For 26 weeks I will take you on a family history journey through the alphabet, one letter at a time.  I have decided that each post will be educational in nature, focusing on topics related to resources, methodology, tools, etc.  Although the challenge is complete, there are still some people who are finishing up and Alona, the host, is encouraging others to participate anyway.  Additional information on the challenge, can be found at Take the ‘Family History Through the Alphabet’ Challenge. 

zSometimes in genealogy, you have to go up, down, and around a research problem in order to solve it.  Many times, this means researching collateral family members and associates.  This is often referred to as Cluster Genealogy or the FAN Principle.  The idea is to study a person’s family members, friends, business associates, neighbors, and witnesses (to a deed, marriage, etc.) in order to solve a tough research problem.  This technique is often used to help solve questions of origin, whether it be paternity or where person came from.

For example, let’s say you have an ancestor and all you know is that he came from Germany.  None of his records indicate where exactly in Germany, so now you’re stuck.  Using the cluster or FAN approach, you discover that many of the people he associated with once he came to America, were also from Germany.  You also discover that these same people seem to follow along with your ancestor as he migrates across the country.  Based on this knowledge, it is quite possible that perhaps they immigrated together, so it’s definitely worth digging a little deeper into these associates.  If you could find a more specific location in Germany for one or more of those associates, it would be a starting place for you to explore as your ancestor’s possible place of origin.

Zigzagging around our ancestor and researching the people he associated with could be the one thing that brings that brick wall crumbling down.  To learn more about this technique, take a look at Elizabeth Shown Mills’ QuickSheet: The Historical Biographer’s Guide to Cluster Research (the FAN Principle).