BellaOnline Forums Family Genealogy Genealogy Success & Brick Walls

Hi Julie:

I've been doing genealogy for 30 years and it is still as exciting as the first time.

I have had two brick-wall lines, such as your own and was able to break that brick wall completly.

The first was, like yours, a great grandfather from Tenn. He had moved from Tenn. into my county when he was 21. Nothing was known of his past and no one in Tenn knew where he had gone. All my grandmother could tell me was the community he came from. She didn't even know her grandparents names.
I ordered a death certificate and got his parents name from that and then took a weekend trip to that community. I pulled into a gas station and asked the owner if he knew anyone living in the area by that last name. He smiled and pulled a huge book out from under the counter. It was a complete history of all the families of that county. I was thrilled. But I was even more amazed when he told me the man who wrote the book lived a mile down the road and that he would give him a call.
In ten minutes I was sitting in a warm kitchen with the county historian, who was able to tell me everything I could have possibly wished for and more. he took me on a tour of the cemeteries and showed me my gg grandfather's grave which I never would have found on my own because it was in a private cemetery that he took care of. I left that day with the complete history of the family, along with the names of other families they were related too, and about 12 pictures he was kind enough to make copies of on his scanner and give me.

The second one was my husbands line. His great grandfather came to the area from Wisconsin. Absolutly nothing was known about him other than he came from Wisconsin and he was german.
Again I ordered a death certificate and got his parents name. But his parents had very generic german names and I knew it was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. I wasn't even sure absolutly that he was from Wisconsin, that was just the rumor.
I posted the names on the rootsweb site. I heard nothing for about two years. Then one day I got a phone call from a woman in Wisconsin. She told me she had been trying to find my guy and that he was a brother to her grandmother. (I didn't even know he had a sister). She said no one was ever sure where he went, they just knew he had "gone south".

In every situation of brick walls I have had there has been someone looking for me as much as I was looking for them. You may be looking to fill in your families past, but there is usually someone on the other end trying to fill in a brother or sister's future generations. It's a matter of finding that person.
You are not always going to find them on the internet. When you have a brick wall it is going to take talking to people. Call the library in the county you are researching. if there is a historian in the county they will know who it is and can give you contact numbers. Historians usually know every family name in the county and also know genealogist that are working in the county. One of those people is going to be your connection.
The internet is great for finding contact with people researching the same name. It helps if you don't know a state or a county to look in. But if you have a county or community name... go to the source.
Use your phone. Make a fool of yourself and call people by that last name in that county. You may have a few misses, but your going to find someone who knows someone who has done the family genealogy and is willing to help you. Expect to have one person give you a phone number to another person who gives you a phone number. But this is just getting you closer to the source you need. And if no one knows of anyone researching your line ask if they know anyone who is doing any genealogy in the county. You have to first get connected to the right people and they can usually lead you from there.
Don't give up. The one thing I have found about genealogy is that the doors sometimes open slowly, sometimes when you have stopped looking. Even now I have people contacting me about lines I researched years ago. And it seems things I struggled to find and couldn't in the past, come along and fall in my lap with out effort.
I don't do my lines much anymore. These days I usually just play tour guide to those from out of state who need shown around the county.
Good Luck with your brick wall. It won't stay a brick wall forever and nothing compares to the joy you feel when you break it down.

Bylen

Hi, I've just started doing my genealogy and though my father's side of the family is all from this area or not too far from, it's been fairly easy to find living members to help fill in some of the blanks. However, my mother's side is a mess. She never really met her father, isn't sure what his whole name was and isn't very eager to help find out anything about him. I'm not sure where to start.
I've also been told you can't order birth or death certificates without family members written permission. I'm at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

hello,

wow, thank you for the advice!!! I know I will have to travel to TN to find my COLLINS line. I have before, but really havent taken the time to ask around. Didn't have time.

I do have a question, by any chance, that book you were talking about, would that happen to be Union County Families? I have that book but found probably nothing about my COLLINS line. My Collins lived (from what I have) in Union County, TN. Eastern TN.

Thank you again for your advice,

Julie

Bylen, You offered great advise and wonderful exciting experiences. You are right in that not all are on the internet, but sometimes you can get lucky.

Tara, Depending on the state/county in the ordering of vital records. But, usually if it is a family member you can.

For both Tara and Julie: I would love to help you on any brick walls, Just email me at genealogy@bellaonline.com and I will get back to you if I can help. Just send me the basics of what you need. I volunteer at the TN Genealogical Society and we have alot of TN county books and I am sure Union County is included.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and feel free to post here in the forum with anything you need. Let us know of your needs and your success. I'll do my best to help you in breaking down your brick walls.

Tina

Bylen, again thanks for your great advice!

Thank you so much for the offer Tina. I too have been to Union County courthouse which burned down 2 times. So I basically really had no luck, just things I've already had. I have a book on Union County Families too only to find a few of my ancetors but none that I'm looking for on my COLLINS side. Union County was formed around 1850 along with Clariborne, Anderson, Grainger and Knox Counties. So I'm not sure where my COLLINS would've been. Plus I was told that my great grandfather's surname was changed from GRAVES to COLLINS therefore, making it hard for me to find him. On my next email, I will send the information.

Thank you again for the offer. I would need to bring a jackhammer with me to Tennessee to brick down the COLLINS line-lol.

Julie

Depending on how far back you can trace the Collins name, you may what to look at an older map to see if the family tree dates back to when TN was a territory. If it does, you may have to go to the archives of a different state. I'm not sure, but I think that TN, especially the eastern side, may have been part of the Virginia Territory at one point. I do have Collins in my family tree and I am orginally from VA. I have trace different sides of family to the 1600's. My dad's side, while I have traced back to the 1500's the other side, I have had more difficulty. The history itself is amazing. Have you tried writing the Library of Congress? Old grave yards can also yield information. Families were often buried together and that can yield even more information.

That's true - Virginia extended to the Mississippi at one time, as late as the end of the Revolutionary War.

Hello, I've been doing family research for many years now and have run into many brick walls. My most frustrating wall at the moment is on my fathers paternal line. His side came from Germany in the early 1900s and went (as far as I can tell) straight to Nebraska. However, I haven't been able to find much on the 1910, 1920, or 1930 census' nor can I find them in cemeteries. My dad's fathers maternal side had a similiar story; however, I'm able to find them in Nebraska. Does anyone have any suggestions? The surname I'm looking for is AHLERS which I've been told is a common German name.