| Dear Fellow Genealogist,
Genealogy starts with researching our relatives, but the further we go back, some of the most important people in our research aren't related to us at all. Every ancestor had a supporting cast: friends, neighbors, witnesses, coworkers and other associates that all played roles in their lives, even if they never earned a permanent branch on the family tree.
For genealogists, paying attention to those people can reveal new clues, add context to an ancestor's story and sometimes help solve a problem that researching the ancestor alone can't–sometimes these supporting cast members might even upstage the main character. As it turns out, genealogy is very much an ensemble production.
In today's newsletter, we turn the spotlight on that supporting cast in an article on tools for cluster research, including ways to keep track of the non-relatives who appear in your ancestors' lives. We also share tips for turning the people in your family history into compelling characters on the page and walk through 10 steps to trace living relatives who may have stories, photographs and answers of their own.
So widen the cast list a little–you never know which background character is waiting for their big genealogical break.
Holding auditions,
— Katharine, Digital Editor of Family Tree Magazine
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