Remember that family history is not a contest to see who gets the most names. Try and learn personal details about your individual ancestors and relatives.
Newspapers, court records, military records, pension records, etc. are all great places to find out some of these details. Other sources may provide some historical context and information about your ancestor’s occupation and lifestyle.
Learning those other details helps you to get a more complete picture of your relative. It also increases the chance that you do locate information on their parents.
One response
I tell people it’s like reading a history book. I look for newspaper articles, letters, court records, historical museums, family info, etc to piece together the lives of my ancestors. Some are fascinating in what they did and accomplished. I am lucky that many were written about in books and newspapers.