What's Your Problem?

-

While the NGS Monthly is free, I've been going through these short to-the-point articles. WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM? by Aaron Goodwin put a point on the issue for me and how I've been doing research lately. Mr. Goodwin stresses setting up a standard: start your plan with a focused question based on known information. [1]

What's the Question?

I realize that while I have been posing some research questions, they may not be based on known information. So my first action is to created an extremely detailed timeline of Effie McBee's life, since my first question is about her last husband, Mr. Hunt, when and where they married and when and where he died. I think this is necessary to find out when and where she died. Her last known married surname and location is in her older brother's obituary:



What Facts are Known?

Effie was my great-aunt, so not a huge brick wall. I know who her one child was, and the descendants of that child. Still, I want to know when and where she died. Already in the gathering of this detailed information, I have a clue to when her sister Rosa died. I never noticed before that her mother, my great-grandmother, gave different answers to the questions about how many children she had in 1900 and 1910. 1900: 7 born; 5 living. 1910: 7 born, 4 living. The deaths of this family are known, except Effie and Rosa. Effie is definitely alive in 1910, which means that Rosa died between 1905 and 1910. Now to find evidence of that!

Create a Detailed Timeline

Before this, I'd been making do with the built-in timeline on Ancestry.com. Since I want to test out working in a far more focused way, I've created the detailed timeline. It has been quite a bit of work; so far it is well worth the trouble and I've already found new facts and new side questions, such as Rosa's death. 


I decided to keep track of the timeline at Wikitree since it is available to all, and it fits right in with the WikiTree mission. You can see the timeline on her profile: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/McBee-250

I'm really happy I've done this work, because so many avenues have come to light. If you haven't tried this, pick a smaller question, and dig in!

1. Nancy A. Peters and Allen R. Peterson, “Editors’ Corner: Start with a Plan,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 107 (March 2019): [3]; PDF, NGS Quarterly Archives (www.ngsgenealogy.org/ngsq/ngsq_archives/ : 22 May 2019).


Valorie Zimmerman

Comments

  1. ValorieFebruary 4, 2024 at 7:21 PM

    By the way, I have found Effie in the 1950 Census living with Mr. Hunt. I have found his first marriage and family and even his death, but nothing beyond 1950 for Great-aunt Effie. Someday, perhaps....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a...
Read more

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it ...
Read more

Help Save This Abused and Neglected Cemetery

-
Image
Screen capture from Google Maps History In an exchange of emails this past week in both the main SKCGS group, and in the Washington-State-Genealogy group, many facts were revealed about the history of the I.O.O.F. Comet Lodge Cemetery, also known as the Old Burying Ground, the Georgetown Cemetery, the Graham Street Burying Ground and maybe more.  FindAGrave sums it up this way: "Since it was established in 1881, the Comet Lodge cemetery site has been whittled away to less than half its original 5 acres. Records are sketchy but it's safe to say that some 500 pioneers were buried here, atop unknown numbers of native Duwamish people. New burials ended in the 1930s. Since then, homes and streets were built on top of many of the plots as the neighborhood around the cemetery grew.  "Upkeep and ownership of the cemetery bounced between the city, civic groups, relatives of Comet Lodge residents, and nearby neighbors. For years, much of the property was allowed to deteriorate int...
Read more