Three city directories in the 1870s show your ancestor was a brakeman. How can you learn more?

1. Compile a list of the years that city directories were published for the location. You’ll find catalogs with this information in major libraries and at historical societies.

2. Check Ancestry.com and other websites for the directories you don’t have (especially helpful when you’re trying to fill in the blanks left by the destroyed census records from 1890). The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy has an excellent chapter on city directories explaining when they began, where to find them, and how to use them.

3. Don’t miss a year. It might be the sole instance when a more elusive ancestor appears. Or it could provide additional information, like identifying an occupation and the employer.

4. Compare entries, checking different years for similar given names and surnames and for name variations (city directories in this case revealed that Arsene, Anselme, and Samuel Daoust/Dow were all the same man). Also check for address changes and new names at old addresses.

5. Use employer information, when provided, to find employment records. In this case, G.T.R. stands for Grand Trunk Railway; more information on GTR can be found by searching Canadian Railway Records: A Guide for Genealogists (Ontario Genealogical Society, 2004).