How do you find research success of ordinary people?

[Laughables]

That is, people who were not well-known or notable in any way - just average people living their lives?

I am trying to research the life that I believe I had prior to this one. Through meditation and the guidance of an intuitive, what I know is that my name was Rachel and I worked as a domestic servant for a wealthy Philadelphia family around the turn of the century. There was a tragedy involving one of the children in my care, in the year 1908, for which I was blamed although it technically wasn't my fault. I was fired from the household and believe found work as a seamstress.

I have poured over archived newspapers, trying to find any mention of the tragedy with the child. I have also gone through census records, tried to research wealthy families in Philadelphia at that time, and reached what feels like the end of the Internet, all without any success. I can't seem to find any record or validation that this person ever existed, or the family.

How can I proceed from here? How have you done research into unknown lives? Is there a point where research becomes futile and you simply accept who you were, without validation?

Any and all help is appreciated.

 

[Nightrain]

How can I proceed from here? How have you done research into unknown lives?

I have done historic research tracking ordinary people through history, and I have known many historians and genealogists who have done the same. It is very common, and is a very interesting but time consuming occupation.


I can only say that genealogists and private detectives have long had access to records which few of us have ever enjoyed—even with the advent of the internet. However, the process is unfortunately very expensive and time consuming, because it entails actually visiting the places where the records are being kept. This includes churches, historical societies, town clerk's offices, local history rooms and even historians who specialize in specific periods, subjects and locations. Nearly everyone in the Philadelphia area left some sort of paper trail, but the problem is finding how to locate that trail.


I have read, however, of many instances in which people have enjoyed some very synchronistic experiences in which a specific book or piece of information seemed to accidentally present itself out of the blue to someone seeking information about an ancestor; and I think that anything is possible, especially if it is meant to be

 

[Mama2HRB]

I have had great success with our local library using city directories. Perhaps you need a visit to Philadelphia's public library?


Do you know the name of the family? Any of the members? Do you have any memories of buildings nearby? Any idea of the year?


I would also try ancestry.com ... there is some great stuff there.

 

[Lynnette]

Hi Laughables,


Almost all of my research has been on 'ordinary people' too, and at the first glimmer of names and places, I delved into internet searches and geneaology. Sometimes I was lucky, but most often not.


I kept the questions I couldn't answer hovering in the back of my mind, and found that situations for furthering my information often unexpectedly cropped up giving me new leads and sites of information. Sometimes these came up years later. But they still came.


You have to be patient, realise there will be A LOT of frustrations, and dead ends, and loose ends, and endless additional questions, but they will eventually piece themselves together!


Good luck!


P.S As a tip for your research, do not limit the years of birth (sometimes by some 10 years)/spelling of surnames/spelling of first names, and consider what they may have had as pet names. (You won't believe how often these help!) And, if you think they may have had men folks enlisted in any of the wars, this can provide some good sources of family information too, as will searching other relatives rather than the person themselves.

 

[Lady2]

I would also try ancestry.com ... there is some great stuff there.

I was going to recommend the same thing - I have used it successfully in the past, great tool. You can get a 30 day free trial you know! :thumbsup: