My MOST Controversial Genealogy Advice!
Vložit
- čas přidán 13. 04. 2023
- There is some often-repeated advice about staying focused when researching your family tree. I've reconsidered it.
➡️ See how to access millions of genealogy clues: • Find Millions of Genea...
#genealogy #familyhistory #ancestry
✅ Pick up a free copy of Amy's guide "5 Online Search Strategies Every Genealogist Should Know: www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/search...
🔍 🔍 Find more genealogy and family history tips at www.amyjohnsoncrow.com
📙 Amy's book "31 Days to Better Genealogy" is available on Amazon:
amzn.to/3c2Nono
(Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Check out this great genealogy rabbit hole to fall into: czcams.com/video/8a8hUOHd6Ug/video.html
Another benefit of rabbit holes ... gaining broader perspectives on society, history, etc. Even if nothing ultimately relates to your own research, you've broadened your understanding of the world.
Yes! Family history is better when we understand the context!
@@AmyJohnsonCrow Definitely, Family History is what got me interested in history more broadly as you say our ancestors didn't live in a vacuum and the decisions they made about their lives would have been informed by what was going on around them. I'm a mixture of British, Dutch and Mauritian Creole (Mozambican, Malagasy, Indian and Chinese) so there is so much reading I could be doing about the history of where my family came from that at times it can feel overwhelming.
Rabbit holes are where I live. I love connecting dots even if people aren't close to my family.
Isn't it fascinating to see how everything connects?!
I've always ignored the "stay focused" advice because I find it limiting. Following the rabbit holes is the best part about genealogy research, in my opinion. I end up learning things I might otherwise not know, and my family history is all the richer for it.
Same here.
'Stay focus' and 'get organized ' did not benefit me at all.
I thoroughly enjoy rabbit holes. They keep me motivated, and I learn along the way. If it wasn't for rabbit holes, I may have quit years ago.
I'm happy someone said it out loud 😅
Thanks Amy!
Ive been researching my ancestors since 2010. I came to the same conclusion. I write my notes in a notebook, including all the rabbits that pop up, the bunny trails, and the holes they jump into. I can't tell you how grateful I am for those notes. When I look back through the notes I realize that some of the rabbits were actually leading me to my ancestors.
What a wonderful, fun thing to realize. Good for you. Keep up the good fun.
Just did that the other night (until 2:30 am on a weekday). I learned new history and had a blast despite not finding the answer to the original question or finding a link in my DNA match’s family tree.
That's exactly how I have been doing research for over 40 years now and I LOVE IT! I have learned so much about so many things, besides who my ancestors are. There are times I need to really focus on just one question, but personally, I love those rabbit holes and all they can teach me. Thanks for a great message. I feel better about myself now hahaha
Sometimes I wonder if my family fell down a rabbit hole and came out as rabbits. One "great-grand" parent had 13 siblings!
Yikes! Talk about research possibilities! :-)
My biggest "rabbit holes" was following my distant cousins in-laws and their ancestors. This could happen quite easily in Ancestry etc., if you don't monitor very closely the person you are researching. But in the end - especially in smaller communities in the Midwest - I got a lot of information about life and the origin of families. Often those settlers came from the same small village in Germany and were related before. So following my cousins and the ancestors of their partners led to situation, where those often neglected families cross my familytree multiple times with different cousins and generations. Like vines wound around my family tree. Working generations forward and backwards I often find new unexpected cousins and have even the chance to verify relationships a second time. In short: In the end - especially in small towns - I can't even say, if I am related to only one part of a couple or to both before doing that research.
Yes I totally agree. I believe I have one family that I have relatives from both paternal grandparents and maternal grandmother.
@@carolecampbell8813 Just as a context: That is a very common situation for me in Glandorf, Putnam, Ohio. My 2nd ggrandmother's relatives went there with - I think - her grandfather and a lot of his siblings. 3 generations into the founding of the town, my research of in-laws always leads to same set of founding families. So being related to both partners seem to be the normal case in Glandorf after 1910/1920 - both of them being 6th cousins to me - sometimes 1 generation apart. After that the mobility of my cousins became bigger and they intermarry into other towns, creating shortcuts in my pedigree in other places, since I have lots of emigrants on my paternal side in Ohio in neighbouring communities (a dozen familynames app.). This even created a connection between my own paternal line and the offshoot, that went to Ohio. Another branch connects to my paternal grandmother's cousins in Delphos, Ohio. What I have now is a not a tree anymore, but an entangled web. But I can - at least in that area - notice a family name and find out very quickly, where they first lived in the U.S. and where the family came from. It is probably in a distance of no more than 25 miles from my father's hometown.
