Famous Inaccuracies

Carolyn Webber FHGEN 111 Comparison Report I discovered many inaccuracies when I started verifying the data that I had gathered from my own relatives. One of my early finds was a compiled genealogy book written about people with my uncommon maiden name. This book was full of family traditions that were easy to prove false. For example, my ancestor wasn’t the illegitimate descendant of Frederick the Great. Her mother was not Frederick’s mistress when she was two years old. I learned the values of analyzing and documenting information and providing sources.
The cost for primary records can be prohibitive, but I have found many records in online databases or on microfilms available at the Family History Library. I have performed extensive research at Ancestry, Family Search, MyHeritage, FindMyPast, various state archives, and sites like SeekingMichigan or CyberDriveIllinois. I frequently consult sites like FamilySearchWiki, CyndisList, Linkpendium or books like Printed Sources by Kory L. Meyerink
or The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy by Val Greenwood as references for record collections to search.
I have a large collection of census records outlining the migration of the families that I have researched.
I also keep a record of each family in every available year of the city directories. (I will be presenting “City Directories, Why, How, and Oh My!” at the BYU FH Conference on July 26, 2017.)
I have consulted many different church records, from a variety of denominations and from different states. These records were typically recorded at the time of the event, and by someone that knew the referenced individuals
Newspapers and town histories have proven to be informative. I found a small news article about a scandal involving two sets of my third great grandparents. This led to further research in newspapers, and for records about land, adoptions, tax liens, and criminal records. I made some astounding discoveries. The combination of these records was rich with details about the family and they were typically witnessed by people that knew the
individuals.
I am familiar with research in military records, pension applications, and Bounty Land applications. I have researched in the National Archives collection in Federal Way, Washington.
My personal library includes many reference books like Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Although her book is primarily about how to cite sources, Mills explains how to analyze evidence. She teaches how to proceed with research through hypothesis, theory and proof. I learned important concepts like direct evidence answers the question, indirect evidence doesn’t directly answer the question, but when combined with other evidence helps to build a case, and negative evidence is what we infer when evidence that should exist in a given situation is lacking.
I have researched immigration and naturalization records to determine the emigration and immigration patterns of my ancestors. My thorough search went beyond Ellis Island and Castle Garden, and even the Canadian ports. I have learned how to determine when immigration records were required and where they would be kept.
Compiling the information gleaned from research in databases with backups is important, but maintaining a research log of who I am researching, what my objective was, the location I searched, a description of the source, comments about what I found, and a log numbering the documents that I copied helps me to avoid repeated searches, keep my objectives in focus, and allows me to retrace my steps if necessary.
I use books from my collection, like: Standards Manual by the Board for Certification of Genealogists, or the updated Genealogy Standards, as my guide for documenting my research. I am in the process of preparing a portfolio to be submitted. I am working a Case Study with a family from Prussia that lived mainly in the Midwest.
I believe that I have the knowledge to successfully complete FHGEN 211 and 212, and that it is unnecessary for me to take FHGEN111.