Roadblock Trick - Find out about the Siblings of an Ancestor

You have searched and used every source you can locate to learn more about your grandfather, so far with little or no success. Did you think to attempt a search for siblings of that ancestor? When you are at a road block in learning more about your own direct lineage, step back and make an effort to learn about a great aunt or uncle, who were siblings to your ancestor.

Those siblings and your ancestor were children of the same parents, so the connection is there. Plus to help jump start your research, one of those sibling’s descendants could have already completed extensive research on that family branch. It is not unusual that a family historian can be totally unaware of certain siblings in a family. It just might be a matter of you both locating each other.

Could first locating that sibling can be an even greater task than your own ancestor? Possibly not, if you start to do some investigative work. If you already know some siblings’ first names and of course you already have the surname of the family, this is a great starting point. Look over any family bible records and old photos, there may well have been a name overlooked because the surname was different, especially in the case of a sister’s marriage.

Check with the online LDS Family Search site, Social Security Death Index, RootsWeb, obituaries and even the Ancestry.com free 1880 census records. Put the name through any online databases available from county genealogical societies where your ancestors lived. Locate and review city directories and cemetery databases / records where family members may have lived. Post a query about that sibling with any of the online message boards, like RootsWeb Message Board http://boards.rootsweb.com/ or GenForum http://genforum.genealogy.com/surnames/. If you have access to digital newspaper archives, those are feasibly a good source to find information on a sibling. Learn as much as possible on each sibling.

If you have no idea of any siblings’ given names, start looking at given names used for known descendants. Given names of relatives are handed down as first and middle names. For example, if you see that the name ‘George’ is used in two first cousins and one uncle’s names; it could also be the name of a great uncle, a potential brother to your grandfather. Insert the selection of promising first and middle names with the family name and search that especially in the state where the family came from. Substitute any reasonable nicknames in your search; for example, ‘Bob’ for ‘Robert’ or ‘Harry’ for ‘Henry’. That goes for female names; they are used also for later generations.

Once you have started locating some probable siblings, you do want to make sure they are of the right branch. Obviously trying to locate their parents’ names and dates helps establish the connection. True, there can be a wide range of dates between siblings and even more so if there are half-siblings. However, develop a list of those you locate as possibilities, along with dates and locations. Research those individuals for whom they married, their residences, children and occupations. Use death certificates, obituaries and death notices where surviving siblings, especially sisters with their married names, might be listed. All these aspects could hold the key to learning more on your own ancestor.

Going over the U. S. Federal Census records again can yield some additional information. Look at the household of your ancestor for each census decade. A sibling could have lived in the same household or only a few houses away. Not only look at surnames but given names, ages, birth location but also where their parents were born. You want to find as many common factors as possible.

Putting additional research time into locating your ancestor’s siblings can pay off with not only additional knowledge of the family branches but new information on your own ancestor. Invest the time, it is worth the effort.

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