Thank you for the "permission" to wander down the rabbit holes!
You bet!
I have done the same thing. Then I started researching how I’m related to my dna matches and some of these rabbit hole ancestors that were added to my tree helped me figure out the connection. 😊
Thank you for helping me remove my guilt over the rabbit holes! I love researching - but sometimes I get caught up in the "I should haves" -- You made my day!
I have a set series of rules about when I must expand my research. Basically, I research the immediate history of every partner. Which opens up webs of divorces and re-marriages. I also research the downward history of every child. And if by doing both of these I find more than one connection with another family, then I research that family until I have identified the top of the pyramid of connections - the common ancestors of the connections - and then I go down again to the bottom of that family, taking in every member of that family on the way. So I inevitably head down rabbit holes. Lots of them.
I have lost count of the number of times that such rabbit holes have produced that nugget of info that explains a lot about my closer family: examples would be a missing child, or a female member of my family living with a branch of the other family that provides me with a married name.
Obviously, the number of "useless" rabbit holes far, far exceeds the number of useful ones. But, then, I enjoy it. So there you go.
Isn't it amazing how sometimes you think it's "just" a rabbit hole, but then it ends up helping solve another problem that you had!
The rabbitholes are where the answers are hiding.
I've gotten many family photos from my tangent rabbit holes from other families of that "not my direct ancestors"😂
Photos can lead to *so* many rabbit holes!
My favorite rabbit hole is finding a more famous relative of my ancestor to research. I have done that so many times. But they usually do have a lot of records that can help me understand the times and places.
I'm ADD and anything shiny, even in genealogy, I follow it. They have broken down walls this way. I have found some great historical information including a cousin that went down on the Titanic and the family story about Abraham Lincoln being a first cousin to a grandmother.
I dont always go much deeper with them but it is noted on Ancestry. I always tell people if they have a wall then go through a window around the back. This means if you cant dont have that door to go through then look granddads parents names then look at uncles and cousins and go deep through them. If you cant find grannys maiden name then look at the back of her gravestone or the back of a document.
I've found the information I need through medical records, delayed birth certs. the back of gravestones. I love rabbit holes
YES!!! I regard my ADD as an asset, not a liability. In my mind, being distractable means being intensely curious. When we stray from the prescribed discipline we're supposed to follow, many of us 'distractables' become hyper-focused while spelunking in rabbit holes and, ironically, are able to maintain the research far beyond the point when others would have given up. My favorite stories about my ancestors have typically been found deep below the surface.
Case in point, if I had not been distracted by the sad fact that a 6th great-grandfather had died on Christmas Day 250 years ago, I would not have bothered to next discover that his wife also died on that same day. With a bit of help from Google, I was soon tunneling to gruesome details about a defiant Creek Indian who led two murderous raids on settlers' cabins in defiance of a land treaty his Chief had negotiated with the British Governor of the colony of Georgia.
The first version of that story stated that this entire family of Irish immigrants was massacred in that Christmas raid. This didn't seem possible because it inferred that their daughter (my 5th great-grandmother) died at age 13. Deeper down the rabbit hole, I found notes indicating that the daughter and one sibling had spent that fateful Christmas elsewhere at an uncle's homestead.
Of course, I had to dig deeper and eventually learned the actual name of the rebellious Indian who led that raid and a similar attack several days later. I learned that he was subsequently executed by his tribe for this offense and that those two attacks altered the manner in which later treaties were negotiated. I also read letters written by that colonial Governor in which he complained about the strong-willed, poorly educated Irish settlers in his territory, referring to them as 'Crackers'. (Who knew that derogatory label was in use back then?)
I suppose I could have been content with merely accepting the perfunctory name, date & death place of an ancestor and calling it 'Done' but none of that would have intrigued any of my non-genealogist relatives who wonder why we genealogists are so passionate about what we do. Their interest in the dramatic family tragedy, plus my deeper understanding of Native American political machinery were my personal rewards. Stories bring our history to life and we often only find those details deep down a complex rabbit hole.
