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How to break through a genealogy brick wall

Most brick walls fall to a method, not a lucky record. Here is the method.

Guide · Updated July 2026

A genealogy “brick wall” is the point where a line stops moving because the records that would carry it further have not been found. Most brick walls fall not to a single lucky record but to a method: exhaust the records you know about, widen the search to collateral relatives and neighbours, re-read the sources you already have for indirect evidence, resolve conflicts between sources, and keep a log of what you have searched — including the searches that found nothing.

First, re-examine what you already have

Most brick walls are an untested assumption, not an absence of records. Re-read every source you already hold, slowly. A document you skimmed for a birth date may name a neighbour, a witness, or a previous residence that opens the next step.

Widen to the FAN club

The FAN club — Friends, Associates and Neighbours — is the single most powerful brick-wall technique. The record that names your ancestor’s parents may sit in a sibling’s marriage record, a neighbour’s land deed, or a witness’s probate file rather than your ancestor’s own paperwork. Research the people around your ancestor, not just the ancestor.

Look for indirect and negative evidence

Not every answer is stated directly. Indirect evidence answers your question only in combination with other facts — a land sale reciting an inherited share, for example, can establish a parent without naming one. Negative evidence is the meaningful absence of something: a man missing from a tax list he should appear on is evidence he had moved or died.

Resolve conflicts instead of ignoring them

When two sources disagree, that conflict is often the clue. Lay the conflicting evidence side by side, weigh each source for reliability, and write out why you accept one. Ignoring the inconvenient record is how brick walls get built in the first place.

Log everything, including the dead ends

Keep a research log of every source searched and every result — especially the negative ones. “Reasonably exhaustive” research (the first element of the Genealogical Proof Standard) means knowing what you have already checked so you do not circle the same records for years.

Glossary: Brick wall Glossary: Collateral relative Glossary: Indirect & negative evidence The Genealogical Proof Standard

Frequently asked

The point at which a family line stops advancing because the records that would carry it further have not been found or do not survive. Most turn out to be an untested assumption rather than a true absence of records.
Friends, Associates and Neighbours — the people who surrounded your ancestor. Researching them often surfaces the record that names your ancestor's parents or origin, because that fact may appear in someone else's document.
The meaningful absence of something you would expect to find. For example, an ancestor missing from a tax or census list they should appear on is evidence that they had moved away or died.
Before concluding a record is lost, make sure your search was reasonably exhaustive: collateral relatives, neighbours, indirect evidence, and repositories for the right place and time period. A research log tells you whether you have actually done that.

Put it into practice

AncestorOS gives you Evidence Explained citation templates, Genealogical Proof Standard–aligned research logs, GEDCOM import and export, and DNA match tracking in one web-based workspace.

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