Building a Family Tree: An Example on FamilySearch.org -- Project Eleven

This post is another in the unending series of Projects I am doing to research different people in the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. See the comment at the end of this post for a further explanation of the Projects.

Here is this Project's selection:

This is another individual who falls well outside of those I was previously selecting for my first few projects. Richard Wallis is one of my direct line ancestors. Here is how I am related to him.

Normally, I would question the accuracy of all these generations of ancestors unless I took the time to verify that there were sources that supported each generation. In this case, I went through each generation and even back into the early 1700s, Richard Wallis still had sixteen valid supporting sources including his christening record. What interests me is that very little, if any of his children have been researched. Except for the direct line, none of the others have death dates or spouses or any other identifying information. Almost all of the children listed have only one source and one child has two sources. This is an open field for research.

In this instance and other similar families from the Family Tree, I begin systematically to examine each of the children. For this example, I will start with the first one listed.

The only source is an extracted International Genealogical Index (IGI).

The listing of the IGI as a "source" refers to the fact that this record was extracted by volunteers during the Extraction Program. All of the records for the children in this family were extracted from the same parish and so all of the sources listed for the children look just like the one shown above for John Wallace or Wallis. The key here is no image available. If we want to see what is around the original image, we will have to look elsewhere. However, Ash by Wrotham is a very small place.

Of course, I standardize the dates and places and then start an initial search. The search on FamilySearch.org just leads me in a circle. I search on Ancestry.com and find an issue. There is a copy of a record showing the marriage of his father, Richard Wallis and Ann Fullman in Ash cum Ridley, Wrotham. At this point, we get into a haze of people named John and Richard Wallis or Wallace. Is there a difference between Ash by Wrotham and Ash cum Ridley?

With that question about the locations, we get into another complex issue of whether or not we have the right family or just people with the same names. The explanation comes from the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki. Here it is.

ASH, or Ash-next-Ridley, a parish in Dartford district, Kent; 6 miles S of Northfleet r. station, and 7 SSE of Dartford. It includes the hamlets of Hodsol-Street and West-York and part of Culverstone-Green; and it has a post office under Sevenoaks. There is a Baptist chapel and a national school.[1]

Ash-cum- Ridley is a civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent which includes Ash, New Ash Green, Hodsoll Street and Ridley. Ash-cum-Ridley Wikipedia

Ash ( near Ridley) St Peter and St Paul is an Ancient Parish which included Hodsoll Street,Westfield West York and part of Culverstone Green within its boundary.

So, there is an apparent, but not real, conflict. Some of the confusion comes from other places in England called Ridley and Ash. Ash cum Ridley is about five miles from Wrotham.

So, can we find any more information about the children? Here is the Christening Record for John Wallace for 14 September 1730.

"England, Kent, Bishop's Transcripts, 1560-1911," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRGW-G66?cc=1949386&wc=M6LK-S36%3A248878901%2C248883801%2C248880702 : 20 May 2014), Kent > Ash > Baptisms, Marriages, Burials 1718-1812 > image 15 of 45; Kent Archives Office, Maidstone.

These records are not indexed but have digital images on FamilySearch.org and so I searched through page by page and look for a subsequent marriage record. The above record shows the marriage of Richard Wallis and Ann Fullman on 13 February 1730. It also shows that Richard was from Kemsing, which is only about four miles away from Wratham. I decided to go back and look for more records for Richard Wallis or Wallace.

Do I need to go look for the records for Kemsing. There is already a christening record attached for Richard in Wratham. I have now run out of access to records for Richard Wallis or Wallace.on FamilySearch.org because further records are restricted and would have to wait until I visit a Family History Center next week. I searched on Ancestry.com and had record hints that gave me a copy of his will.

As you can see, the more you look, sometimes, the more you find. We now have Richard Wallace or Wallis' parents, his wife and children documented. Of course, we could always look for more documentation. I may find that some of the children have married. I already have a possible marriage for John Wallace.

Now, if I go back one generation to Richard and Jane Wallace or Wallis, I might find even more information.

Explanation of how this project began and why I am pursuing it (updated).

In this project, I started out by picking a somewhat random person from my ancestors or my ancestors' descendants who may have lived into the 20th Century from the FamilySearch.org Family Tree and to hopefully show, step-by-step, the research needed to extend that person's family tree back several generations. Finding a person who has no apparent ancestors in the Family Tree is relatively easy for those who lived in or into the 19th Century by much harder the further you go back in the past. As I continued to examine individuals in the Family Tree my objectives have changed. I decided to include anyone who, from the lack of information in the Family Tree, needed research.

To clarify this project, I will not be reserving any of the people I discover for my own Temple List unless I am related to those I find. For those I find to whom I am not related, I will simply leave the "green icons" on the Family Tree for that person's descendants to find and use for themselves. Please refrain from doing the temple work for people to whom you are not related.

Now, after I got going doing the research, I got a couple of requests to research some people further back in time. These turned out to be old, established "end-of-line" situations. Since my original idea was to demonstrate finding people, I started with easier challenges. But in any event,  I may or may not find new people to add to the FamilyTree. Since some of the families I choose are in an "end-of-line" sort of situation independent of the time frame, there is no guarantee that I will be any more successful than the average user of the Family Tree in finding additional family members. In any event, I hope that my efforts as recorded will help either the family members or others to find more information about their ancestral families and relatives.

Why am I doing this? For the past 15 years or so, I have been helping hundreds (thousands?) of people find their ancestors. I simply intend to document the process in detail with real examples so that you can see exactly how I find family lines. I simply want to show where those "green icons" come from. Since the FamilySearch.org Family Tree is entirely cooperative, I will simply assume that when I find a family that needs some research that I am helping that family. By the way, this is Project Eleven of the series because I intend to do this over and over with different examples.

There is another reason why I am doing this. Because I constantly offer to help people find their ancestors and I get relatively few that take advantage of that offer. I need to spend some of my excess energy.