South Bay Cities Genealogical Society

Promoting Genealogical Education and Research in Southern California's South Bay

Beginner's Basics

Are You A Bricklayer?

by Connie Moretti

When a group of genealogists gets together, conversation frequently includes "brick wall" ancestors. From time to time we all encounter those ancestors whose lives are extra difficult to trace, but are you creating your own stumbling blocks by being a bricklayer?

Have you ever heard someone say, "Oh, we never spelled our name that way"? That is one form of bricklaying. Spelling is, at best, an inexact science. Remember that many instances of a person's name come from oral reporting, so the spelling is what the writer, clerk, or enumerator thought it should be. In my own research I've frequently encountered members of the same family who spelled their surname differently, often when someone thought an added 'e' or 'y' looked more elite.

Then there are given names. When adding middle names became popular, many people used their first and second names interchangeably. Others opted to use initials in place of one of their names. Of course nick-names play an important role, too, so you need to be alert to what other people, especially family members, are calling your ancestor. Missing any of these clues can build another brick wall.

All too often, bricklayers rely on family legends. Many family stories contain at least a grain of truth, but it is not unusual for generations to become compressed in the re-telling. Another feature of family lore is the connection to famous persons. My grandmother was certain we were related to John Adams. She was partially correct, for we do stem from John Adams, a Virginia farmer, but not the Massachusetts born president. Use family stories as clues rather than depending on them as documentary evidence.

Other bricklayers don't take account of personal life changes. When a man who was able to read and write suddenly signs documents at the end of his life with a mark, it could still be the same person. He might have suffered a stroke or paralysis which prevented him from writing his name.

Failure to cast a wide search net can be another form of bricklaying. If your family lived near a political boundary line — township, county, or state — are you including the adjacent area in your searches? Social relationships may have been more convenient in the next area, including church membership. It is always important to search membership lists and newspapers for both areas. A wide net also includes all known family members. Elderly family members may live with children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews. This can be vitally important in 1880 and the following censuses when each household member reported not only their own birthplace, but that of their parents.

Bricklayers often do not use a systematic approach to their research. They look at one or two censuses and a vital record or two and then try to jump back to the previous generation. It is important to examine every possible record created by or about an individual. Looking at an actual marriage document rather than a compiled register may provide both parents' names and individuals birthplaces, but if you rely on the index, you miss those important facts. Other family members — adult siblings, parents, cousins - may be living with your family during one census enumeration, but if you don't look at every available record, you'll miss that important information that can help to identify your ancestral family.

Granted, some ancestors left few records and present research problems, but all too frequently we build our own brick walls by jumping to conclusions and wearing blinders as we search. With the wonderful resources available today, a diligent researcher doesn't need to also be a bricklayer.

[First published in The Beacon, November/December 2010.]