NEVER COMPLETED BUT THERE ARE STOPPING PLACES
Brenda Kellow
January 29, 2012
Our work does not end once we have “completed” documenting our families. You never complete the search, but eventually you must find a stopping place unless you are recording your findings at the end of each library, archive or Internet search. You must document the ‘hunt’ by preserving your findings. Entering your findings into your genealogy database program without first verifying each entry with facts is nothing but a ‘legend.’ You really do not want to clutter up your database without authenticated evidence to support each person or fact.
Start by putting the research together and include all the verified evidence by citing where you found it. A good citation is a road map that guides the investigator back to the source quickly and as effortlessly as possible. If it does not then you have failed as the historian. Stories without thorough citations or incomplete ones are just that—stories! Your goal when writing your family history is telling your audience what you have uncovered with the proof included that you have personally examined and documented. When confronted by someone who challenges a document or event, it is certainly fulfilling when you have included proof.
I have heard novice researchers exclaim they found information in a book or online about an ancestor and that, it was complete with the proof. They declare they have no reason to double check the sources. In some cases they usually defend their lack of personal verification by saying something like the author was such a good researcher and they could certainly trust the findings.
Did you ever think that the information given as evidence was incorrect material possibly perpetuated by someone years ago? Perpetuating incorrect information is a common finding. Years ago, when I was working on a lineage application for Colonial Dames of America I found something in a book by another author that seemed to prove my lineage to someone. When I followed the reference to her father’s will in Virginia that would name her as his daughter, I found it was not the father’s will at all but someone I never heard of. After reading the will twice, I found no reference to verify what was in the book. Thinking it was a typo, I moved those numbers around and read several wills without success. It was not a typo. Without the will, it seemed impossible to find the connection to her father until I was searching another family in Kentucky records and found the relationship, but it was not in a will.
Still another time while following a lead published in the 1920s I found that someone I thought was an ancestor was actually a former relative. I did publish the family history and admitted the earlier research was flawed. I published the book three years ago and I have yet to be criticized. Although the solid proof is not there to claim a relationship, there was a child, two generations later, who carried the surname of the subject as a middle name. Should we consider that evidence? No. It is implied but not proven.
Documenting saves embarrassment because once it is in print, other researchers of the line will seek you out! If there are unresolved problems, publicize them. You can do it.
SEMINAR ON FORENSIC GENEALOGY: The seminar is in Dallas from October 25 through October 27 at the Wyndham Dallas Love Field Hotel. The fee for non-members of the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy (CAFG) is $400 and $350 for members. Forensic genealogy is research, analysis, and reporting in cases with legal implications and conducted by unbiased, disinterested, third party practitioners with no personal or professional stake in the outcome. The definition of the forensic genealogist is from their website, www.forensicgenealogists.com/index.html.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
Start by putting the research together and include all the verified evidence by citing where you found it. A good citation is a road map that guides the investigator back to the source quickly and as effortlessly as possible. If it does not then you have failed as the historian. Stories without thorough citations or incomplete ones are just that—stories! Your goal when writing your family history is telling your audience what you have uncovered with the proof included that you have personally examined and documented. When confronted by someone who challenges a document or event, it is certainly fulfilling when you have included proof.
I have heard novice researchers exclaim they found information in a book or online about an ancestor and that, it was complete with the proof. They declare they have no reason to double check the sources. In some cases they usually defend their lack of personal verification by saying something like the author was such a good researcher and they could certainly trust the findings.
Did you ever think that the information given as evidence was incorrect material possibly perpetuated by someone years ago? Perpetuating incorrect information is a common finding. Years ago, when I was working on a lineage application for Colonial Dames of America I found something in a book by another author that seemed to prove my lineage to someone. When I followed the reference to her father’s will in Virginia that would name her as his daughter, I found it was not the father’s will at all but someone I never heard of. After reading the will twice, I found no reference to verify what was in the book. Thinking it was a typo, I moved those numbers around and read several wills without success. It was not a typo. Without the will, it seemed impossible to find the connection to her father until I was searching another family in Kentucky records and found the relationship, but it was not in a will.
Still another time while following a lead published in the 1920s I found that someone I thought was an ancestor was actually a former relative. I did publish the family history and admitted the earlier research was flawed. I published the book three years ago and I have yet to be criticized. Although the solid proof is not there to claim a relationship, there was a child, two generations later, who carried the surname of the subject as a middle name. Should we consider that evidence? No. It is implied but not proven.
Documenting saves embarrassment because once it is in print, other researchers of the line will seek you out! If there are unresolved problems, publicize them. You can do it.
SEMINAR ON FORENSIC GENEALOGY: The seminar is in Dallas from October 25 through October 27 at the Wyndham Dallas Love Field Hotel. The fee for non-members of the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy (CAFG) is $400 and $350 for members. Forensic genealogy is research, analysis, and reporting in cases with legal implications and conducted by unbiased, disinterested, third party practitioners with no personal or professional stake in the outcome. The definition of the forensic genealogist is from their website, www.forensicgenealogists.com/index.html.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].