My grandson had his 14th birthday and I gave him a new set of sun glasses. These sun glasses enable you to see the fish in the water!
You see, my grandson is a fisherman of considerable experience–with an array of poles for different kinds of fish. And he was delighted with his new glasses.
What if…I could give you sun glasses that enables you to see and distinguish your hard-to-find ancestor in the documents? Among the billions of entries included online at just two sites: Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org?
When I confront a problem genealogy, my first question is: what genealogy research strategy has not yet been applied to this ancestor?
- Not what source shall I examine first…
- Not what locality can I check first…
- Nor even which strategy from my arsenal is the best one to apply first…
Don’t you know…I get only the hardest-to-find ancestors to search for–the toughest research problems you cannot solve yourself. And I am okay with that. When you have already searched a lot of sources–even if all you have done is check the online databases–you have only scratched the surface of the records available to search for your difficult pedigree forebears.
So, an arsenal of strategies could be the sun glasses that would enable you to see the ancestors you need. And I have such an arsenal ready to share with you.
Keep posted to my blogs–this Genealogy News Sheet, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, New York, and my new Scots-Irish blog about to be launched. The next several issues will include genealogy strategies that work on tough ancestors. Your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com
PS Watch also for the contents of my new guide to Pennsylvania Basic Sources and Strategies. It will be finished and printed on Monday so I have copies for the Colorado Circuit Family History Expos in North Platte NE, Rapid City SD, Sheridan WY, and Loveland CO. I’m speaking on Pennsylvania at the Northern Colorado Expo in Loveland. Will I see you there?
PPS My webmaster organized my email–if you haven’t heard from me it is because your email was lost in a sea of mail–thousands of them. Including more than 4,000 “junk” mail. I have a good filter, so I don’t get yukky photos. I get a batch of Chinese–don’t know how to filter for languages.