A Brick Wall - Revisited

From WikiTree, The theme for Week 14 is “A Brick Wall Revisited.” Sometimes it takes a set of fresh eyes to solve a problem. Has that happened with you in your genealogy? (Of course, there are other ways to interpret this theme. Any bricklayers in the family? My answer (on WT): posted on March 30: I've gotten quite a bit of help here and from Reddit u/genealogy on finding out more about my great grandmother [[Fox-28400|Nellie Pearson]]. Still haven't completely broken down the wall, but we're getting there! Another "wall" I'm having trouble with, I mentioned in response to another person's post that women often make the most brick walls (marriage, name change, etc): That is so true - my two major brick walls are my great grandmothers (one on each side!) My male brick walls are crumbling, it's just that "why are there so many Lyman Harrises?" and "why did you name everybody James Crooks?" A few I've been able to clear up a bit by middle initial, but for the Crooks, I just have to remember James1840 and James1861 in my head, over and over! I am still having trouble with my paternal Great-Grandfather (the James1861 mentioned above). I spoke about this on the Question of the Week: Family Pattern on March 24: One Family Pattern that is a bit frustrating to me right now is naming! My great-grandfather was [[Crooks-3325|James Crooks]], his father was [[Crooks-155|James Crooks]], and guess what? HIS father was [[Crooks-157|James Crooks]]. Which probably wouldn't be too bad, if I had accurate middle names or initials, but then the sons that weren't named James, also like to name their sons James as well! So, I'm trying to keep track via birthdate which James I'm looking at, and working on a pedigree chart so I can keep track of all the James! There are Senior, Junior, and Thirds on both sides, but they're a little easier to track as they are more recent and I have the information on them already. Go back a few generations and the Harris will trip me up with multiple Lymans! It's just a part of what keeps it interesting and us going through yet another "could this be a different James?", right? This is what can make genealogy fun AND frustrating at the same time! A lot of notes and papers lying next to me and multiple tabs open in front of me. I will work an area for awhile, but when it seems like it's really stuck, I try to go to something completely different (well, kinda different, still ancestry stuff) a different person, or scanning and organizing photos. Sometimes these can end up being quite a help, almost by accident! I've found my paternal grandmother's comments about her father and step-mother in one of her letters to my mom, and that helped me build her WT biography and clear up a timeline issue I'd had. Just keep swimming, I guess!