If you have heard of cluster genealogy research, but you haven’t started using it yet, chances are
you have many questions about implementation. Awesome! You’ve come to the right place.
Howdy, I'm Devon Noel Lee with Family History Fanatics, and I love helping you have fun climbing
your family tree and connecting to the past. Whether you call it cluster research or
F.A.N. Club research, this intermediate and advanced-level genealogy research methodology
helps you find more clues and answers while building your family tree. If you
haven’t learned what it is, please watch this video, which will be linked at the
end of this video or in the description box. For those of you who understand the concept,
let’s tackle some questions frequently asked by people who are ready to use
Cluster Research but haven’t started yet. Do you always have to do cluster research?
No. Because the amount of cluster research you do depends on how
easily you can answer a research question. If you start researching an ancestor to identify
their parents and you have: A census record that
directly states their relationship. A interment record that identifies that your
ancestor is the son of a couple in the same plot. A marriage record that banes the same parents
from the census record and cemetery plot. And A birth record that identifies the
same parents from the previous records. Then, you have a straight forward answer
to your question. If you want to move on to another research question, go for it!
However, whenever you have conflicting or missing pieces pertaining to your
research question, then expanding who you research will often lead to ancestors.
In other words, the more difficulty you have researching a person,
the more you will need to leverage the extended circle of that person’s community.
When is Cluster Research Beneficial? When a research problem is complex and requires
indirect evidence. Or separating same name individuals.
When potential answers to your research questions conflict.
When you're stuck with your genealogy research. When you're doing DNA matching and triangulating.
And hopefully, when you start writing a biography about an ancestor.
While you can likely think of causes that fall into these categories,
here are two specific examples. In cultures where the woman takes
the name of her spouse, requires finding clues that indirectly point you toward her maiden name.
For example, the marriage record of Michael Billman to Caroline Geisler, could suggest
that her maiden name was Geisler. However, by researching the children of Michael and Caroline,
you would soon discover that three children have the surname Geisler while the other two have the
surname Billman. This detail would suggest that Geisley/Geiszler is not Caroline’s maiden name but
rather a married surname. Furthermore, searching for a father for the three children reveals a
previous marriage record for a Caroline Mack. Using indirect clues to get to a record that
states her maiden name, is just one example of many that fall into this cluster research.
The second example expands on Heinrich Mack, her father,
who moved from Hanover to Franklin County, Ohio. After researching him and his children,
I needed help determining his home village in Hannover.
So I began to research his neighbors, the Puseckers. After exploring the Puseckers,
I discovered they traveled together on the same ship from the old country to America. Therefore,
if I could find anyone of this traveling group that identified their home village, there is a
good chance that my family was from that village. People often didn't ride on the same ship,
travel to the same town, and buy land beside each other if they weren't familiar or family.
I did discover the village of Gillershiem listed on a Pusecker's gravestone.
To conrim, the Macks and Puseckers were from the same village, my cousin hired a researcher
to explore church records for both families. As a result, these researchers found baptism
and marriage records for both and validate the origins of my Mack ancestral origins.
Multiple genealogists share their success stories with cluster research. I especially
liked this one and recommend that you read it. The link will be in the Show Notes.
Do you need to research all of the groups? You’ll notice in the two examples that I
shared earlier that I discovered answers to many questions but I didn’t need to consult
each cluster group. As stated before, the more difficulty you have researching a person,
the more you will need to leverage this extended circle of that person’s community.
Some research questions are more straight forward and you'll only
need to review one group. In this case, For instance, when you're looking in census
record for your ancestor, perhaps you found them in the Canadian Census of 1891. But,
you can not find them in the 1881 census. One technique involves looking for your ancestor's
neighbors in the 1890's census to see if they appear in the 1881 census. If they do,
look for your ancestor. You may discover that your ancestor’s name has significant errors making
it difficult to find them. But, searching for their neighbors, you see the person you sought.
By contrast, this brick wall involved researching more individuals.
When William Long went missing in the 1850 census, I found him in the home of a neighbor.
To prove that William was likely not a relative of the household members in which he resided,
I had to research the neigbhor and their close family members. I also
did same surname research for all the Longs in the county and discovered
no family that had a missing William of that age, exception for my Long family.
The more complicated the genealogy problem,
the more F.A.N. Club groups you will have to be involved in your genealogy research.
How much should you research a cluster member? It depends on the nature of your research. For
example, if searching a database for a neighbor helps you find your ancestor on a census record,
do you need to research the neighbor thoroughly? Unless that neighbor appears on other records,
probably not. Some cluster groups
you do shallow record research that overlaps the time in which your ancestor interacted with them.
While conducting reasonably exhaustive research is the goal, do you have time to do this level of
research for someone else’s relative? If you do, you may not ever finish
your research on your ancestors. However, some relatives, surnames,
and neighbors have more clues to help you resolve your genealogy research question.
While researching Townleys in New Jersey, I am diving into vital, census,
and land records when possible. I’m trying to establish who is related to whom. Sometimes, I
must go beyond these records to separate men with the same name. Since I’m doing a Surname Study,
this project requires more extensive research than some of the other situations I've mentioned.
Take a reasonable assessment of your research project. Then decide how
much research you NEED to do to address the questions you have. Stay focused on
your research objects so you do not waste time on fun but not beneficial research.
Hopefully, you now have the entry-level questions addressed and are ready to do
F.A.N. Club research. Go and give it a try. Then, come back and answer this question of the day.
What additional questions do you have about Cluster Genealogy Research?
If you HAVE used this technique before, what questions do you
have about implementing this strategy? If you like this video be sure to like,
share, subscribe, and leave a comment. And if you're ready for the next video
about brick wall research, be sure to check out this playlist right above.