Making the Match “Fit”

A “hint” on a relative indicated they were potentially included in a 1940s era high school yearbook from New York State. The name was relatively uncommon, but I had no evidence to indicate my actual relative (who was born in Illinois in the 1920s and moved to California after the second World War) ever was in New York State.

Instead of trying to see if my relative went to New York, I tried to see if I could find the New York match in other records. Sure enough, there was an entirely other person living in New York State with the same name as my relative and who was born about the same time as my relative.

Instead of trying to see if that “hint” or “match” could fit into your person’s life, see if that “hint” or “match” is actually a separate person by utilizing other records concentrated in that geographic area.