Let me begin by saying that Familysearch and geneall are notoriously unreliable
and often contradictory. Having said that, I am a great believer in not
re-inventing the wheel. I readily expropriate previously published research.
However, I always verify. Verifying is a lot easier than researching and
generally takes a fraction of the time. If I cannot verify the information from
the expropriated tree, then I do not assume it as my own. Anybody who is using
Carlos Machado or Rodrigo Rodrigues or Gaspar Frutuoso is expropriating their
research. How reliable is it? Even those luminaries have made some clearly
documented errors.
And, once you leave the safety of vital records back into the Middle Ages, when
such records were not kept, then you are the mercy of other researchers, and
sometimes conflicting prime and secondary sources. And just because 12 sources
say that Gonçalo Velho Cabral descends from Afonso III while only two say that
he does not, does not mean that the 12 are correct and the 2 are wrong. One
would think that genealogy is more science than it is art, but I am not
convinced.
A happy New Year to all, filled with may genealogical treasures!
John M. Raposo
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