Who and What should I Believe?
Mark Twain popularized the saying "There are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies, and statistics."
That phrase can describe the journey of a family researcher. At first we think that everything we find is of equal value - family stories, public records, tombstones, census reports, vital statistics, family Bibles, documents, books, and military records.
When we compare our findings, we wonder how could someone have been born in different years in different places and died in different years in different places? Why does the mother's name on a death record not match the name on the birth record? Why is the death in one state and the burial in another? How much confidence can we place in information we find? How do we draw conclusions when details don't match? Do we give up or dig deeper?
I was part of a group of researchers who discussed what was the most reliable source of information. The conclusion was that information is most reliable when recorded while the person was living, and more specifically, when the person himself gave the information. Two examples are applications for pensions for military service and draft registrations. Pension applications were taken in court, and the applicant swore to the information. Draft registrations were recorded by others, but in World War I and II registrations, the person had to sign. Those are only two examples. Others could be a marriage or divorce records - any document where the person was present and signing to the veracity of the information in the document.
We concluded that the least reliable information is information recorded many years after the death of the person - the more time that has passed, the less reliable the information. This would include family books and stories written or told years after the events. Other documents produced others while a person was alive can be helpful, but who was interviewed and how likely they would have correct information should be considered? For example a parent should know the correct birth date for their child, even years later.
Census Reports
Federal census records are completed every 10 years and report who was living in a household on April 1st. The documents show the name of the census taker and a date, but not who was interviewed to gather the family information. Was it the second wife who was estimating her husband's date of birth and guessing at where he was born? Until 1850, census reports only showed the names of the head of the household with the only sex and age ranges of others in the home. Each census report from 1790 to 1940 gathered different kinds of information. Reports are not released to the general public until 72 years after the year taken. The 1940 census report is available, but the 1950 census will not be released until April 2022. Although the first federal census was reported in 1790, the Virginia list was destroyed, and most of the 1800 list is missing. If you see a 1790 census for Virginia, remember that it was reconstructed from tax lists of the mid 1780's. By 1790, your Virginia ancestors may have moved on to another location.
Tax Lists
Old tax lists can be helpful to establish locations and dates. With changing county and even state lines and people with similar names, one must be careful in drawing conclusions. The old tax lists show only the head of the household and males who are over age 16. In colonial days these lists were also used to show who were old enough to be in the militia.
Colonial Records
Even before the United States of America became a country, the 13 colonies had established governments. Counties were created, officials were elected or appointed, militias were formed and taxes were collected. Some of these old records still exist and can contain a picture of our ancestors' lives, if we can establish the time and location they lived. Some churches, especially the Quakers, kept detailed records of births, marriages and deaths. Quakers used a different calendar, starting their year in March. So if you see a record showing the 8th month, it would be our October, not August. Also, in the early 1700's the type of calendar was changed, so you may see a date recorded as 1745/46 referring to the year under the old and new calendars.
Public Records and Official Documents
Some documents have been digitized and are published on-line, but many are retained in court houses or state archives or national archives. When we visited the state library in Virginia, the librarian said only about 10 per cent of their records had been digitized. When we visited a remote court house in West Virginia, we found the only known record of my ancestor's marriage in a file. We were fortunate to be able to take a digital photo which I've been able to share with others. Depending on how much information you want to obtain, you may have to request and pay for copies of official records that do not appear online. Also until the 1900's most states did not require counties to report vital statistics to the state, so you may only find an old record in county court house records.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but I have found many mistakes on "official" records. My great grandfather's death certificate is an example. When his father died, my grandfather provided information for his death certificate. He gave the correct name for his father's father (his grandfather), but he reported his father's mother (his grandmother) with the name of his great grandmother, rather than his grandmother. This puzzled me for years until I finally figured it out. But it will always be in the "official" records. The second case was when my grandfather married his second wife. He gave the information to the clerk to issue the marriage license. The first question was apparently who were his parents, which he reported accurately. Then the clerk must have asked who were "her" parents. Misunderstanding, he reported the names of his own mother's parents, rather than the bride's parents. And that too is now the "official" record.
