First Post

I've been working on my family history for about 2 1/2 years, and I figured it was about time I started a blog on this topic.  On my father's side, I've been working on the following surnames: Andrews, Englehart, Hartranft, and Meckley.  On my mother's side, I've been working on the following surnames: Blair, Stichler, Brandt, and Deitzler.

I have found, typically, I always manage to hit a brick wall with each family line around the early 1800s.  It's most likely because the US Censuses become a little harder to understand.  The best way to crush through this wall is to reach out to family and see if they know of any family stories.  Though family stories tend to become exaggerated, some facts due remain in tact.  For example, my grandmother would always tell me the story of my great-grandfather dying at a local hotel.  She even remembered the name of the hotel--Stratford.  She said that he had been mugged and fell down a flight of stairs.

I had known that my great-grandparents were separated so it would make sense that he would be at some other residence.  When looking through the census, I found one for the Stratford Hotel.  Sure enough, on the paper was my great-grandfather's name.

My great-grandfather could have, at some point, been mugged at the hotel, but he died of other ailments.  However, I probably never would have never found my great-grandfather without the help of my grandmother's story.  Sometimes the name of a place, or even a hunch is all you need to find another ancestor.
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Sources:

"United States Census, 1940," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KQDX-JF6 : accessed 11 Sep 2012), John S Blair, Ward 5, Lebanon, Lebanon City, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 38-27, sheet 82A, family , NARA digital publication T627, roll 3540.