I tried a research methodology on one of my Irish immigrant ancestors. That research was interesting, but did not help me answer my question. The problem is that I’m still going down that rabbit hole and learning things. Those things are interesting, but are not answering my question.
How willing are your to admit that a new approach is needed?
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While there are no guarantees, there are some things a researcher can do when at the courthouse or records office to maximize the chance you are successful locating the desired records:
When you are stuck, sometimes it can be helpful to get off the internet, think about what you are wanting to know and what sources could provide that information.
One approach is to brainstorm, making a list of what could help, who to search for, why to search, and how to get it. When brainstorming, don’t search the internet and don’t worry about how to access the records. That can come later. Brainstorming should be just about making as long of a list as possible.
This chart is a part of my “Creating Effective Research Plans” webinar.
This 1915 document gives the mailing addresses of heirs in a probate case without stating any relationships to the deceased. That is intentional. The purpose of this document was to verify that heirs had been mailed a notice regarding the estate. Other documents explained the relationships. Every document in a court record has a specific purpose and it is probably not to leave behind information for genealogists. Make certain to look at every record in a file. Papers that “look boring” may contain the most information. 
“Near” relatives.
That could be near in the geographic sense or near in the biological sense. Boston, Mass. and West Point, Illinois, are not geographically close. The obituary meant the sisters in Boston and the local niece were the only biologically close relatives the deceased had–not that they were the ones who lived nearby.
Some words can have more than one meaning. Sometimes that is easy to forget.
We often use obituaries and biographies to create rough chronologies of our ancestors lives. This can help us search records. Keep in mind that obituaries and biographies may get details slightly out of order–enough to create confusion in the chronology. The father in a family may have died young before they moved out of state instead of after. The mother may have been the parent that died first instead of the father and the surviving spouse may have actually been the children’s step-mother instead of their mother.
Keep yourself open to the possibility that there may be just one or two key statements in a biography or obituary that are slightly off. That can be all it takes to create a really different story from what actually took place.
I searched over and over for an Agnes Harper in various records. I could not find her in any United States record before 1900. I tried numerous reasonable spelling variations on the first and last name.
Then I located Agnes’ stone on FindAGrave. The stone listed her name as Nancy Agnes Harper–not just Agnes. That was why I could not find her.
Always consider the possibility that you have all the names a person used. That could be why you cannot find them.
Look through the list of bills paid out by your relative’s estate. Is there one for a funeral sermon? The name of the minister could be a clue as to what church they attended?
Or it could have been the first minister they contacted who agreed to give the sermon.
Due to requests from some readers, we’ve put webinars on these topics on our January calendar. Join us! Due to other work commitments, we will not be offering as many webinars in 2017 as we have in the past.
Following topics:
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