10 Top Tips for How to Bust Through Your Genealogy Brick Wall

I missed hearing David Obee speak at the recent Ontario Genealogical Society Conference in Toronto in June. (I was intrigued to read in the syllabus that David posed the question "Can you tell the story in twenty-five words? If so, that's good. If not, try". )

I was happy to have heard Lisa Louise Cooke's plenary on future technologies and I am a BIG fan of her Genealogy Gems website.

I came across both David and Lisa Louise in this great 2013 video on "10 Top Tips for How to Bust Through Your Genealogy Brick Wall" and thought it would be helpful for me to review as a way of taking on my Poughkeepsie Brick Wall

Dave Obee’s Top 10 Tips:

1. Create a Timeline – “plot her life…it’s easier to see the holes.”
2. Understand Geography – “plot movements”
3. Find Every Possible Record
4. Understand How Records Were Created
5. Read Every Local Story in Newspapers at that Time
6. Tap into Local Knowledge – “Locals know more” (historical and genealogical societies)
7. Go There if You Can in Person
8. Look for Negative Proof
9. Collaborate with Other Researchers
10. Be Diligent About Proof