Following Along the 14-Day Research Like a Pro Challenge

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In Another Comanche Connection in the Story of Morning Dew, I hinted that I would be doing some further research to determine Elizabeth Kite Stephen's birthplace. Elizabeth is my husband's 2x great grandmother. Identifying her birthplace is just one piece in verifying if there might be any kernel of truth to the family lore that she was of Comanche origin. 

This research will be part of the 14-day Research Like a Pro (RLP) Mini-Challenge offered by the RLP creators Diane Elder and Nicole Dyer, from January 16-29. The goal is to complete a small genealogical research project, using the RLP method, a step-by-step guide for seeing a project from start to finish. I'll be reporting here on what I find, and insights on the process along the way. 

The challenge sets out the 7 key steps of RLP methodology and devotes two days to each. It is recommended that researchers take on a relatively simple question given the time allowed, and the proposed time to be devoted to it each day—just 15 minutes. That piece will be a real challenge for me, as I do so love to be thorough and can spend hours deep in research. I'm looking forward to finding out more about Elizabeth Kite over the next few weeks.

Here's what I've accomplished in the first few days of the 14-day RLP Mini-Challenge:

Jan. 16—Research Question

To begin a project, the RLP method asks "What question do you have about an ancestor's life that you’d like to discover?" You do this by reviewing your family tree to determine what info is still missing or not documented fully.

While working on this question of Elizabeth Kite's identity, I noticed that there are conflicting places of birth listed in records such as censuses, her children's death certificates, etc. Some sources state Alabama, others state Georgia, while other sources note Texas, or specifically Comanche, Texas. A death record for Elizabeth has not yet been located where a birthplace might be recorded.

So, my overall question is:

Where was Elizabeth Kite Stephen born?

 

Jan. 17—Key Identifiers

Here, the task is to take a research question and turn it into a complete objective. A complete research objective contains "key identifiers." These help you determine if a record you found matches your ancestor. There would be nothing worse than investigating the wrong person! The best key identifiers are vital information, parents' and spouse's names, and locations, if known.

With this in mind, my objective is:

The objective of this project is to determine the birthplace of Elizabeth Kite born about June 1854 in either Alabama or Georgia to Caswell Kite and Harriet Kite. Elizabeth married James Howard Stephen on 20 September 1876 in Erath County, Texas. She died about 25 February 1901 in Erath County, Texas.

 

Next week, I'll report on what I've accomplished on these steps:

Jan. 18—Analyze Sources-Timeline

Jan. 19—Analyze Sources-Source and Information

Jan. 20—Locality Research-Background Information

Jan. 21—Locality Research-Identify Sources to Search

Jan. 22—Research Planning-Hypothesis

Jan. 23—Research Planning-Prioritize Sources

Jan. 24—Source Citations

Until next time...