Mistakes

Once again it's Saturday morning and today's newsletter from Alabama Pioneers is too good not to share so I have included portions of that post below.

Saturday 14, July 2012
Have you ever made a mistake?

I never make mistakes. (LOL) The truth is I make many each day and wish I didn't but I guess as long as I'm alive, I will make mistakes. That's part of being human.

Mistakes are made in genealogy as well so we can never completely trust the research someone else has done. But that's what makes it so fascinating. Each person has the opportunity to add their own data and knowledge to a family line...

Genealogy is a lot like science. The definition of science is the “methodical study of material world.” Knowledge of our world progresses as scientific facts are tested and proved. In the process, some long-held beliefs about our world are discarded and new ideas advanced as scientists study our world. But without some of their wild theories, science would never move forward.

With the debut of DNA in genealogy, many previously accepted family trees have been found to be inaccurate and this has created some hard feelings in the genealogy world. This is because years of work, time and research were suddenly thrown out. It's similar to what learned scientists must have felt when Columbus discovered the earth was not flat, but round. But where would America be if he had not challenged this accepted belief and ventured across the Atlantic?

It may be silly to compare genealogy research to scientific study but the concept is the same. I often receive comments from people who say, they spent 20 or 30 years researching a family line and something on the website is not correct. When someone informs me of this, I offer to add their information to the disputed biography, GEDCOM or disputed article. Some people follow through and provide me the information while others do not.

...Obviously, there will be disputes about material provided. Some will probably never be solved. In my own family, there is a dispute between two family lines in regard to a middle name of a gr-grandfather.. Both lines have argued that they knew the man and claim that they were correct. To this day one line follows one direction while another follows another. Until new information is found, neither line will agree as to the correct name but at least they continue to research and try to prove their theory. This is how we move forward.

The above article is by Donna Causey of Alabama Pioneers who has graciously consented to have her newsletter reprinted here.

Be Careful with Family Histories!

Every Saturday morning, I receive by email the latest newsletter from Alabama Pioneers. Many of these newsletters contain great advice for anyone researching their family. Today was another of those days so I am sharing that advice here since there are numerous Reeves' family histories, some of which include theories and family connections which have been proven to be incorrect along with other questionable information.

Alabama Pioneers Newsletter of Saturday, 2 June 2012

Have you discovered a family history has already been written about your family? Don't assume your job is done. While the history book is a good source of information, many family genealogies contain errors, especially if it was written before computers. Research up until 20 years ago was different from today. Family historians pursued their hobby by writing to other family members and requesting information. Most of the data came from memory or a few documents. Censuses, indexes, and vital records were usually unavailable. Memories were helpful with families that remained in one area for many generations but difficult if they moved and searching documents locally was much easier than traveling.

You still need to be careful if a professional genealogist researched and published the book, even with citations. In the 19th and 20th century, many family genealogies were produced to prove descent from founding fathers. Since genealogy was a source of income, sometimes, if a black sheep was discovered, a genealogy history might have been improved and information dropped on the errant ancestor. Many fraudulent pedigrees were done during this time. Beware of any work completed by Gustave Anjou (1863-1942). He forged many bogus genealogies according to the Genealogical Journal of the Utah Genealogical Association (vol. 19, nos. 1&2, 1991).

But don't abandon that family genealogy book. The information will usually provide a good starting point with leads to be checked and verified by finding primary records. Many original sources are now available online or on microfilm. Look for citations and use them to obtain copies of the original document and your family genealogy will be much more accurate.