Although some Springfield family history and genealogy researchers will refer to their toughest research problems as 'brick walls' - and it is a commonly used term - I prefer to think along the lines of several recent writers that this challenge is just a real good opportunity to use the full toolbox of research techniques we have available to us - each and every one of us. Immigration and naturalization records of our Springfield ancestors may be an area where this approach is especially useful. Have you found names hard to follow when tracing immigrants, even in the twentieth century?
One useful approach, often credited to Elizabeth Shown Mills, is called the FAN Club approach: Friends, Associates, Neighbors. Do you use this approach? Have you considered using it? Do you use a spreadsheet to analyze this information?
For this approach to be effective, you need to use a wide variety of Springfield record sources, including the following:
- birth records
- death records
- census records
- local business records
- religious and school records
- immigration and naturalization records
- city directories
For an excellent example of how these records may be used to solve a mystery in your Springfield family history, I would recommend a recent post by my friend, Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist, "The mysteries of immigrant Abraham Shechter." Do you see how all of the elements can come together to help break through that supposed "brick wall?" I look forward to your comments.
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