How to Organize a Multi-Year Research Conundrum

Are 208 pages ENOUGH to resolve a single genealogical question?

“Reasonably exhaustive research” is one element of the GPS (Genealogy Proof Standard.)

It is also often exhaustING, but that’s part of the thrill of the hunt, isn’t it?

Our esteemed historical research guru Elizabeth Shown Mills responded to a Facebook inquiry¹ to discover how she organized her 208-page research report, accumulated over years, to solve 1 simple research question. After much discussion, she referred us to her website Historic Pathways² for multiple samples of research reports Elizabeth writes to herself.

A genealogical society program chair could make a good study group session out of one or two of Elizabeth’s publicly available sample reports on Historic Pathways.

Deconstructing the parts and examining the logic behind Elizabeth’s work has helped to clarify my thinking and improved readability of my research. It will likely take looking at multiple research reports to get past the specific case and better grasp the adaptability of her reports.

IMAGE: AdobeStock_910095134, licensed by author.

Personally

I’ve only had a few super complicated research question to resolve. The last one had:

• conflicting evidence

• misleading direct evidence from eyewitnesses

• falsified information from one witness with an ulterior motive

• same-named people of appropriate age for the focus person

• twists and turns that took years to straighten out

Iterations of Myrt’s Filing System

When I first started out, 3-ring binders was the organizational method of choice. Pedigree charts and family group sheets were typed on a typewriter. My few accompanying research summaries were handwritten and hand-diagrammed.

Everything was filed by surname and divider tabs separated direct and collateral lines. If you were to open the Froman surname notebook, the most recent direct Froman ancestral family would be on the first page, followed by previous generations in reverse chronological order.

Information on unmarried females was filed with their natal family. Once married a reference on her line of the natal family group sheet referred to her marriage. Her life once married was filed under her married name with her husband. If she was divorced or widowed, and married a second time, references were made in both her natal family group sheet and with her first marriage family group sheet. This would lead me to turn to her second married surname to follow events in her life from that point forward.

The opening page of each notebook explained my logic.

Once I had a computer, my approach to filing was an easy transition & genealogy software organized the timeline of events in each ancestor’s profile.

SOLVING a Research Conundrum isn’t about FILING is it?

Because Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day, Easter, family birthdays, and LIFE basically, all require the frequent use of my dining room table, I could no longer spread out my paperwork. I now create a digital file folder for storing the challenging research question paperwork.

This is the stuff that cannot yet be entered into my conclusion-based genealogy management program. The digital filing system contains several MSWord documents that guide my research toward better organization, saving time searching and data loss risk.

I begin with these blank but named word documents:

• 01_ the question and initial plan

• 02 literature review (books, online trees, identification of record sets for the time & place)

• 03_ Narrative of research process, including tangents to consider. May also include:

  • scans of handwritten notes or family diagrams made during on-site research

  • suggestions for additional research here

  • quotes of abstracts of a document filed in the ZZZ Media folder with a small version of the image

• 04_01 FamilySearch

• 04_02 Ancestry

• 04_03 Hathi Trust
  and so forth for online and offline reesources I looked at – including record set titles not mentioning my ancestors

• ZZZ_Media folder is very important as it contains the documentary evidence uncovered during the research process is stored there.

  • High resolution image with citation label

  • A same-named MSWord doc with a smaller version of the image, a full transcription, abstract, and analysis. I find doing both the abstract and the full transcription improves my consideration of basic information elements and gives me time to evaluate the reliability of the informant.
    

    Said evidence may support or refute my hypothesis or may be temporarily or permanently labeled “not the right family.” I don’t throw that discarded research away, as it may prove useful to explain it to someone else later. I have only had to revisit my reasoning for one sticky wicket research questions, with conflicting evidence when discussing a challenge with Cousin Russ who was working the same lines.

This is a loose description of my digital organization method that replaces my DRTMOO (dining room table method of organization.) 🙃

Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt
DearMYRTLE,
Your (not so) retired friend in genealogy

1. Elizabeth Shown Mills, Facebook public post, 15 Oct 2025. (https://www.facebook.com/share/17jGzMWPYe : viewed 9 Nov 2025.) A MUST READ about tackling the massive organizational nightmare of 208 pages resolving a complicated research question.

2. Elizabeth Shown Mills. Historic Pathways: a portfolio of research drawing forgotten women, yeoman farmers, and the enslaved out from the shadows of history. (https://www.historicpathways.com : viewed 19 Nov 2025.)