Hmmm, thank goodness for this feedback. I think I am surrounded by rabbits (and the holes they leave) and keep thinking how it might be "wasting my time". At the same time, I continue to learn and enjoy it. An example being referring to videos like this for information. Another is just recently volunteering as a photographer for Findagrave requests. Had I not investigated that rabbit hole, via CZcams, I wouldn't have even known about it! I am looking forward to getting outside and taking my love of genealogy down another road (in local cemeteries). ☀
Learning, exploring, connecting -- those are all good things! (BTW, I'm looking forward to some cemetery trips, too!)
I think we all have that one ancestor that will drive us down a rabbit hole or two to try to find out where they either came from or where they fit in the family tree. I have that with a great great grandmother. She shows up at 14 taking care of an older member of another family. When he dies she moves in with that family and then meets and marries my great great grandfather. Nowhere in the federal census for that area is there any family with her last name (found in a marriage certificate). I have found cousins and other relatives in my search though. I haven't given up the search and if I ever figure out where she came from you will hear me shouting from the rooftop!
Yes! There are those ancestors that we keep pulling the threads, hoping that they lead to something!
If you know first and last name and dob, if it's an English name, it's always worth it to check the British Census. I found branches of my family in Belfast and Dublin on the 1850 census. It covers the 4 countries of the UK going back hundreds of years.
As long as I'm not researching on someone else's dime, (which I never have done) I say go for it. It's fun! Great vlog post.
Exactly! If someone is paying you, you need to stay focused. Other than that, the sky's the limit :-)
Going down rabbit holes keeps me motivated and learning as I go about discovering new things. Especially dealing with a small poor community .
Hi thanks for this. I’ve always felt the “stay focused, have a goal, etc” to be unhelpful advice for me and yet “oh dear that’s what I SHOULD be doing.” I’m just not a linear person, although every once in awhile I’ll write a list, it’s usually just to remind myself of recent discoveries and ah-ha moments or speculations. It’s just the way I work. I can’t be someone I’m not. And…some most fun discoveries have happened to me with no focus/goal whatsoever. So again thanks for this.
I love this. It’s exactly how I’ve always researched.
I don’t set specific goals I just go with prayer and how I feel and let my ancestors lead me to them.
It may sound weird but it’s really not. They’re our angels up there guiding us in this work.
I usually end up back to the person I started with at some point and end up finding the information that wasn’t there to begin with. ❤ thanks for the tip.
I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way of doing genealogy . I believe you do what works for you and how our own brain works!
I assumed who the slave holder was for the family that I'm researching. It made perfect sense that the man had the same semi-unique last name, the population was small, and he was a rich land owner and farmer. I just KNEW he was the one for a few months now. Today I finally 'bothered' to research the tax rolls going all the way back to 1848. The man did not enslave even one person according to the tax records that revealed many enslaved for many enslavers. Sigh. *eye roll.... Back to square one of figuring out who the slave holder was.
Ugh! Well, at least you know who it *wasn't*. A lot of people would have just assumed it was him because of the name.
Does slaveholder equate to landowner in that area? If so, the Platte Records for that county might reveal which person from a huge list of names was the one who owned the slaves. Every county has Platte Records, although they may be called Land Survey Records (usually not the same thing though), County Land Tax Map, etc. They show who owned every square foot of land in the county.
@@CricketsBay I used an early map where the names of the land owners were visible. There was a huge "INGRAM" on some of the land and this family name I'm researching is Ingram/Ingraham. I thought it was perfect. Ingram seems like a common name but very often, at least in the early and mid-1800s, it's not at all. Not in Texas and not in the Indian Territory. The families of the name are distinguishable. It seemed so perfect that the Ingram farmer was there but I just can't back it up with the data that he is the slave holder. I was looking at the 1870 census of Grayson county, Texas and many of the Potts families, the older people, were born in South Carolina and that's where some of the household I'm researching were originally from. Potts was the largest slave holder of Grayson county. I figure there is a probability there. But I'm not sure how to break this down from this point forward...how I would find records of the Potts slaves.
