Brick Walls

All genealogists whether professional or amateur hit a brick wall sometime during their research.  I have a couple, but the biggest one I have is Unknown Bienlein.  Unknown Bienlein is my third great grandmother. I know a few things about her but not the major things – like her name, birth/date dates and who her parents were. 

The things I do know are few.  I know she lived in Germany and didn't come over to the United States with my third great grandpa Mathias Fleischmann.  I know that Mathias came to America with his three children and nephew Jacob Bienlein. The ship's manifest listed Mathias as a widower. butI really don't know if he was, or did she not want to leave her home country. So I really only know what her maiden could be, assuming that Jacob was the son of one of Unknown's brothers.

The thing about brick walls is all the questions and mysteries that are involved. Who is the brick wall? What were they like, are there any photos, what happened to them? Etc, etc. Other questions are: Is this truly a brick wall or rather a researching challenge? How can I break this wall? Can I break this wall? Who has the missing piece that with solve this mystery?

The next set of questions that arise, are how can I break this wall?  Some things you can try are the following.  You can try Facebook genealogy groups.  Talk to older family members, see if anyone remembers hearing or seeing anything.

DNA test can help you find relatives and ancestors.  A website called Find A Grave helped my family get back in touch with German relatives (one of whom is trying to help me break Unknown's wall).  These are just a few things that can help break those brick walls, I'm hoping that one of these avenues break my wall.  I wish you luck with your walls.