“Start” Over

Stuck? Put aside everything you have on an ancestor and “recollect” your information on him. It’s not necessary or practical to throw out what you have found and “start over.” It’s just helpful to review each document you have and contemplate what that document really says (and does not say). It may be helpful to create a whole new database entry for this ancestor and re-enter the paper material you hae and then try and relocate the data you found in online digitized records. Think carefully about every assumption you have made and every step in your logic and reasoning. Perhaps starting over (or pretending to) is what you need to do to get over that brick wall.