No matter what I do, it seems that I cannot get beyond the brick wall that is placed just beyond the father and son pair both named Sherman FRARY found in my maternal grandfather’s ancestry.  I am not sure if they are true Jr. and Sr. or just shared the first name.  The older Sherman was born in 1824 in New York, but the earliest records of any kind that I can find that pertain to him begin with the 1850 Census.  I only know his birth year and state, because of the 1850 and 1860 Census records.

While trying to keep progressing while not incurring expenses at this time, I was feeling like there was nothing more that I could do right now.  So as is my usual M.O. when relaxing… lol… I went exploring more on Ancestry.com.  I happened across a Captain Nathan FRARY.  This caught my attention for a few reasons which include the fact that there was a lot of information easily found about Nathan and he apparently was at least somewhat important in the Revolutionary War (at least at first glance) which can lead to Sons/Daughters of the Revolution type finds and the fact that Nathan and Nathanial have been somewhat prevalent within the younger Sherman FRARY’s descendents.  At first glance, there may be another brick wall that will pop up shortly after that, but one wall at a time!

My plan now is to explore Captain Nathan FRARY’s known descendants to see if I can connect him to my two Sherman FRARYs.  The good news is that IF I can connect them, then this wall will be conquered.  Even if I cannot connect them, there will honestly be nothing major lost.  Either way, I will gain more knowledge about researching in the Revolutionary War period.

There is a gap of about four generations between them, so let the chipping at this wall begin…

What tips do you have for frugally chipping at walls?

* Update:  I am concentrating on the males only at this time, because it is the FRARY line that I am concerned about right now.  Thankfully, this area of Captain FRARY’s family was lighter on the boys’ side. I am coming close to ruling out being a direct descendant of Captain Nathan FRARY, but his father and grandfather have more male descendants to check out.  I am still trying to find Sherman being born in New York.

I also have my eyes open for any of our lines in this area that lead back to Deerfield, Massachusetts in the 1600 and 1700s.  Nathan’s FRARY family seemed to have been very important to Deerfield’s history for several generations and the Revolutionary War.

A note regarding this tip being frugal:  I just thought about the fact that Ancestry.com costs.  If someone did not already have a membership it would not be truly frugal, but for someone who already has a yearly membership that was paid for several months ago… it does not cost anything extra.