Can anyone help with a “brick wall”

Question

Hi all. I’ve hit a brick wall in our family tree. I  looking for information on Thomas Shoenberger born in 1823. More precisely, am looking for who his parents were so I can continue with our family tree. There’s just doesn’t seem to be anything out there. Any ideas for how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Answer 1

If you add a link to a profile in your question that will help others, even if the profile is not Thomas.

That said, start by finding out as much as you can about those you do know. Not just birth/death but also the great collection of information from the census. Look at siblings, that might give you some clues.

From an existing profile, pick the Research pulldown menu under the Name-xxx menu, provide your wikitree credentials if asked, then search a site, such as FamilySearch.

Comments

Thanks for the star Susan

Answer 2

I must agree with Kay, we need to at least know the city, county or country, there is no way anyone can help you with name only. please fill us in on all the detail that you have and then maybe we will be able to break down your wall

Comments

Kay and Shaun are certainly right... but with a name like Shoenberger, be sure to use aggressive wildcards.   To solve one of my McReynolds brickwalls,  I eventually found the record spelled as McKunnels..... I.E. if searchs don't work for wildcards like S*h*nberger, you might have to end up searching something like  S*h*b*r

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Sorry all. All records we can find indicate they lived in Georges and Dunbar townships in Fayette County, Pennsylavnia.  We’re tried the various spellings of the last name with still no luck. What is an agressive wild card? Thank you again.

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If you're not familiar with wildcards, this family search link will explain.

https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/searching-wildcards-familysearch-2/

Find A Grave doesn't use wild cards.

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Thank you for the information.

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We know Thomas was born in 1823. He may have had a brother George. We also know the names of his wife, Mary Lewis. We have the names of his children: William, Harriet, Oscar, George Alexander and Franklin(my great grandad). My uncle did research before the days of computers and indicated Thomas was a blacksmith in Dunbar Township. He was unable to find who Thomas’ parents were.

Thank you all for your suggestions and information.

Answer 3

Looks like a name-change in there somewhere.  I found Thomas Shanaberger.  The headstone of his father reads Wm. Shanaberger.  Use the following only as clues because I have not researched any sources yet.

Thomas Shanaberger

BIRTH1823 Dunbar, PA

DEATH24 Jan 1903 Georges, Fayette, Pennsylvania, USA

Family Info

Father	William Shanaberger (1780-1861)
Mother	Jane Croxton (1798-1868)
Spouse	Mary (1821-)
Children	William (1846-) Harriet L. (1848-) Ausker (1850-) Franklin (1853-1933) George (1855-1911) Alexander Cameron (1857-1918)

Comments

Thank you. I’ve seen this one. I’ve never seen the variation of Shanaberger. Seen a lot of variations like SCH, Sheneberger though.

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I’ve often wondered if the census taker made a mistake in the spelling. Thank you

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Yes there could have been a error in the spelling.  Do you have birth dates for g-grandad Franklin and siblings?  Have you made profiles for them yet?   Franklin's wife and children?  Maybe we can work backwards in time from them.

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Hi, the names and dates of his wife and children match what my uncle had in his papers to what you posted. His son Franklin was my great granddad. The confusing things are you can find people on the both sides of the state with the same or similar names. Thomas’ wife is buried in a connelsvile cemetery.

Thank you all again for your suggestions and help.

Answer 4

Thomas Schoenberger died in Illinois

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158662519

Comments

Thank you.