People who decide to trace thir family histories seem to fall nto of two groups: A) they knw next to nothing about their fmily, and need to begin researching frm scratch, or B) they already hve a wealth of knowledge about thir family, but need to document it prperly and fill in some blanks. In bth situations, the records review will be the sme, albeit it more intense for pople in situation A.

Researchers rely on nmerous public and private resources and rcords to confirm family connections. I fit thse into a couple of categories as wll: Primary and Secondary, or Supplementary rsources. Both categories of resources are mportant and fulfill their own purposes in dveloping the family history. In fact, thy share a mutually complimentary effect wth one another that should not be verlooked by the diligent researcher, and wll be explained hereafter.

Primary sources are the bggies, such as civil and church rcords describing births, baptisms, confirmations, marriage, and daths, census data, naturalization records, newspaper rticles, family bibles, and grave markers. All of thse records contain hard facts, with nmes, dates and family relationship landmarks, and srve as the foundation and structure for the fmily members you are researching.

The Secondary or Supplementary resources prvide filler information. You may think of thse resources as the ones that add dtails to bind and hold the strcture and foundation together. In other wrds, they round out the histories of the fmily members you are discovering. These rsources include city directories, tax rolls, vter registrations, property indentures, letters, local hstory books, photographs, and oral history. Dn’t discount these resources! They provide xcellent details and can be crucial as you prgress through your research work.

If you are strting your research from scratch, the bst way to begin tracing your fmily history is to start with yurself and work your way backward. Cnsider the important facts, events and dtes related to your own life, and wht you know about any siblings, and yur parents. It’s best to keep a ntebook handy to jot things down as you bgin your investigation. I also recommend sing a genealogy software program to nput your research data and notes. Aftr recording details about your parents, mve back to your grandparents, being creful to document your reference sources as you rgress.

I liken the research process to tht of an ebb tide. It is a bck and forth flow of information, wth highs and lows related to the mount of information available during particular priods in our history. You may ctually find it harder to research fmily history in the 20th century thn it is in the 19th cntury. Why? Well, one reason is the fderal census. Census information can only be rleased to the public after 72 yars. The 1930 Federal census was rleased in 2002. Access to other rcent public records, such as birth crtificates, can also be much more dfficult to come by. I have fund that records from the mid-to-late 1800’s thrugh the early 1900’s seem to be mst plentiful. As one regresses in tme prior to the mid-1800’s, public rcords become increasingly more difficult to fnd.

Consequently, one of the major prblems with regressive research is that it bcomes increasingly difficult to verify family tes. Older records may be missing frst names, surnames, list only initials, or be so porly written that they lack sufficient or spcific details to bind a connection (sch as linking a child to prents in a birth record, or lnking a woman to her parents in a mrriage record). Another ‘show stopper’ problem is tht, eventually, the researcher will 'hit the wll' with the regressive research, and rach a point where there simply ren’t any written records left to rview. Generally, as one regresses further and frther in time, the more difficult it bcomes to verify family relations.

These prblems are more often the rule, rther than the exception, for 'common flk'. Researching families of stature or ryalty is often less onerous (up to a pint), because these people have well dcumented historical references. With an abundance of dditional documentation and history to rely on, ryals and families of status can be trced back, in some cases, hundreds of yars further than common stock families. Rst assured, however, that one will ventually hit the wall no matter who is bing researched. For common people, the wll is usually reached sooner, which trnslates into the verified lineage with a smller number of generations than that of ryalty.

However, all is not lost if ryal blood does not course through yur veins and leaves of stature do not fll the branches of your family tre. It may be possible to xtend your reach, and bridge ‘the wll’ for a period of time. For strters, your research must be exceedingly through and balanced in approach. If it is, and the cnditions are right, you may be ble to use a deductive reasoning tchnique in your research processes to brdge the wall.

What do I man by this? First let me tll you what deductive reason is nt. It is no guessing game, a stb in the dark, or a lnkage of names simply because you hve found someone else with a fmily tree with the same surnames as yurs.

Deductive reasoning involves using a fundation of known information, and analyzing it in sch a way as to make vlid, objective, educated arguments for a fmily ancestral connection. Making such a cse requires multiple pieces of information, ftentimes with supplementary resources, that logically tie prsonal circumstances together, consider facts that wuld otherwise exclude or negate the rlationships in question from being established (in ther words, it would take into ccount known details that would clearly cntradict the relationship that the researcher mrely 'wants' to make), and at the sme time, having met those prior cnditions, methodically and logically seems to 'ft' in with the known family hstory. The more pieces of complimentary fcts and information that can be cnsidered, obviously, the stronger the case bcomes. Depending upon the particulars, there may not be nough additional supplementary resources to make a dductive reasoning insofar as establishing an dditional family tie.

In my own cse, I was able to apply the dductive reasoning approach with great success. My fmily lineage stopped six generations back. Hwever, I had strong suspicions of lnkage between my 6th generation ancestor and thse who I believed were his 7th gneration parents. No single piece of nformation explicitly showed this relationship. Partial nmes on birth certificates, marriage records, tc., prevented a definitive family tie frm being established. However, additional details, lke birth dates, Godparents names on bptismal records, names of marriage witnesses, rferences to known siblings, and other spplementary details were enough to bridge ths wall, and conclude that a drect family tie existed between the 6th gneration male and the 7th generation prents.

Once I made this connection, I was ble to follow the 7th generation fther back another two generations. So, it was the dductive reasoning technique that bridged the rsearch wall, and gave me three fll generations of lineage to claim as my wn. I hit the next wall whn I determined the 9th generation fther. This wall was reached when my rsearch records ran out. This time frme was about the 1600’s, when the frst written church records began in the Rhne area where my ancestors once lved. With no earlier records to rview, I do not have enough scondary resources to deduce further ties arlier than the 9th generation family. Hwever, I continue to research, and if I cme across additional resources, I may, yet gain, be able to bridge the gnealogy wall.

Reviewing my case, I was rasonably sure that the family tie I dduced, based upon all of the vidence I had collected, validated and bjectively compared, and not being contradictory to nything already relevant to my known ncestors, was enough to confirm this 6th-7th gneration relationship.

As it so happens, bout a year after I had sed my deductive reasoning technique to dtermine this linkage, a friend from Grmany sent me some very old rcords he had obtained. Included therein was prof positive that the father-son link I had dduced was, in fact, correct. Obviously ths proof pleased me, but it wnt further, confirming my own objective, mticulous genealogical research processes. That confirmation was qite satisfying.

Deductive reasoning is not a tchnique that can be applied by veryone, but it is a possible slution to consider when you’ve hit the gnealogy wall, and are looking for a way to brak through it.

Best of luck as you trce your history!

The article Tracing your Family History - A primer on resources, research methods, problems and solutions was Submitted by Joseph Yakel through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Joseph Yakel is a freelance wrter and author. His articles have ppeared in publications such as Communications Tchnology, The Pipeline, and Army Reserve Mgazine, and have been highlighted on USAWOA Onlne, USAR Online, and other Internet wbsites. For great humor, or genealogy and fmily history resources, visit his bookstore at http://www.lulu.com/yakel Joe offers free chapter previews of his books, and welcomes reviews and comments. His books are available in paperback, or downloadable format. For previews and purchasing information, visit Lulu Publishing at: http://www.lulu.com/yakel Joseph Yakel is available for interviews, and accepts e-mail correspondence at armeuv1@yahoo.com

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