| How Bruce Used the 5-Step Research Process |
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| Step 1: Write down what you know. |
Bruce grew up with a family tradition that his 3rd great-grandfather, Robert Stewart, had emigrated from Scotland in the late 1700s and settled in Fulton County, New York. |
| Step 2: Decide what you want to learn. |
Bruce and his wife, Mary Kay, decided to go to the Fulton County Courthouse to see what they could find out about the Stewart ancestral line. |
| Step 3: Choose a source of information. |
Because Bruce and Mary Kay hadn't set a focused research objective in step two, they were quickly overwhelmed with random information on other Stewart families. This led them to the decision to focus specifically on Robert Stewart, the immigrant, and in particular on any probate records he may have left. |
| Step 4: Learn from the source. |
The next day, they went to the new county courthouse, which contained the probate records. Within an hour, they had found the probate packet of Robert Stewart. |
| Step 5: Use what you learned. |
Bruce and Mary Kay used the information in the probate record to then find land records. From these records and old maps, they were able to identify where Robert Stewart had homesteaded in the late 1700s. Visiting the site, they found the foundations of his home and filmed it, then shared their finding with other family members. |