My recent rabbit hole was a blessing in disguise. My uncle (who died many years before I was born) married a woman who had children from a previous marriage. They never had any children together. But I decided to trace her anyway, despite the "no blood" connection. And wow, did she turn out to be interesting! But what ultimately made this a great use of my time is that, by coincidence, I spoke with my brother a few days later. I had not spoken to him in at least 20 years, probably closer to 30. He's quite a bit older than me and was married when I was in diapers, so we've never been close. By chance I mentioned the research on this aunt and was amazed to find out that my brother knew her quite well. He recalled playing with her children. And could tell me about them as adults (who they married, where they worked, etc). But he never knew all the things that I found out about her life before she married my uncle. In short, that one conversation about my rabbit hole research has opened up a whole new relationship with my brother, who now calls me 2-3 times a week. ❤
Rabbit holes have slowed down discoveries on one branch, but helps to build other branches. I love them!
Thankyou for your video. I too have been researching for many years as well. Working on one family but got side-tracked but picking up some research of my family that I was doing in the 1990's. Thanks again.
Good luck with your research!
Yes, I do it regularly. I have a notebook (paper) on which I write categories, and if something new - like West Riding of Yorkshire domestic life - comes up, I add that to a new page, and the branch of the family tree to which it refers.
It is great fun and gets you out of the rut of trying to learn about people who did not have much of a paper trail due to being impoverished and/or not notorious! Thanks for this.
I get distr- squirrel! - acted a lot. I figure that, if I save the findings on my tree with the appropriate people, the work isn’t wasted, as that family’s researchers might benefit.
In fact, because I incorporated people and photos of the family of my dad’s uncle’s wife and the story my dad told me about ironic, sort of mystical story of his death, I was contacted by the Wife’s grandniece and given scans of photos and documents of my dad’s uncle and his wife! The couple had been childless, yet that connection helped their memory come alive for those who never met them in life.
Wow! You never know where and how those connections will be made.
I do a community family tree and go down rabbit holes all the time. I often flip through the old papers, find a name, and see if I can find a connection to the larger tree. I have since started doing this broad type searching on my own family tree. Folks lived in communities back then, and often people moved between families for shelter or work. It is a great way to find lost relatives.
Research is research--whether you're proving new relatives, disproving them, or filling out their stories--it all adds to your knowledge. Rabbit holes are my friends; and I've never followed the "work on only one family at a time" instruction, either.
Oh I do this all the time!!
I usually do my research on both ancestry and family search at the same time. So I find my self looking at former spouses, in-laws, or step children. But this really helps me get the whole picture of who I am researching. It’s also helped me fill in the blanks to missing information I have on my relatives.
I love a good rabbit hole! I have always ignored the advice to ignore them. I’m just too much of an information junkie. But a rabbit hole was what actually connected my Wisconsin ancestor to New York and as a result back to Shropshire, England. I wouldn’t have been able to identify the right family and verify parents without that rabbit hole.
I was an intelligence analyst. We respected the rabbit hole phenomenon, and did not begrudge the time spent digging. We often reaped substantial rewards that way. Yes, there were times we had to forswear that kind of distraction. It depended on what kind of mission or project we were working.
Amy, I NEED MORE ADVICE. After you read what I have found out please !! I had been searching for my 4th great grandma's name. She has always been known as Mrs. Blalock. We had learned that Mrs Blalock born 1795 TN ( according to the 1860 census anyway) Well, yes, she was married to William Blalock. Via a DEED we finally learned her first name Katherine. That was amazing. I have done every single thing in the world from 469 pages of marriage records in TN and the 288 pages in KY where Katherine and William lived. Yes, they were in the 1820 census of Warren County, KY with children already.
I have checked many other records everywhere. No Marriage record to e found. Checked her children's marriage, probate etc nothing found ! No maiden name at all ! William, in 1806 was bound to a Harris till 21. That was found by an Historical Soc record. Honestly, I am out of options unless you may have other suggestions. I am 71, :(
I too follow this rabbit hole ALL THE TIME!! And say it constantly!
yes yes yes yes. i have learned so much history going down rabbit holes. there's a lot to be said for contextual circumstances, esp if the people are all living in the same village of 250 people. it's a shared experience. i now read large chunks of church and parish registers because that's where all the town tea is spilt and you can get a real sense of what was going on around the direct ancestors by proximity. such a good point you make.
