideas as to where to go from here?

[@jacksonarthur4762]

ask family, i would also auggested checking out ancestry's state research guides, in your case Michigan. these guides have locations of cenus records which would help. good luck never give up

[@dennisgranzow6597]

+Jackson Arthur Thank you for the suggestion. I will give it a go.

[@JulianaSmith3]

+Dennis Granzow Have you seen this 1900 census record of a Clarence Granzo living with his uncle and grandmother? ancstry.me/1TlyfxZ I would investigate William Rachel and try to find them in the 1880 and earlier censuses. Clarence's birth date of Oct 1888 matches up.

[@dennisgranzow6597]

+Juliana Szucs Thank you so much for your comment and suggestion. What confuses me is that the actual census document shows a last name of Granzow, but the Ancestry.com document shows a last name of Grange. What's interesting, is that in a 1920 Census, my grandfather Clarence had an uncle William living with him. It seems like there may be a connection there. However I haven't been able to find a Rachel Granzow from Michigan.

[@JulianaSmith3]

+Dennis Granzow I think it was supposed to be Granzo if you look at the image. I would search for both spellings since you'll often find names spelled phonetically. I saw the name both ways when I was searching. Searching for Granzo* will pick up instances with and without the W at the end.

[@latoshiaclemons7264]

THANK YOU WINK

[@daliasollenberger8644]

I have a brick wall with finding my mother's family in /rio De Janerio, Brazil. How do I start a step by step to push pass the problem?

[@AncestryUS]

Ancestry has more than 15 million historical records from Brazil. You could use the Ancestry Card Catalog to familiarize yourself with what records are available for what areas in Brazil and what time periods. More info on how to use the Card Catalog found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip-mcnWepqqFgaM

[@MaxCarroll]

Great video

[@darrylnelson6264]

I have reached a brick wall. I found an ancestor born in 1795. She was a 65 year old female slave that had two daughters that I know of. I have an 1870 US Census and a Alabama Wills and Probate record. She was not listed with any family as slaves were often times separated. How can I research this further? Is it possible?

[@CristaCowan]

It sounds like you've got some great information about this ancestor. I would highly recommend setting up a 30 or 60 minute appointment with Nicka Smith. She is one of the best professional genealogists I know and one of her specialties is Black American research. You can share with her what you have found and she can provide you with a detailed research plan about what to do next. You can book her for a call here: genealogy.coach/nicka-smith/

[@MariaGuzman-it2hh]

You found several possible men in the 1880 census. I missed how you determined which was the correct one in 1990 and beyond.

[@AncestryUS]

Hi, Maria. That's wonderful to hear!

[@debbiemorell4549]

Loved it & only wished that I knew about your you tube classes while I was searching for my Paternal Grandfather's family, but better late than never right?

[@ivoe1574]

I get the impression that in the ole days when a marriage was a failure that they made sure that all written records were destroyed in order to cover up any embarrassment. In short make sure all family secrets were taken to the grave. Think of the icy silence your great grandmother would give you if you asked about Uncle So & So… Different age..

[@rjb6327]

I've done all you have advised to do. The wall remains. After 8 years of beating my head against this wall, I'm giving up and I think I'll find a new hobby,

[@AncestryUS]

Some brick walls take longer than others. And, sometimes the best thing you can do is set it aside for a while and work on another branch of your family tree. When you come back to the brick wall with fresh eyes, it can come tumbling down.

[@rjb6327]

@@AncestryUS I have done this many times with the same results

[@AncestryUS]

@@rjb6327 Then, it might be time to get some new eyes on the problem. Have you considered joining a Facebook genealogy group for the area or joining a local genealogical society?

[@rjb6327]

@@AncestryUS No I haven't but I'll look in to it.

[@patriciajrs46]

I'll ask you this questio, too: what happens, in your family tree, when un related men marry sisters? Also when brothers marry sisters? Please note both families are not related to each other befoe these marriages.

[@CristaCowan]

Hi Patricia - I'm not sure what you mean by "what happens." If you have two sisters in your tree and you want to add their spouses, just go to their respective profile pages and enter their spouses. If the spouses are brothers you can enter them just like you would any other spouse and then add parents to one of them and connect the brothers through their parents (by selecting them from the list of people already in the tree).

[@mikec1478]

I am assuming that some official document of some kind would have to be filed in order for a spouse to get remarried? A divorce decree, a death certificate or such would have to be recorded even in the late 19th century?

[@AncestryUS]

Nope. Not necessarily.

[@NikkoYM]

I understand the time limit for this kind of presentation... however, I wish that "Dr. Barefoot" could do something like: "next time we will discuss how names change" --- "breaking through language barriers" etc. --- and then upload the information to a link to see a "next installment". There are other kinds of brick walls: I come from English descent where the name changed from Wind to Wynes. So, one would need to know about that possibility. And, people also change their names when they immigrate. Also, I'm from Arabic descent, which gets complicated because of the way boys get their fathers' names, and how daughters may be named --- not to speak of an entire different alphabet...and if you don't know Arabic (same for Cyrillic, Greek, Hindi, Chinese) then that language barrier is in itself a big brick wall. Many people may not be able to hire translators. So, a segment on that would be helpful. And, what about war-torn regions - where buildings, churches, temples, even cemeteries etc. are bombed out? I'm not sure if "Dr. Barefoot" will read this comment (as her video is now over 2 years old), but brick walls are complicated by other factors. Otherwise, this was very helpful to organize my process, and get some new ideas. Much appreciated. Thank you, "Dr. Barefoot" for this vid.

