I didn't have have time to respond before-
I would actually go in the opposite direction. Sometimes the more specific will filter out what you want d/t transcription errors. Ancestry has a few tutorials on this that were helpful to me. A few ways I have found people-
-search last name, no first name, year of birth within 2+ yrs and location- start with actual town/city and then broaden seardh to county.
-search first name, no last name, year of birth- location
-search for wife, sibling, father or mother using above parameters.
-in ancestry start in census then go thru the other categories (decreases the number of hits).
-Do a search in the family tree section and message people who have private trees. DO NOT populate from these trees. They frequently have multiple errors. Any info should be confirmed- message person to see source.
- then go to familysearch.org to do the same. This site has more errors (in my experience) if you are using their trees. Multiple errors in a tree assoc with my name, people who populate trees with any potential person so a guy could have 3 wives simultaneously as one of mine did.
-city directories can be helpful. I usually search manually after finding the last name. This is freq helpful as they will list occupation and often widowed or widower. They will also list grown children.
-post up and ask people if they are willing to search for you if you don't have full access to ancestry
-the local library usually has the library edition of ancestry which gives you access to a lot of things without needing to buy the next level. email yourself the docs so you have copy on home computer.
where are you looking (locality)- USA or other countries?
I have had luck calling the historical society of the particular town. Didn't find me the person but did give me background I found useful in how I proceeded with my search.
