Hi, Reader,

There’s a genealogy skill that I don’t see talked about very often.

It’s not finding records or learning about new databases. It’s not even about organizing your files.

It’s observation.

It's stepping back from your research to look at it through a different lens.

The past couple of months, I’ve been revisiting one of my own brick wall ancestors - King Elliott. (That really is his name!)

I've not made progress on this line for years until now. I expect you have a family line or two like that as well.

Progress finally came from stepping back and looking more carefully at what I already had.

I started asking different questions:

• What was actually happening in his community?
• Who were the people he was interacting with?
• What assumptions had I made too quickly?
• What did each record really mean - not just what did it say?

That shift from collecting information to better interpretation of it changed the direction of my research.

And finally, I started making progress on King Elliott's line once again.

We often think we’re stuck because we need more records. But sometimes we’re stuck because we haven’t fully observed the evidence already in front of us.

Taking time to observe your research slows you down and improves your understanding.

Before you search for one more document this week, try this: Pick one record you already have and ask yourself what it reveals about the person’s life, their neighbors, their decisions, or their circumstances.

You may discover your next step isn’t in a new database, but asking a better question.

If this idea resonates, I wrote more about how to slow down and uncover clues already hiding in your records here:
​Unlock Hidden Clues in Your Genealogy Records​

Happy Ancestor Hunting,
Lisa