Lyceum - Basic Genealogy - Reaching Conclusions - Proving/Disproving Relationships
- Warning - Errors Abound - GIGO
- Public Records
- Clerk/Enumerator wrote what they heard
- Respondent didn't always know - made up answers
- Records missing or incorectly indexed
- Family Accounts
- Incomplete
(Liberty verses West Liberty - in different counties)
- Have Mistakes
- Colored by Beliefs and "Secrets"
- Published Histories
- Contributors Made Errors
- Can't believe everything you read
- Common error - missing generation
- Imprecise language - unclear referent
- Genealogical "Publications"
- Researchers made incorrect conclusions
- Common error - missing generation
- Incomplete - unclear
- Forgeries
- Internet
- Queries often Vague, Incomplete
- Data Rarely Documented (no Reference to Source)
- Errors Propogated - GEDcoms
- Often Lack "Place" - so don't know where to look for
verification
- What To Expect/Hope for From Different Documents
- Birth Certificate - Name, DOB, Names of Parents
- Death Certificate - Usually Names Parent/s of Decedant,
spouse often the informant, and is named.
- Obituary - May name surviving family members, relatives
- Will - Usually Names Heirs (Sometimes - "All to Beloved Wife")
- Probate Record - Names Heirs, may show where they are living
- Census Record -
- Shows Household Members (1850 and ff.), birthplaces
- Relationships stated or inferred, birthplaces of parents
- Proximity to Others - Neighbors (wife's parents, etc.)
- Deed or Mortage - names parties, witnesses, wife has dower rights and is named if husband is the seller (grantor)
- Names Parties to Transaction
- Names Witnesses
- Locates Property (from which find others close by)
- Bible Record - Gems in the Rough - Invaluable
- (Immediate) Family History
- Data from another's perspective
- Outline of family structure - good roadmap
- Catch 22 - Must know the answer to ask the question or order document
- Coincidences - Weight of Evidence
- Confusions
- Individuals with same name
- Repeating Names - Generation to Generation
- Value of Heresay Evidence - a starting point
- Value of Undocumented Fact - a starting point
- Example of a Relationship Proof on Circumstantial Evidence
- Hiram [H] received land patent in 1833. Section 33 ... [F] Twp [V] County IN
- 1851 Report of Appraisers [V] County Court for Estate of Hiram [H]
- 1850 Census in [F] Twp County [V] for Lucinda [H'] age 12 (no Hiram [H])
- Neighbors of [H'] family in 1850 Census - James Hood - Susan Crockett
- Other 1833 Patentees in Section 33 ...[F]... [V]... James Hood, James Crockett
- 1856 Marriage [V] County IN - Lucinda [H] to William [R]
- 1911 Probate Record [V] County for Lucinda [R] shows owns land in Section 33, etc.
- Conclusion - Transfer of land from Hiram [H] to .... to
Lucinda [H] probably never recorded but Lucinda [H] lived in same spot from 1850 to
1911. Lucinda [H][R] received land from mother [H'] who received land from
husband Hiram [H]
© Prepared by Jay
December 4, 2005