I love rabbit holes. I learn so much! In researching the company my great grand father worked for, I learned that he was run over. I didn’t know that about him previously. I also learned that my husband’s father was severely burned as a toddler by falling in a camp fire. I think my biggest find was when I was researching why my step great grandfather didn’t have a headstone since he was in the military, he was actually living under an assumed name. I found out that he abandoned his family after stealing money from his employer and somehow ended up with my great grandfather.
I've gone down many a rabbit hole, but it has been worth it usually. I found that trees with deep roots in one area are often interrelated, sometimes in multiple ways when dealing with Maryland or Virginia landed gentry in colonial times and afterwards. I often find sources I was not aware of, and some have been very helpful.
It can give you context. Ive fallen down a rural irish rabbit hole and it had been a great learning experience
Great video! In 2018, I was on a travel forum and asked about church records in Germany. Someone replied to my question with an email link to a church archive. I emailed the church and found a goldmine of information about my ancestors that were brickwalls before that! All Thanks to asking a simple question on a Travel Forum! It's amazing where and how you may find genealogy information! So whenever you think something may not pertain to genealogy, maybe it will!
I'm good with rabbit holes. Sometimes I get focused for sure, but otherwise I want to ENJOY myself. It's my own heaven. I do JUST FINE. I love my FAN research, etc.
I truly appreciate your video here on rabbit holes! Since I took what had been planned as my BCG Case Study (never submitted) and started to use it as an outline for a historical novel, I can't believe how many rabbit holes I've fallen into! Stories about the children's lives, and one about three brothers (?) from Meriden, CT who moved their barbershop to MA. Two of those brothers married the same POV character's daughter consecutively. Nope. Neither one gave her children. But without checking behind every bump and crevice I would never know how to get from point A to point B. So I learned that if I had judged my own portfolio as it was, I would have failed the case study. There was so much more I didn't realize existed! Including finding the correct POV character out of 47 others with the same name living in the same region of Germany! I was close, but no cigar.
Yay! 🎉🎉🎉
I love rabbit holes! Curiosity is my no. 1 personality trait. Videos I've been watching on how to avoid them made me kinda sad. To me, they're such fun and I learn so much! Not just about my family and their dear ones and events impacting their lives, but also new ways to find stuff. New things I clicked on by mistake that led to even more stuff! If I needed to focus because I was being paid to get a job done, I would not likely afford myself these excursions, so that advice is clearly valuable. For me, for now, I'm happy to hippity hop right down that rabbit hole! 🐰
I love this! I feel the exact same way. I just love the thrill of researching so much that when I exhaust one area I will gladly follow rabbit holes, and sometimes they lead me to exactly where I needed to go. But more importantly, it’s like you said, people don’t live in a vacuum. I want to know what’s going on with their extended family and neighbors so I can get a better picture of what their life was like!
Absolutely! I wish I had this advice when I started out b/c I certainly hated the rabbit hole when I finally figured out I was in the rabbit hole, but I never really appreciated what skill I had developed at the time. So when I feel like, whoops done it again, it's not so bad.
That's the spirit!
I find myself going down rabbit holes a lot. I have fun doing it.
Thank you for this !
Another fabulous video. I am always learning and enjoy genealogy. Goon on yo, Amy. Rabbit holes ahoy 😊
I always research sibling's branches as they are the ones which may have got the family bible. I also the research the families of the wive that married in. All of these allow you to make contact with other who may have information.
3:27 well, Amy, you are absolutely right and I commend you for speaking out. Yes, we all have goals on our Genealogy, but going down the rabbit hole sometimes does produce results. And yes, it is fun to go down the rabbit hole and yes if your research turns to another line keep it going isn’t that the way they investigate a crime they follow the leads they don’t follow a goal anyways thank you for reminding me that it is OK to follow the rabbit hole.
PERFECTLY sensible. Almost all of us are not doing this for a living. We are not being paid to find what happened to great great aunt Mary by the end of the month. It ought to be fun! I research things which I find interesting. Surnames on the edge of my tree. The TV weather forecaster with the same surname as my gg grandmother's second husband. The victim of a crime committed by a distant cousin. All the previous owners of my car. I also volunteer at our local FH society's research centre, helping anyone who turns up. These things lead me to find out about different parts of the country. They develop research skills. Success on someone else's family helps me feel good, even when I am not making progress on my own. As it happens, one of the people I've helped had ancestors who were rabbit skin furriers!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have enjoyed going down many rabbit holes!
