Sourcing Your Genealogy

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Comment by CaryAnn Turner Hess on August 12, 2009 at 8:07pm

It's NEVER too late to learn to keep records. My program allows me to keep research notes, as I believe most do. I just jot down my notes into my program and that way when I am researching a particular person I can look at the notes and see what I have done.
As for keeping paper records.....NO WAY! OK. maybe some records are best in paper, but it's easier to do most on my trees program.

Comment by JudithE.Davis on August 12, 2009 at 7:07pm

yes I have seen alot of complaints about Ancestry and not being able to include information or using I think Family tree maker.. So I am using "one Great Family", "World Vital Records", as well as Ancestry and I still can't find my relatives. Heck I can't find my own Mother who passed away in 1965. Or my mothers and fathers wedding .. So there must be something I'm doing wrong plus I've not kept good paper work about whom I've looked for last.

Comment by Kathleen Fox Allen on August 12, 2009 at 6:47pm

LOL Cary...

I found a similar mistake in a 19th century book just the other day - the compilier had the mother dying 10 days before her daughter was born! It was kind of late at night, so I spent a good few minutes just being confused and trying to figure out how that could work...

-Kathleen

Comment by CaryAnn Turner Hess on August 12, 2009 at 6:26pm

Hello All

Judith (or do you go by Judy?) It drives me crazy that Ancestry.com can't import the sources that are on my GEDCOM. You would think with today’s technology the sources could be added to the tree.

Right now I’m in the process of adding sources, family by family, so some of my tree is still without sources. Since Ancestry updated their site, at least I should be able to add some facts that cannot be found on Ancestry.com. Before, when I tried to add a fact, it had to be what was found on their site. Hopefully that is not the case now.

I have been doing genealogy for 30 years, both for pleasure and professionally. What I run into a lot with clients is, “They lived in Somewhere Ville all their lives. It wasn’t until recently that the family moved to California.” Only to find they live in Somewhere Ville for less then two years and moved state to state until they landed in California fifty years earlier then thought.

Kathleen, like you I don’t use other trees as a source.. They are a good tool as a starting point, but too many times the mistakes are obvious and should be caught before putting up. I just yesterday I saw one that had the Father being born AFTER his children. When looking, I found the “Father” wasn’t the right Father, but someone else.

Thus the joys of genealogy.

Cary

Comment by JudithE.Davis on August 12, 2009 at 2:47pm

well you are right about some tree that don't have the correct information and without a source I just leave too and try and find the correct info espically if working on my own and know the info I have is correct. I just leave and go on to the next line

Comment by Kathleen Fox Allen on August 12, 2009 at 2:17pm

Hello all -

It is frustrating to find unsourced data - especially when it would otherwise give you an "ah-ha" moment.

I agree with Kate both about using other people's trees as a starting point and confirming the original records for myself. I almost never cite trees, especially since most of the trees I've seen over the years seem to lack sources.

Comment by Kate Steere on August 12, 2009 at 12:19pm

Hi Judith-

I've sort've learned to use trees as a confirmation/starting point for research, but never the gospel, even if the same information is repeated over and over in different trees. Even if they have sources for trees, like census/marriage/death records, I try to find the same info for myself.

I haven't posted a tree anywhere, but a cousin of mine has, and she tries to source the info, but sometimes she gets confused on which Edward/Martha/Joshua is which and we look at the sources to see who is who. :)

Comment by JudithE.Davis on August 12, 2009 at 12:14pm

Hi CaryAnn, I've been doing Genealogy for 20 yrs and I do have a tree in Ancestry too. But I also hate to admit it no I haven't sourced all of my info when I do find something. I know I should be but sometimes I'm so excited I found something I truly forget to source it and then I can't find the information myself if I need to go back and look at it. So I'll try and do better..

Comment by Kate Steere on August 11, 2009 at 2:36pm

Hi-

I am lucky to have a few family histories to use as a starting point to researching my family history, but I have researched and tried to prove the information in these family histories, as sometimes there are problems.
So, I do try to source, and double source the info I have. So, yes, it drives me crazy to bump into 'trees' with no roots so to speak. :)

Kate

Comment by CaryAnn Turner Hess on August 11, 2009 at 2:04pm

Sourcing Your Research

I don’t know about you, but I have been running into un-sourced genealogy. It is very disconcerting to look at someone’s family, with names, dates and children, only to find there isn’t one source to be found. I love a good hunt, but when I run into un-sourced trees, I wonder if someone has really found the right ancestors or not.

Maybe I’m being a cranky genealogist, but it seems to me if someone is going through all the trouble to find their ancestor, they would want the source to back it up. I know when putting a tree on Ancestry.com you have to add sources after the tree goes up, but many people aren’t doing so. Do you source?

What is you opinion?

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