By researching our ancestors’ Friends, Associates and Neighbors (their “FAN club”) we can learn a lot more about their lives and break down brick walls that we may have been working on for quite some time. In this lecture, Cari Taplin will explain the FAN club principle or cluster genealogy, as set forth by Elizabeth Shown Mills and adopted by many genealogical researchers. Cari will give several case study examples of how this method of researching can take your research to the next level, place your ancestors in context to the social history surrounding them and give new insights to their lives.

Experience level: intermediate