There have been questions in each of the project surname's lineages about parallel lines of descent, with same or similar surnames, which could not be connected to a common ancestor. Questions were also asked about the origins of their surnames. Genealogists have examined other surnames spelled much like their own or that sounded the same in efforts to find ancestors. Names were frequently misspelled because individuals could not read or write, and clerks spelled the surnames and gave the families names as they saw them. Records were lost by fire, war and other disasters.
Genealogy can be a very frustrating, challenging and time-consuming endeavor.
A system called Soundex was invented to include whole groups of surnames in a numbering system, and in that system Beal is found at the designation B400. However, investigative methods did not always find that elusive ancestor. Today, there is a new investigative tool called genetic genealogy. This is the branch of knowledge arising out of the study of genes first identified in 1909 for identification of inherited physical characteristics. Since 1940, the chemical nature of DNA has become a science revealing more and more of the mysteries that make up the human body.