EASIEST TOOLS to Use for Cluster Genealogy Research

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

🔎 What is Genealogy Cluster Research? 👉🏼 kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6iplqOeg5t4nJo

[@epocheo]

With clustering I was able to form a hypothesis of who my Brick walls mother is. I have his name on a probate document, looked in the city of the probate for my surname. Found an Elizabeth , looked for the other people who signed the probate, do they live near Elizabeth, they do. Do this for the next 40 years and follow each family from the probate record and they stay around Elizabeth. Elizabeth lives with another person when older, maybe a brother of my brickwall. Learn about this person, marries people from the family that had ppl sign the probate document. Find another brother living few houses down, also marrying into a family not on the probate but that lived near Elizabeth. Also Elizabeth has children that match the age of my brickwall. I now always use cluster genealogy to see who lives around my family members on census records and usually view 5-10 pages left and right of my person of interest.

[@epocheo]

I did not know people make spreadsheets of all the people with a certain surname in a state. I have considered doing that but thought "this is too excessive" but when I have time will def have to do it...

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

It's only excessive if you don't want to tackle a surname project. If you're working on a large project, you'll discover that the spreadsheet is essential. Again, everything depends on what project you're working on.

[@sioux9468]

Thanks for this info! I create tables or charts frequently, but seeing what headings to include in some research projects is helpful, and your suggestion to link names on the chart to profiles online was great! I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and ideas with a bunch of unseen strangers out here.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

You're welcome. My pleasure.

[@ABQKLMS]

Really a useful video, Devon. I've been working on name-specific studies in Slovakian records on FamilySearch to clarify some relationships that aren't clear, and to solve the mystery of my great grandmother's brick wall. I approach in two ways: For those where I know names and the location, I work with parish records to create separate sheets for births, deaths, and marriages, then go back and tie the records together. For cases like my great grandmother, I work through sets of villages to find families that might match timewise. I start with indexed, searchable records and work towards those that aren't indexed for the period.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

What a great project! Good luck.

[@MagnaMater2]

That is my momentary research-method, too. I hit a brick-wall with a missing marriage entry in my grandfather's - perhaps - family, (that hopefully includes the names of the pair's parents) and only hopefully matches somehow with the hereditary-line of the neighbouring farmstead I reconstructed so far back to the 1590's. Problem: it's a pretty common familyname, and every village has at least three lines of them, some of which ONLY PERHAPS have a common ancestor somewhere in the 1400's when these familynames came in use. And one of these Toms in the other villages is not a local Tom there, but my missing Tom marrying his Lene.

[@ValorieZimmerman]

I love the last minute or two, when you stress collaboration with both cousin-researchers and those who are researching your family's FAN club. That's genius! I like the new FamilySearch FT ability to link some non-family people together. I wish they had more relationships, or the ability to create custom ones. Slaveholder enslaved person is particularly important as are domestic partners, business partners, etc. I use Nicole Dyer's Airtable Research Log / FAN Club format and it is a game-changer for me, and is making me reluctantly love research logging. It cuts out so much extra typing to be able to link the FANS directly to the same record sets as my research subject. I'll check out the other two sources you link to. Thank you Devon!

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Thanks Valorie for adding to the conversation with the suggestions about Air Table. I still can't get behind that but we don't all research the same. Thus, I love having folks share other resources they use. You're awesome for doing just that.

[@darlenesye1609]

I Love using spreadsheets to supplement my research I remember the first supplemental spreadsheet I created was a diy Handybook/Redbook for Georgia counties associated with my peeps. It's still in use and growing. I would use a combination of Marc's and Connie's tables.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Awesome Darlene! Thanks for sharing your use of spreadsheets.

[@ancestreejoan]

I'd like to see a comparison of all the DNA Cluster reports - benefits of one over the other, differences between them, accuracy, etc.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

I'll see what I can do for that.

[@jeslookn5470]

Thank you for this video. Very informative.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

My pleasure.

[@debbieroot4618]

Very informative. - as usual. Thank you!

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@janetc2238]

I did not find Show Notes. Great video with the new info. I use charts a lot and your suggestions are invaluable. I use AirTable and the bases designed by Nicole [Family Locket] has included FAN Club to add as doing research. It's a great table and includes timelines. Also DNA.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Oops. Sorry. Here they are www.familyhistoryfanatics.com/organize-genealogy-cluster-research