Week 4: Overlooked

 OVERLOOKED

Having been actively doing genealogy research for 2 decades and "dabbling" for years before that, I have learned to not overlook the little details.  You may be missing out on pertinent information.

One of the reasons I only "dabbled" for several years is that I could not find records of my ancestors.  (Of course this was pre-internet, so accessibility to records was part of the problem.) Working at an academic library, I had access to the internet in the early days and financial assistance in purchasing home computers.  But when I tried to search my Allen ancestors in what is now Simcoe County in Ontario Canada, I was never able to pinpoint my Allens that had sailed from Liverpool England (according to what I had been told was recorded in the family bible).  As more data became available online, I came across a family tree with names and dates that matched the information that I had, but they were from Ireland!  But the youngest son was born in England and his birth date corresponded to shortly before the date of the family's voyage to Canada from Liverpool.  Was it possible that the family had left Ireland to sail to British North America from England?  Waiting long enough to have a child to be born before embarking for the New World? 

Ireland?  Growing up with a large extended family, I never heard any mention of being Irish - even on Saint Patrick's Day.  These people proudly made it known that they participated in the Orangeman Parades every 12th of July.  How could they be of Irish descent?  But apparently that was the case.  Going forward in my research, I found that ethnicity was usually reported in the census as Irish.

The university I worked at was a Depository for Canadian government records, so I had access to microfilm copies of the Canadian census - long before they were digitized online.  I would check for the reels covering Simcoe County and scroll through the reels.  I recognized a few names, but mainly on my mother's side, not my father's Allens.  Doing more research, it turned out that for the purpose of census, electoral or historical names not geographic naming was still in use.  So instead of Simcoe, I needed to search the reels for Cardwell.  Even though searching is much easier now adays, it would have still been easy to overlook and discount the entries for the Irish Allens in Cardwell Districts.

I have also learned to not overlook people listed in a household that do not appear to be family members.  Even if an individual is listed as a lodger, boarder, domestic, etc make note of them as subsequent research could reveal that the individual is actually a family member or a future in-law.  

My great-grandparents John & Annie Cooper were listed as boarders in the William Kyte household in the 1881 England census.  Guess what Annie's maiden name was?  I had not known her parents' first names but further research did confirm that the newlywed couple were enumerated with her parents.

There have been times that I have found an individual from my tree listed in the household of what appears to be non-family.  But further research reveals that the household actually belongs in my tree as well.

To avoid having to back track with my research, I now enter these individuals into my database so that at least the information available in that census is already entered come the time I am able to attach them to my tree.  (RootsMagic is great for this as I make use of the colour coding feature to highlight that the individual is not yet tied to a branch.)

Another thing that should not be overlooked when researching censuses are the neighbours of your ancestors.   The wife could be a married daughter and the mother-in-law could be the widow of an ancestor.  Or the farm labourer or domestic could be a child of your ancestor that is helping out a neighbour. 

FAN (Friends, Associates and Neighbours) researching is another type of researching that is often overlooked. People want to only rsearch their direct ancestors.  But by expanding one's research to FANs, the elusive female's maiden name may be discovered.  Or the married name and family of the daughters of ancestors.  

Another method that I try to not overlook is researching of siblings of people that marry into the family.  I may not do extensive researching of such people, but I have found basic research of such individuals assist in locating/verifying information about the in-law in my tree. 

This information has also helped lead to obituaries that can provide more relevant data on family tree members.  Obituaries of parents of an in-law may list the names of their grandchildren who are members of my tree.

One may want to quickly record the data found in the current document and move on to the next one.  But slow down and read all the details.  If necessary, make note for further research at a later time.  Do not overlook even the smallest detail in a record - it could lead to more information, or confirm your existing data.