[@Manstopplaying]

Thank U

[@vickypaulson9264]

My brick wall is a document I know exists, and I cannot find where it is located, the original manuscript of the 1782 enumerations of Hampshire County, Virginia. It does list how many sons and daughters the head of household has!

[@peaknonsense2041]

Did you find it? If not it's just under the census population table. www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Hampshire_County,_West_Virginia_Genealogy

[@ashtonyoung9101]

My tree was almost mis-interpreted I have dig and dive the people’s father’s wasn’t they actual fathers and was not on the their census at all but I still found most of them. My tree was full of secret childs so that were unknown

[@melissaunruh7517]

Great!

[@raymondwyland9225]

I have been trying to research church or public records pertaining to Carl Friedric Scmidt who is from Miltitzwald Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Germany, but cannot establish a link to this village or it's sister city Pripsleben? I believe he changed his name to Theodor Persinske when he departed Germany and desire to obtain proof.

[@stevenclark8552]

My Brick wall is with my fathers side, after Nedd and Patsy Clark I can’t find anything else

[@frankwood1403]

My brick wall starts with my 3rd great grandfather. He was born in Bolton,Vermont. I do not know who his mother or father were. He was born in 1769. Vermont is a bad state to try to tract any Ancestry. Would like some help to get past this brick wall.

[@AncestryUS]

Have you tried going through Vermont Wills & Probate Records? Look for anyone with the same surname. Read through the wills and probate records to see if they have a son with his name. You can find those records here: search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9084 Also, go through Chittenden County tax records looking for individuals with that surname.

[@northridges1]

I am trying to find my great grandfather Elias Adis and grandma Sarah in Damascus Syria, around 1800s, i hear it was called the ottoman empire can you help me as what to do. thank you Joan Adis

[@LindaMeade]

Ancestry, Yes I have done the DNA test. 46% Western European, 21% Irish, 14% Iberian, 13% Scandinavian, 5% British, 2% Finnish and Northwestern Russian.

[@MattFyrm]

My problem is that all the sites u have found of us records are payed and I don't have the money for that... any tips?

[@elissascotland6100]

Some public libraries give their members online Ancestry viewing access for free.

[@thebubbie2]

How do I search for a family member I have a couple of documents that have the father’s place of birth but I have come to the conclusion that those places do not exist in New York how I don’t have his parents names

[@AncestryUS]

Those places might not exist in New York now. Have you checked historical atlases for the time period when the birth took place?

[@chasingdolphins]

Hello my name is Sandra ( Bessey) Winters I took a DNA test and I have a lot of green leaves in my tree and I don't know how to go on were some of them in my family tree I never meant and in my family history don't have mother and father not showing on my family tree.

[@AncestryUS]

Hi Sandra, thanks for stopping by. Those green leaves are record hints of possible records based on the information you have in your family tree. Once you have reviewed the hint you have the option to dismiss it or add the information to your family tree. You can learn more about Ancestry hints here: support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ancestry-Hints?language=en_US

[@rogerjeffrey]

Whoever came up with the old way of doing a census should be boiled in his own christmas pudding.

[@chrisjoy439]

I’m still can’t find my 3ed Great grandfather James h Joy’s parents

[@kateallen5661]

I have a brick wall ..tracing my grandmother's family ..lots of information down my grandfather's line .. I am a noob to all this too .. she was from Denmark so not really sure how to find information. thinking of doing a dna test .. I have searched her maiden name but haven't found any matches. Sighs will just have to wait to win the lotto to pay a professional.

[@AncestryUS]

Did she always living in Denmark or did she immigrate to somewhere else in her lifetime? Do you know where (city) in Denmark she lived?

[@kateallen5661]

She did immigratie to Australia .I found the passenger list but the only name was Mrs Bjarno. And unfortunately no I don't know where she was born or lived in Denmark. I actually was told when she left Denmark with my Grandfather they werent married. They first went to Africa then Australia. See I really have pickle of a puzzle.

[@AncestryUS]

Did she and your grandfather go through any citizenship process in Australia? That paperwork would likely list her specific place of birth. A death certificate (which you can order directly from the state vital records office) will also have that information. It will be difficult to do any further research without knowing exactly where in Denmark she was from. Another idea - you might want to contact the Dutch Consulate in Australia to see if they have any additional immigration records on Dutch citizens who immigrated to Australia. They likely registered with the consulate upon arrival and may have had to fill out forms with names, birth dates and places, etc.

[@kathybrewer9153]

my grandfather was born in Canada with a different last name. Rumor has it that he changed it by taking his step-father's last name. I can't find a step father and I don't know how to spell the original name of McInnis. If that is the correct spelling. There are other variations.

[@NikkoYM]

***** I would just google something like "genealogy name variations ___________" with the name in the space

[@kantwinnada]

seems that the learning center is gone.

[@liamjohnduncan7626]

I have only one wall it is American as I do not have Americans in my Family my Dna is 70% Irish 17% western European 13% is other scandinavian eastern European