>That is my work, my sweat, my time involved in digging through dusty
>records in old courthouses

>material we researched, we paid for...my stuff representing over
>forty years' work

>The quality of the data is variable, just as for the WFT CD's --
>some is excellent, much is trash.

>there may be important clues there that I will miss because I can't
>be sure that any of it can be trusted

>My own family records ended up in FHC files after I shared them with
>an online cousin.

>I have found this misinformation on others' homepages, evidently
>copied from FHC

Adding a little humor to this thread -- and stating there are
numerous members of the above club. When I told a neo natal
genealogist distant cousin about the above and stated I used to try
and correct some of the errors but no longer do (one reason being I
can now spot which errors belong to whom) she informed me I was a
horrible genealogist, was forcing people to re-invent the wheel, did
not know a primary source from any other source, and furthermore --
if I were in the field of history (she has her PhD) I would be
drummed right out of the profession. (We all know that historians
*never* publish errors.)  All of this because I refuse to correct the
errors of those who took my research, screwed it up, and published
it. I have actually encountered one person who honestly feels if she
takes the time to read someone else's research she has done the
research.   Sigh. One of my favorite Virginia  fiascos now published
on multiple sites is the one where they are trying to make a Giles
Travers b. ca 1615 in England, the son of Rawleigh Travers b. ca 1625
of Virginia -- and it goes down hill from there.   So -- if there are
researchers of the Travers family in Virginia, I will warn you of
this -- of course I prefer to think *most* of my cousins can do basic
math and this kind of **garbage** would be recognized for what it is.
:-)

Keep in mind that there are published books sitting on library
shelves that are just as bad.  We must look at the material published
on the internet with the same rules we use for the material in hard copy.

I will state again -- I feel NO responsibility to correct the errors
of those who felt the need to publish (internet/cd/hard copy) without
doing the research.

I think there is a faint light at the end of this long, black
tunnel.  I can see that as the hobby grows there is a growing number
of people who have taken the time to learn the basics of genealogy
and/or family research. Hopefully, all will hold the fire to the feet
of those who are doing the most damage to the
hobby/profession.  Unfortunately, the lists we subscribe to have
little influence on the guilty parties.

Linda Lawhon

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