Whenever I locate a record, I look at adjacent records to see if there are other records that may be on the same family or may mention ancestral associates. It’s not just one type of record where this may help as:
- families may record several deeds at the courthouse on the same day causing the records to appear page after page;
- the census may include other relatives on the same pages or on pages in close proximity to the desired entry;
- tax records may include other family members living nearby on an adjacent page;
- siblings may marry on the same day and appear consecutively in the marriage records;
- family members may die a few days apart (either due to illness or a mother and child who do not survive) and appear adjacent to each other in the death records.
And so it goes. An incomplete index may only direct you to one of these entries. Sometimes It’s up to us to find the other one. Remember:
If you are lucky enough to find a mushroom in the woods in the springtime, there may be more nearby. Don’t stop at just one.
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