If you have used any sort of genealogy database, such as FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com, you will know that once you type ancestor information into the search fields and choose the "search" option, you will get a list of possible matches. On Ancestry.com it is even easier than that; once you add a person to your tree, it gives you the "leaf hints" of possible matches, without even having to go to the search process. It is great!
These hints or lists really are fabulous. They take hundreds of thousands of records and sort them in a blink of an eye. Most of the time these hints are very, very useful---and I really don't want to belittle the worth of using the hints.
My tip to you is this, however, please dig deeper. Always dig deeper. Look through the leaf hints, look through the first page of results, but then continue on and dig deeper. I cannot tell you how many times I have been looking for records of any type and kept going past pages 5, 6, 7 and so forth and found incredibly useful information.
There are many reasons these records might not show up on the first page of search lists---it could be a misspelled name, a wrong birth year or just not a very popular record. Census records tend to be one of the first records a researcher uses to find out family information. Census records also tend to be one of the main records linked to a search. Every time someone attaches a census record to a specific person, it is more likely to come up as a primary record the next time that person is searched by another researcher.
Digging deeper can help you find previously unmatched records, like tax records, wills, military activities, etc. Each time you do this, you have the potential to unlock previously unrecorded information about your ancestor. Some records I have found by digging deeper have been Civil War service records, wills that tie two ancestors together and proving a relationship that I had suspected and passenger lists showing when an ancestor first set foot in the United States.
So again, follow the leaf hints, look through the first page of search results, but don't take the easy way out, keep digging and you will be surprised what you might find on the 9th, 10th or 100th page of results!
These hints or lists really are fabulous. They take hundreds of thousands of records and sort them in a blink of an eye. Most of the time these hints are very, very useful---and I really don't want to belittle the worth of using the hints.
My tip to you is this, however, please dig deeper. Always dig deeper. Look through the leaf hints, look through the first page of results, but then continue on and dig deeper. I cannot tell you how many times I have been looking for records of any type and kept going past pages 5, 6, 7 and so forth and found incredibly useful information.
There are many reasons these records might not show up on the first page of search lists---it could be a misspelled name, a wrong birth year or just not a very popular record. Census records tend to be one of the first records a researcher uses to find out family information. Census records also tend to be one of the main records linked to a search. Every time someone attaches a census record to a specific person, it is more likely to come up as a primary record the next time that person is searched by another researcher.
Digging deeper can help you find previously unmatched records, like tax records, wills, military activities, etc. Each time you do this, you have the potential to unlock previously unrecorded information about your ancestor. Some records I have found by digging deeper have been Civil War service records, wills that tie two ancestors together and proving a relationship that I had suspected and passenger lists showing when an ancestor first set foot in the United States.
So again, follow the leaf hints, look through the first page of search results, but don't take the easy way out, keep digging and you will be surprised what you might find on the 9th, 10th or 100th page of results!
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