I have put nothing on this website that
I know is false. That being said, I cannot guarantee that everything is necessarily
correct either. I have tried to make it clear when I am talking about facts and when I am
talking about an educated guess that is very likely true. In the most extreme case, I will
also include stories that are likely a mixture of fact and legend because they are fun and
I would like to believe they are true. But I will make it clear when I am doing so.
Much is made in genealogy about sources. Purists insist that only the "proven
facts" can be published. I think this is misleading and more importantly, takes all
the fun out of the search. It is also inconsistent with the way the genealogical research
is done in the real world.
The "holy grail" of genealogy is
supposed to be primary sources such as birth certificates and marriage certificates where
a living person is available to record the necessary information. These are supposedly the
most accurate. After that comes, secondary sources such as death certificates which, while
exceptionally rich in family history, are tainted by the lack of a living respondent. My
experience is common with other researchers. Time and time again I have found both primary
and secondary sources that are clearly wrong……people make mistakes, people
don’t know, people sometimes lie. For example, I have one interesting ancestor
who never seemed to age more than 5 or 6 years between every census despite the fact that
they were taken every ten years.
The experts tell you when you first begin
your family research to go find the oldest living members of your family and pick their
brains for what they know. Most people know who their grandparents are and in general are
good for about 100 years worth of information. Having collected the family lore, we are
cautioned that somewhere around half of what we are told will be wrong. This should not be
surprising. Some folks remember it wrong, some were told it wrong by someone else or
simply the facts have been blurred over the years. Someone who tells you that, for
example, he is descended from Robert E. Lee is more likely to have had an ancestor who was
standing by the road one day when Robert E. Lee rode by. The story gets
"enhanced" as the years pass. Here’s an interesting fact: There are
no descendents of Abraham Lincoln…his only son who lived to be an adult had two
children but neither married or had children of their own before they died as senior
citizens (Thanks Debbie).
