> Our family has been blessed to have an uncle who wrote a letter about his > family and their whereabouts in 1895. He goes back to some ancient > history > (1790-1820), and makes an innocent comment about "his uncle John Weaver", > and because of that one comment, there have been about 20 people > misidentified in the family. Many of these show up in the IGI. There are > an additional 7 of his nieces misnamed and given incorrect spouses. > > I have found many similar errors in Census Indices, marriage > transcriptions > cemetery records etc. > ****************************************
> Regardless of the source, or the informant, all data should be carefully > evaluated. **************************************** I couldn't agree more. My wife has a less-common surname and two people have compiled books of the family history. The first book (1987) was obviously researched on paper (county courthouses, etc) and by telephone - but there are no references (census, will, Bible, etc) in the book. The author sold copies at family reunions in various locations in the Southeast US. Sadly, there are many errors in the book. Sadder yet, someone paintakingly transcribed every entry into a tree on Ancestry. The second book is more recent (~2000) and was compiled by a retired military officer who held a PhD. No surprise that his book is better researched and documented. Because it was a very limited printing (hardbound) it's only in the past year that I found a copy for sale. No, I didn't accept everything in the book as gospel (I did verification against my own research) but he did have access to paper documents that I may never see (distance, cost, and time constraints). John Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
