Making a Genealogy Plan - Finding Jacob Vinson

Just got back from a genealogy conference.  It was great, but I now have a cramp in my upper back from four days of sitting in conference stacking chairs.

I learned a LOT, though I have to admit, the best stuff I learned were things I already kinda knew.  That's because I attended a lot of sessions about professional genealogy and methodology and standards and all that.  If you've been doing this much at all, you already have a grasp of judging evidence and digging for back up evidence, etc.  But this conference put a lot of that info together for me.

In particular, when you have over 3000 people in your tree, and you have LOTS of interesting puzzles, and enticing research prospects, you really need to stop winging it and start using professional methods. 

And one of the first things you do is set a specific purpose for a project, and make a plan.

So here it is; my plan for one of my research brick walls: Jacob Vinson, who was Great's grandfather. I have not been able to find ANY record that I can tie firmly to his family in Canada. Even the records on this side of Lake Huron are fairly inconsistent. So...

Jacob Vinson Research Plan

Purpose Statement: To find when Jacob Vinson emigrated to U.S. and where in Canada he came from.

Questions that should help lead to this information:

*What currently assumed family relationships can be proven?
*When is the earliest we can find him in America in records?
*There are four or more variations on the surname in the records: Vincent, Vinson, Vincum, Vincon. Who uses which surname, and when? (Also, who says the family is English, and who says French?)
*What was his religion?
*Was he Metis? or Micmaw? (Or was his father or mother?)
*Did he (or a relative) really accompany the Prince of Wales to a native village during the prince's visit to Canada in 1860?

(More questions to be added later, as new info raises them.)

Next Actions:

1. Begin with the first three questions: Compile the records. Cross check. Look for holes. Check for when various surnames appear.

2. Look for other people from Canada who live near the Vinson family who may have emigrated with them, or from the same place.

3. Play with some of the new resources I've learned about to see if Jacob or family and neighbors show up in them.

If these don't lead in an obvious direction, the next action after these will be looking for those neighbors and relatives in Canada.

NEXT TIME, I'm going to talk about the problems with the census data I've found -- on both sides of Lake Huron. (Then maybe some fun with death certificates!)