Interview and Collaborate With Your Cousins

Cousins can be invaluable sources of information - and evidence. Just because you are from the same generation as your cousins, that doesn't mean that you know the same things they do. Their family and your family will have had different experiences and relationships with other family members. Cousins from other generations, such as second and third cousins and cousins removed, can be even more valuable.

DNA testing and the resulting matches can identify cousins you never knew about. Connecting with them can possibly extend your family research well beyond what you have discovered on your own. You may even find living cousins on social media such as Facebook and begin communicating and collaborating.

Making contact with and interviewing your cousins is an important task. You may exchange  new information that helps you both break through brick walls. Your cousins may have family stories their families told them that you have never heard. They also may be in possession of Bibles, books, letters, pictures and other materials that could help in your research. Try to enlist their help in the family history project and encourage their collaboration in the process. In the meantime, you are reestablishing family connections that may have been lost.