I love the rabbit holes - I have learned so much about history and individuals
A few years ago, I was working on the ancestral line of my maternal grandfather, who had abandoned his wife and young daughter and practically disappeared. I came across someone whom I believed to be his father and vigorously worked that line for several months, hoping to come across a DNA cousin match somewhere in the descendant line. But it was all to no avail, as I was working an entire family to whom I am not related, and I ultimately disconnected them from my tree. I am left with the thought that my research will help someone else who IS working that family, as I believe my research on them was solid.
Having several very common names I have to really verify before I add new info to my tree. This causes me to sometimes get off who I'm actually researching but I follow the info as sometimes it takes to original person or someone in his family like 2nd wife!! I always look at full census page since I found several neighbors (relative and spouse) who married when young. I have so many relatives I wish I could find how they met. Sometimes I find that several families with maybe 3 separate homes close together. Frequently when trying to check and verify info I get off/down in that rabbit hole of info and 2 hours later I find info but can no longer remember after 1st hint how I got to the new person. I searched for one name for over a year as I went to 1st grade with someone who became my best friend and I couldn't believe this name showed up in my family. I kept finding info but not exactly what I needed to verify same family. One day magically the right record showed up. Her dad and a paternal female family married into came from brothers several generations back. Don't know if the 1950 census becoming available allowed more new hints causing this new info to be able to found. Her relative is thru a Thomas B. and mine married his brother Stephan B. Wish I knew how they met as didn't live in same city and mid to later 1800s you didn't get in the car and go. Yes trains were available but you had to have a reason to travel there. Too often I start hearing the birds and never got to bed as lost in time!!!
So easy to get onto a tangent when the info is there to support the research.
Thank you for this! I'm new to genealogy and have been feeling guilty about going down so many "rabbit holes". I've been trying to stay focused! But, just this morning I followed a rabbit hole that helped me find a photograph of an ancestor in my tree and his whole family. Another rabbit hole helped me figure out that my Indiginous American DNA comes from my maternal grandmother's side of the family. I wouldn't have found that information if I had chosen to "stay focused".
That’s wonderful! It’s always exciting to make discoveries like that. Welcome to the wonderful world of genealogy 😊
My rabbit trails are in a notebook called squirrels. It includes "holy wells" in England, Ireland and Scotland and Aveneda de Compostela in Spain-->pilgrimage churches. Both have to do with my Riddell family. So I guess these would go under the category of social history? Also looked at sundials in Scotland and what they meant to estate owners.
I've found particularly in the smaller rural communities that are on my maternal grandmother's side, the branches I've filled out when I've fallen down the rabbit hole I've later found out we're related on another branch anyway so it was good to already have the basics covered for them when I did find them on another branch.
In my experience I've found that falling down those rabbit holes and following them to the end of the line has provide some of the most rewarding revealing and satisfying experiences on my genealogical journey. It's hard to explain but there have been so many instances where something has drawn me to investigating something in more depth- almost a 6th sense and every time has uncovered some amazing person or family event or a link to an important event of historical significance. It's as if the past is calling on me- the history is has been waiting just beneath the surface to be rediscovered and is doing all it can to reconnect with the present. Pulling on a tiny thread of info, just a small scrap often unlocks a vast treasure trove of data. I had no idea just how emotionally involved I would become in the process and feel strong connections to people I've never met, never heard their voice or seen their image- ye the bond is so strong. We are still in the earliest stages of understanding DNA and what secrets it holds. So much more is going to be discovered in the coming years. Only 30 years ago we would've regarded what we can now do in 2023 as science fiction. I am so glad that both my parents, in their late 80s, are still with us and are able to share in this process- by having access to their DNA we can make even more connections across the world. My family history can be overlaid on the societal cultural and historical changes of the past 1000 years with an astonishing accuracy. I have taken great care to ensure accuracy at all stages. There are too many "junk family trees" on line- lazy ill informed cut and paste nonsense that falls apart with just a few minutes fact checking. These people are doing untold damage that future generations might spend decades trying to unravel fact from fiction. I'm afraid much of it originates in North America where a limited knowledge of European/world history and geography have led to some real howlers. So many of our North American cousins are stuffing the family tree servers with Scottish Clan TARTANS, pictures of Castles and Coats of Arms that have very little real relevance. The various hosts and sites should have a responsibility to ensure greater accuracy of information they hold. There should also be an easy way of contacting other site members to inform them in a professional and polite way of any inaccuracies and to show where they might find the accurate source material.
I agree. I've learned a lot about context from going down rabbit holes.
Longtime rabbit hole researcher here. I never could make myself disciplined enough to just follow one branch until the end. I learned a lot, not just about my family, but about history and how to give my family story more depth and meaning even when records were limited. And, of course, my favorite part of genealogy has always been the research. It's the greatest puzzle solving project of all time! I have the best time solving every clue.
So I highly recommend and fully endorse the idea of falling down rabbit holes. It's Great to be Alice in Wonderland!
Love your show Amy.Even us old timers can learn something. Genealogy since 1975
I love rabbit holes but hate trying to get out of them, I have a little ocd and the chase of solving a mystery or puzzle in ancestry is like a game to me and I love it, but some time I just don’t know when to quit, but I’ve found endless amounts of priceless information that I wouldn’t have found without being that persistent
I always use rabbit holes, I have learned some of my best info this way.
One rabbit hole I fell down was the court records of mid to late 1600s New Netherlands. It was just fascinating to read about the trivial and sometimes not so trivial things that affected our ancestors and how society functioned back then.
It works for me . . . i do this cuz i like doing it . . . and i do what i feel like doing . . . . i have followed a number of crazy paths that didn't particularly make sense . . . but that i enjoyed . . .
All four of my mom’s grandparents came from one small village on the Austrian/Hungarian border. I have had a LOT of fun linking up all the resident on FamilySearch! Even if they’re not directly related to Mom’s direct lines…eventually they do loop back on each other :) And then I do all the merging, and occasional splitting, of different profiles. Some time back, probably when they first digitized and uploaded the records to FS, it looks like the system just created a new profile for every person on every document. If one couple married and had 8 kids, that’s 8 birth records, so 24 different profiles. Marriage records have six people each, so the parents get two more profiles from their own marriage - and another one every time a child married.
Somehow, I actually enjoy the merging & tidying process. :)
Thanks.
I am to travel path without worrying.
I have several quaker lines on my maternal side and some of my best research of this line has come from many rabbit holes!
I think enjoying is great and 'rabbit hole research' can certainly be viewed as that. I think it is important to get into the mindset of looking for the positives (or at least being able to weigh up the pros and cons) of any research journey segments. Being reflective on our research and time spent researching is a professional skill too. I don't think any of our research time could really be a 'waste of time' - upon reflection there are a myriad of useful things you are doing in a rabbit hole even if it is just consolidating and refining your skills and getting research hours/experience 'under your belt'.
Exactly. I think where we've missed the mark is by conflating "having a good research question" with "must be productive." (Whatever "productive" is supposed to mean.) Being able to ask a good research question is a part of good, solid research. But as you said, the time spent in a rabbit hole can be good for honing those skills.
I love rabbit holes. Once i had a "loose string".... a relative of a relative of a relative kind of thing. Not "related" to me. But by following a rabbit hole back 8 generations, that loose string is now part of my genealogical tapestry. And several others that were distantly related have grown much closer thanks to subsequent work. And it all started with just seeing where a rabbit hole would take me.
Thank you!
I had heard we were related to James Stewart. It's true that some distant cousins lived in the same county in Pennsylvania where he lived, but I wasn't able to find a connection. I purposely went down several rabbit holes to find it! No luck, but it was an interesting journey.
Yup, I do this all the time !!
Genealogy research needs to be fluid and flexible. I don't know how many times I've been searching for one ancestor to find a familiar name that leads me to records I wouldn't have found if I had been so focused on the original family.
Many times, I have ended up finding clues, information and alternate routes of discovery on people that I was researching by following those rabbit holes, sometimes with many branches and offshoots. Key is keeping good notes and organization of ancestors. Dont omit any information that might be useful later.
This was good. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I recently explored an unexpected rabbit hole connected to the Battle of Fort McHenry in 1814 and discovered a cousin was killed in action there! This was the Battle that inspired The Star Spangled Banner!
I love a good rabbit hole. Can lead to some fun facts.
I went down a rabbit hole and explored the history if Baltimore and where they lived in the 188os. I was fascinated.
I find A LOT going down "rabbit holes". I feel that's part of the process.
Rabbit holes are my absolute favourite things to dive into when researching family trees. I always say, “sometimes you have to go sideways to move up the tree.” One time I ended up in a rabbit hole on an ancestor and it lead me to discovering his wife was his first cousin.
The best gems in genealogy come from rabbit holes.
Peter Rabbit and I must be 1st cousins! I'm always jumping down a rabbit hole. I am one that loves research for the sake of doing research. I have always loved digging. Sometimes I get lucky and find what I'm looking for, at least for every ancestor except for my matrilineal 2nd great-grandmother. We affectionately refer to her as our "alien" as it seems that she was dropped onto this planet by some alien spaceship during the War for Southern Independence. 😁
Thanks for another great video!
When I started, seriously, digging into my tree I was looking to see how many people were connected to me in my county on my dad's side. About 5 years in, my mom wanted me to work on her side. Then different cousins started trying to figure out where we came from over the pond. I've cut back looking this last year because my home has become a hoarder house with my research and my craft stashes. I started cleaning out and getting my crafts ready to list on line but I still have too much research sitting in bins while not getting it entered. 😱😱
I've found so much info in these rabbit holes that I wouldn't have found otherwise. I spend half my time in rabbit holes.
Thanks to rabbit holes, I've discovered non-direct-line ancestors who were in the state mental hospital and one who served time for shooting a woman (who thankfully survived the shooting).
I just did this today, my saying is “the train has left the tracks” lol
I love rabbit holes. I learn more interesting stuff that I might not have found it I wouldn't have followed that path.
If I hadn’t of gone down the rabbit hole, I would have never found the book “A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Quartermaster George Colton”. It’s my mom’s family! The book was finished before my grandmother was born but her parents and siblings are listed. This was a find of a lifetime for me! At first I didn’t know why this book kept popping up every few minutes on the web while I was searching. Then it hit me! I’ve bought two copies already! I will probably buy one for each of my grandkids.
Go feet first down that rabbit hole! Happy hunting! ❤
Absolutely ❤
More than a hundred times. Those damn rabbit holes. (But they weren't a waste of time. They were amazing.)
Sometimes, going down rabbit holes gives you negative proof to your research question and you know yo move on to a different approach.
I have several DNA matches that “aren’t really related” (ei related by marriage) but my families all come from South Italy or Sicily (got endogamy??) so I figure one of these rabbit holes is going to find a puzzle piece I would not have found otherwise. 😮😅.
Sometimes you need to trace all of those other branches!
Played Alice today, and I think I actually found a connection. Ayayay! 🤦♀️. I think rabbit holes are a necessary evil, and sometimes we win. That’s what keeps us in the game. Right? 😂 Thanks for your thoughts.
I am always going down a rabbit hole. I always have done things the hard way, instead of finding easier ways to do things. All my matches, always have how I am related with them blanked out, or wrong name listed, or just unknown. I have to research each and everyone of them to find the common ancestor, which takes a long time, if you are trying to identify all your DNA matches like I am. I love puzzles and this is the biggest one of all, however I wish the DNA sites wouldn't try to make it more difficult by hiding our common relative. It's just irritating.
Rabbit holes have been the most fun. My ancestry research is all for grins for me, so chasing squirrels is a blast for me.
If i stayed focused i would not have found out that a female relative never had children. I had to go down the rabbit hole of her husband and his 3 wives. It was my first experience with a relative that was divorced in a time that that was frowned upon. I don’t believe she ever married again.
Another rabbit hole was another female relative married 3 times and again no children.
I’ve had to do research on calligraphy and the history of certain ways “ss” ANd “sz” is written when they came to America. And a long time ago I bought a book called what if your name changed when you came to America… Or something like that so I was already prepared that my surname might sound different to different recorders at the immigration office.
Either way it’s an interesting journey!
".. people don't live in vacums "... soooo true.
They don’t call it “the light at the end of the tunnel” for nothing. Oftentimes, rabbit holes are really “tunnels.”