Strategies for Finding Female Ancestors

An recent article in the Broomfield Enterprise, "Genealogy: Tips for finding females that matter to you" explores the issue of finding female ancestors through the men in their lives and provides a list of 10 sources to check. As the article observes, "Often the answer to identifying a woman can be found in the records of her husband, son, or brother." This proved true in my own experience. I found one female ancestor's second married name, not among legal documents, but in letters she had written to her son. The letters were found through a message board correspondent -- and not a relative. Interestingly, my respondent was not a family history researcher and was not on the message boards. Rather, he found my message board post through a Google search. 

While letters and diaries is # 8 on the list of 10, don't forget to put those puzzles out on the message boards. It may take some time. My post was out there four years, but the person responding had a wealth of information, including a collection of personal letters.

For more insights on researching female ancestors, check you may want check our previous blog post, Love the Ladies, and, in honor, of Veteran's Day, Women Veterans.

Message boards revisited

Message boards work in mysterious ways. Thanks to search engines like Google, your message board queries can be found even by those who are not genealogists and family history researchers, but others with family ties and information. In her article, "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down -- Thank You, Google," Elisabeth Lindsay revisits the benefits of message boards and encourages users to keep their information current so they don't miss a thing.

Value of message boards and posting successful queries

Without a doubt, genealogy message boards are a boon to researchers. One of the most intriguing aspects of messages boards, as pointed out by Shelley Poblete in her article, "Message Boards: Finding Potential Treasure," is the happy surprise that comes with a long-forgotten post yields a rewarding reply. There is, however, an art to posting queries, and your greatest success will come from a well-phrased, well-placed query. The article offers suggestions for posting successful queries and how to utilize the various categories available.