On occasion, it seems as though information to the next step in the chart just simply does not exist. This is the brick wall moment. No one in the immediate family knows. It appears as though there are no public records for the person. What is one to do in this situation? This is where a person has to be creative and resourceful. Sometimes the “brick wall” really does exist. Other times, it is a road block instead of a brick wall. The direct path may not be available but, alternative routes can lead to the same place.
The Margaret Stuart detour is an example. All that was known is that she was from Scotland. Part of the problem was misinterpretation of verbal history. Initially, the birth place was believed to be Del Rye, Scotland. All searches for information failed. We now know Del Rye, Scotland is Dalry, Scotland. Regional dialect and pronunciation can have a misleading impact when recording verbal information. However, Dalry, Scotland is still incorrect for the place of birth.
Collaboration provided an alternative means to the needed information. By posting a query on the Kansas Board of the US GenWeb Project (now The Kansas GenWeb Project) I was contacted by an individual who told me we were researching the same family line. We exchanged a few e-mails to make sure we were talking about the same person, and
Record for Margaret Stuart from the 1851 Scotland Census. Matilda is also listed. Accessed via paid subscription at Ancestry.com.
we were. It turns out the individual is a descendant of Matilda Stuart, Margaret’s older sister. He was more than happy to share the information he had. Documentation included a copy of a hand written account of the family lineage (written by Matilda) and a copy of the promissory note signed by Nancy Stuart, Great, Great Grandmother and her son, Hamilton Stewart (notice the different surname spelling by mother and son). The note was signed at the Dalry Branch of the Perpetual Immigrating Fund Company, Organized at Great Salt Lake City, Deseret, USA October 6th, 1849.
The information provided by the sibling’s descendant cleared the road block and allowed us to complete the trace for our Great Grandmother, Margaret Stuart. Public records reveal Margaret lived in Saltcoats, Scotland and was born in Ireland.
Collaborative Genealogy websites, such as The US GenWeb Project and state affiliates, is one workaround that may be viable when it seems like there is a brick wall in front of you. We were fortunate to find the descendant of a sibling. There are other options which we’ll discuss in future posts.