Recheck the basics
Names, dates, and places may be misspelled or recorded differently. Try variant spellings, nicknames, middle names, and nearby years.
Break Through a Genealogy Brick Wall
Missing ancestors are rarely truly lost. Sometimes the trail is hiding behind a spelling variation, an unexpected record, a migration pattern, or one clue sitting in somebody else's family archive.
WHERE TO START
Strategies for Missing Ancestors
When the trail suddenly stops, broaden the search before assuming the record is gone.
Look beyond vital records
Search land deeds, probate files, church registers, military records, newspapers, city directories, and local histories.
Search sideways
An ancestor may appear in a sibling's obituary, a neighbor's record, a witness list, or another family's document.
Use historical context
Migration routes, wars, boundary changes, and language shifts can explain why a record appears somewhere unexpected.
UNSOLVED FAMILY QUESTIONS
These Are Our Brick Walls
If you recognize a family, place, surname, or clue below, we would love to hear from you.
BAKER / DAVIS
John Baker and Jane Davis were last seen in Sutton, Massachusetts, on 27 July 1886.
- Where in Ireland did they come from?
- Where and when did they die?
WOOD / SALISBURY
Maria Wood was the wife of David Salisbury and was last seen 4 April 1874 in Auburn, New York.
- Who were her parents?
SALISBURY / MOSHER
Cummings (Benjamin) Salisbury and Elizabeth Mosher remain difficult to trace beyond their known New York records.
- Who were their parents?
- Where and when were they born?
- Where and when did they die?
MINOT / SMITH
Elizabeth Minot may have been the wife of Abram Smith and the daughter of Captain James Minot and Rebecca Blanchard.
- Can those relationships be proven?
- Exactly where and when was she born and married?
TESSIER / DUPAUL
Henry Louis Tessier, born about 1850 in Canada, married Malina Dupaul. The missing link is Henry's birth record and the identity of his father.
If you know this family, please contact the researcher at jmhaynes06@comcast.net.
FEIGE
Reinhold Oscar Robert Feige was born 21 June 1853 in Hirschberg, Schlesien.
If you have information about this person, please contact Cgs1996@aol.com.
MOUSSEAU FAMILY
Francoise Mousseau dit Desilets Laviolette, daughter of Jacques Mousseau dit Laviolette and Marguerite Sauviot, is part of an ongoing Mousseau family research question.
If you know this family, please contact daenamousso@verizon.net.
VISUAL CLUES
Mystery Photos
Old family albums often preserve faces long after the names are forgotten. If you recognize someone, a studio, a location, or even a dress or uniform, that clue may be enough to identify a person.
SALISBURY / FEIGE / KORCH family?
I have a hunch that the woman on the left might be Caroline Smith Salisbury. The woman in the center may be her daughter, Charlotte Salisbury Feige, and the younger girl between them may be Gertrude Feige.
THEINERT / RHEEL?
Photo dated 1880. We think this might be Minnie Alice Theinert, wife of George Phillip Rheel, but we are not sure.
FEIGE / KORCH
Several people in this family photograph are identified, while others remain unknown. The unidentified men may hold clues to the wider Feige/Korch family.
KORCH and ???
The people are identified as Gert and Florence Korch and Jackson. Did John F. Korch and Elsie Gatzke have any children?
FEIGE / KORCH family?
This unidentified couple was found in a Feige/Korch family album. The man resembles Jackson in another family photograph.
Charles Schmidt / Smith?
Could this be the second husband of Johanna Rosalie Mennig? The photograph appeared near Frederick and Henrietta Blessing in a family album.
Johanna Rosalie Mennig?
Could this unidentified woman be Henrietta's mother? Placement in the family album and facial resemblance suggest a possible connection.
Theunert daughter and her husband?
Possible identities include Johanna Theinert, Augusta Theinert, Christiane Rosalie Theinert, or Marie Caroline Theinert with one of their husbands.
Recognize someone?
Please contact us if you have seen one of these photographs before or have information that could help identify the people in them.
Contact Us