HI All,
I am currently in the process of writing articles on each of the descendants
of the 10 children of my ancestor who died in 1804 in Northampton County,
NC. In writing a narrative description, I am able to explain my reasoning!
I have also included the abstracts of deeds and other court records as well
as the full text of wills. This does not make for really exciting reading!
And I footnote everything I can. Footnoting is tedious, but it is
necessary. Ancestry is good for some documentation, but it does not have
much in the way of wills, etc. The rental of microfilm reels at the LDS
Family History Center has been extremely helpful for me. My genealogy
papers are a real mess and in writing the articles, I have been forced to
sort them out and get them organized.
Those with minds that are made up will not listen to reason and I do not try
to contact them or encourage them to contact me. I do hear from researchers
(vs. compilers) who have read some of the articles. These are people who
understand the importance of documentation and common sense. I really
appreciate hearing from them.
One last note--- In the process of doing the writing, I have sometimes
changed a line of descent because the text highlighted errors or lapses of
logic that I had not noticed before. Think about writing your own family
history.
Bonnie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn H Pappas" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 12:48 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Virginia Citations
Hi,
While working at the DAR for many years, I was the one of those who worked
on
patriots where the lineage or service had been questioned. My answer, if I
could not solve the problem was "genealogies are helpful as a guide but many
are
not acceptable unless the information can be verified by sources, such as
vital
records, Bible records, cemetery records, or other records that could be
used in
probate court cases." I also would sometimes use 'third generation personal
knowledge.' Common sense must also used (5 year old girls do not give
birth.)
I have been very careful in writing family histories and articles to
footnote
everything. As a result, my works are credible and I have heard from other
interested genealogists about them.
________________________________
From: "Tarter, Brent (LVA)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, March 14, 2011 12:23:55 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Virginia Citations
The comments about online genealogical resources and family trees also
apply to print sources. None is perfect, and some are horrible. The ones
without citations to source material always put me on my guard. It
usually takes experience and an accumulation of knowledge to learn which
print or online sources to trust and how much and also which to dismiss.
No published work, regardless of the format in which it is published, is
better than its compiler.
Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
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Please visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at
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