Tuesday Tip - Takes Tenacity to Tame the Trail

STELLA!! I found the STELLA's! Or, in this case Estella Wersel and Ella Piper (an error on the enumerator's part...the enumerator who is forgiven because, well, she enumerated them! 

1940 U.S. census, Orange County, California, Brea, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 30-24, p. 1B (handwritten), dwelling household B31a, family 25, line 68, Estella Wersel; digital image, Archives.gov (http://1940census.archives.gov: accessed 03 April 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication T1224, roll 93.

I know my audience, and I know you all have either been digging through your own EDs or watching with mild satisfaction as those of us who were digging with one hand were (or in some cases still are) tearing our hair out with the other. My only advice: keep at it. Be tenacious in your research. What you need is out there, it just takes some digging to find it.


To be honest, there's an extra feeling of satisfaction having done it this way. I did my research, and without having either the 1920 or 1930 Census to go by, was able to find them on the 1940 Census. Now, I can go back to the EDs in 1930 and 1920 to (hopefully) locate them again. There's nothing extra that I can learn at this point from the additional older Censuses, but it's going through the process that hones my skills as a researcher and makes me believe now more than ever that I am prepared to build my genealogical business. 


My business is not a traditional one, which makes things a bit more challenging. It's about educating genealogical researchers and Genealogists on how to care for their research collections, and more importantly, playing the role of research assistant. I can help you by taking a second, or if you're anything like me, 100th look at the documents you have on your lines you want to move forward with; the lines you believe you have the information for but can't quite seem to find it. Or maybe you have so many clients, or a life (heh), and you simply haven't had the time to research your own line. How about a fresh pair of eyes to evaluate your methodology, ensure that you're on the right track and give you enough rest so you can get back on the trail and run a bit farther? 


I'm tenacious like a bull dog. After all, I found the Stellas...