Genealogy Tweaking Do you do it?

Genealogy Tweaking as I call it is a very useful tool in research.

What is it you ask? Well, I call it tweaking because when you have names, places and dates that surround your lost kin and can not determine which one is best to search or to lead you out of the dark, one must learn to tweak.

1. One formula I use was something G Schweitzer suggested at seminars years ago.
Save whole census pages.
2. Take the saved whole page and track a bit of the neighbors of the surname
you are looking for.
3. Why if not your line, well it sometimes clears cobwebs as to whom are yours.
4. Land Records or Deeds of neighbors may give clues to the neighbor whom may be
your ancestor.
5. Wills of neighbors can relate information also, since they would be witness or
maybe an in Law.
6. Some times we have to do things in reverse of what we were taught to shake
the information out of the fold.
7. Also if they move take census and again compare all the neighbors and do repeat,
what happens if they are compatible names is a potential in law situation.
8. Remember people migrated in groups whether large or small in the early years.
9. I am not sure if it is the doing things backwards or non normal that helps but
generally the neighbors hold many clues to your brick wall.
10. Other documents can be done the same way to resolve interesting issues.

So which JOHN SCOTT or HENRY HUFFMAN is yours in pre 1850 census can be
resolved by neighbor tweaking. It is like gossiping about your neighbor
you have to dig up the dirt. :>) But it really is Gold.