Finding things out

[Sara Cosh]

My family research has always been slow. I hit brick walls, I'm sure everyone knows about those, then I hit that brick wall with my head till I have to stop. I take breaks simply because everyone so often I need a break. Still I always come back to it. Why? Well I love to find things out about where I come from. My background is mainly a mix of Scots/Irish and German/Norwegian so it presents problems. Still sometimes you find that once piece that opens up a whole avenue of places and people that make it more than worth while.

[Sara Cosh]

Eventually my aunt and I managed to pull enough together to enable me to progress with gran Cochranes line. She's actually the one who leads to my Douglas connection. Still we've not been able to track down her brother who emigrated somewhere! Relatives.

I speak a little German and use google translate but it's still a mystery. I'm just glad I don't have to attempt the Norwegian stuff yet.

[Russell Lynn Drysdale]

 Sara , 

'' still not quite know my Grandmother didn't know her Father so her Cochrane line ''

   hun what was granny Cochrane's first and middle name ,

Where was she born ?

did she have siblings ?  

if so , what were their names ?

was she religious , if so what kind ? 

These are only suggestions , but , 

If we know more about what you do  know

 we can all put our heads together  

   Germany.. when you want to search for records in Germany or for instance France ,

 change your browser settings from just English , to English , German & French .

 Google has a translator that if you right click your mouse it says translate to english ,

 and I use it often . Also it never hurts to have a Bi-lingual friend . I try to find one on every site . 

  keep in mind . 

 These are only suggestions

 I know sometimes it helps to just say I am stuck 

 Myself , I am stuck

at 1748 ,

at the birth of

John Drysdale

to his parents

William Drysdale

and  wife  

Helen Renny

John Drysdale b April 28 1748 [Easter Gellet ,fife]
baptized May 13 1748 , Dunfermline , Fife , Scotland .

[verbatim baptismal record]
'' WILLIAM DRYSDALE , servant in Easter Gellet and Helen Renny , his spouse had a son , born April 28th , 1748 , baptized May 13th by the foresaid Mr. Ralph Erskine . Named John ; Whitness , John Anderson , farmer in Wester Gellet , and Alexander Strouth , weaver there . '' 

http://douglashistory.ning.com/photo/2011-07-106-2

[Sara Cosh]

I'm working on all lines from my Grandparents but some are proving easier than others. I try to focus on one line for a while then change to see if anything new has come up. Which happened with regards to my Norwegian line, there was nothing for a long time and then bang whole new lines appeared. Sadly Germany is still a mystery to me.

I'm looking at the 5th Earl of Angus at the moment which was something of a shocker. Thats from my Paternal Grandmothers fathers line. If that makes sense. Unfortunately for reasons that are still not quite know my Grandmother didn't know her Father so her Cochrane line was something of an enigma to us. But I got up to Francis Douglas and then found this place. Its been an interesting journey.

I use a couple of different places to record what I find, ancestry.com, myheritage.com mostly. I'm going to start getting hold of birth certificates and such things at some point. I just haven't gotten round to that quite yet.

[William Douglas]

So, Sara, how far back can yo go? Are you following all lines, parents, their parents and their parents, etc? Or just one particular line?

Sometimes, I take a diversion and help someone else with their research. This often turns up a brick that might be part of my wall!

How do you record your findings? Do you use a shoe box, or software?