More recently when my father died, we were anxious to get the death certificate to settle his affairs. When received, we noticed two mistakes, so we asked that they both be corrected and the certificate reissued. We finally received a copy, but with only one correction - with the mistake of the wrong cemetery still on the "official" record. We knew the information was wrong but went ahead and used the certificate to take care of business. We have a photo on Find-A-Grave of his tombstone in the correct cemetery, but the "official" record is still wrong.
Tombstones
Tombstone information can be helpful, but again, since they were placed after death, they may contain errors. There was an error on the stone for my grandfather, showing the wrong year of his birth. The stone was beginning to show wear and tear. In a gesture of goodwill and as a surprise, one of his descendants ordered and placed a new stone, sending photos to the family. You guessed it, the new stone also has the wrong year of birth. Find-A-Grave is a great site for finding photos of stones, but people have also added "best guesses" as to parents and dates for stones that cannot be found. If there is no photo or the information makes no sense, use with caution.
Military Records
These are usually accurate, but there were always people who shared the same name, even unusual names. Unless you have more information than a name, you may find your ancestor belongs to someone else. I have seen many cases of people wanting to claim a Revolutionary War ancestor but who have claimed the wrong person. Yes, the person was in the Revolutionary War, but he was not their ancestor. I have spent a lot of time exploring the Dotson and Dodson lines in America. To date, I have only located one Thomas Dodson who was a documented Revolutionary War soldier. However, I have found the same man claimed as an ancestor for at least 3 different Dodson or Dotson lines. There are military record sites, such as Fold 3, which charge to view copies of some muster rolls and payrolls for soldiers. These records may help track where your ancestor served during the war. The site also has copies of Revolutionary War pension applications. For southern Revolutionary War soldiers, there is an excellent free site where many pension applications have been transcribed.
Family Bibles
The key to accuracy may be when the information was recorded. Ideally, you will have a copy of the title page showing when and where the Bible was printed and hopefully predating the information recorded in the Bible. I have a copy of one Bible where the father recorded all the birth information for his children born in the late 1700's and the deaths for any who died while he was living. I feel that this information is more accurate than any of the other information I have found about his children. However, if someone creates the data much later, it may or may not be correct. Also, beware of digital copies that people say are from "the original". I know of one case where a person wanted to "prove" her ancestor, so she copied names and information into a Bible with dates in the 1700's and 1800's. Her mistake was that the names were printed. I have never seen any type of handwriting other than cursive in those early years. Even if her Bible is valid, I would still have doubts without other documentation.
Family Stories and Books
When were the stories told or the books written? The problem with a book is that people want to believe it is accurate. Even if the information is later disproved, the misinformation stays in print. A book on the Dodson line was published in 1908 by a minister. He did not document his sources, but he outlined English ancestors for the American line in the beginning of his book. It was not until 100 years later that researchers went to England and discovered that his information was incorrect. The people he said came to America instead lived, married and died in England. However, people still quote that book as a source and probably always will.
Lies
Most of us know of a "family lie" such as a grandmother being passed off as a mother to cover up an illegitimate birth by her daughter. Often the grandparents raised a child, and sometimes the child knew or did not know the truth. I have seen one case where the obituary continued the myth by reporting the real mother as a sister and the grandparents as the parents. Sometimes people lied about their ages to join the military or to pretend to be of legal age to marry. Divorces carried a social stigma, required legal charges and could be expensive. I have seen many census reports where people are listed as widows while their spouse is still living. They may or may not have ever divorced but they weren't widowed.Sometimes both parties remarry but continue to report they were widowed on the "official records". Sometimes people changed their names to hide their pasts or because they were "running from the law".
DNA testing is now revealing some of those lies and cover ups. Researchers are now facing how, when, where and if they should report the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment