I wonder at times how we get started down the wrong road only to discover that after lots of research we need to make a U-Turn and start again on a different one. There is an old Yogi Beara quote that says, “when you get to the fork in the road, take it.” My understanding of that Yogism is that he lived on a circular drive. You could take either road to get to his home. My ancestors didn’t live on circular drives that I know of, so I must pick a direction and go for it. How about you? Do you ever have to circle back to head a slightly different direction? Are you like me, do you get so anxious to connect the pieces that you look right past pieces that might be better fits because of the incorrect conclusion you started with? That is my next step, to open my mind to other possibilities and see where they lead.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my 2x GG was born in Champaign, New York. But there is no such community that I can find. Another resource said Champaign, Ohio but I couldn’t find information for her connected there. Maybe you would have come to this conclusion sooner than I did, But I am now thinking that all the census reports that said she was born in New York were correct, however, not Champaign but someplace along the way that name was miswritten and could have been Champlain, New York.

I started looking at Champlain, NY to see what I could find. Unfortunately, I still can’t find any definitive information that connects me to her birth or to her parents. Just census reports that have her born in New York to parents born in England and Canada -French (mother speaking Scotch). I could have her parents’ names wrong also.

Instead of trying to force 2 puzzle pieces together I should stick with what I am more certain of and see what fits. DO THE DETECTIVE WORK! I will see what tips our next speaker gives us for myheritage. I really know little about her that I can use other than her spouse but no marriage document.

It may be time to put her aside for a bit and look at other lines. But which ones? How do you pick the members you are searching for once you get the “easy” stuff done? How do you do the “detective work” needed to dig deeper into your family story?

There are a couple of ideas I have. I first must remind myself why I want to do this work. Remember that concept from the very beginning. What are the family stories that have been passed down? Can I search for any truth in them? I was told at some point when I was young that we were Pennsylvania Dutch. I know a little about the term such as that the term “Dutch” could have come from Deutsch meaning German or that it could have referred to people who left from a Dutch port. I could look for that. First, I would need to find the immigrants.

That could also be a next step, where do I have some potential immigrants that I could research. That is the nature of family history, easier to find more questions than answers!

Heidi Geise education@hqrl.com