After years of researching one of my 19th century immigrant ancestors, I discovered her sister also settled relatively close to her–arriving a few years later. I had never discovered the sister because the last name is extremely common and record on my ancestor never suggested a sibling who immigrated.
A few years later, it was discovered that the parents of the siblings had also immigrated–settling across the county line where they died and were buried.
Some time after that it was discovered her father’s brother had immigrated to the nearby large town where he left descendants living there to this day. The common nature of the name, Miller, helped the family to fade into the background. Recently while researching the uncle, it was discovered that an unmarried aunt had immigrated as well.
All the individuals could have left records that provided clues as to their origins overseas.
Always ask yourself, could there have been one more member of the family to cross the pond?
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