This happens all the time in family history and genealogy. Sometimes you will find information that may fit with your puzzle, but isn’t the correct piece. Double check your pieces and double check the pieces that came stuck together (genealogy that has been done by other people). Ask the following questions:
What is the source?
Where did this information come from?
Who gave the information of the source?
Who recorded the information of the source?
Is there another source to confirm this information?
Did I find this information from an index?
Let me give you an example. My main ancestry line of
interest is Marberger. When I first started doing genealogy, I remember
receiving help searching census records. The ladies helping me suggested
looking at some Marburger families. A simple one letter spelling change. NO
WAY, I thought! My family’s name is Marberger and there’s no way someone could
make that mistake. I know it was very naïve of me. But, some of my naïve thinking
came from not knowing how the census was taken. My Marberger family originally
came from Prussia (Germany), and settled in German communities within
Pennsylvania. The census records were recorded by census takers. The census
taker would go from house to house and simply ask for the information of the household.
The census taker would just write what they heard. With this information in
mind, I’m going to ask the above questions.
What is the source? Census record. (It helps to know about
the source, we’ll learn about census records another time)
Where did this information come from? Who gave the
information of the source? The person who answered the door, usually the head
of the house. My ancestors weren’t always the head of the household. Some were “boarders”.
If my ancestor was simple lodging with a family during the census, how well do
you think the head of household knew my ancestor? Who recorded the information of the source? Like I said earlier, my Marberger ancestors settle in German communities. There wasn’t a big need to learn English. If the census taker was not German, then it might have been difficult to understand and interpret a name like Marberger. Remember the census taker wrote what he/she heard.
Is there another source to confirm this information? Census records were taken every 10 years. I could check another census or I could check maybe a little more reliable source such as a birth, marriage, military, or death record.
Did I find this information from an index? If you have ever looked at a census record or any handwritten record, you might understand why you should ask this question. Indexers record what they see. Handwriting can be difficult to read. An o might look like an e or a r can look like a n. It’s the indexers discretion. With this in mind, try to view the actual record, don’t always believe the index.
Through my research I have found the following variations of Marberger: Marburger, Marbarger, Morberger, Morburger, Morbarger, Merberger, Merburger, Mulberger, Mulbarger, and Mulburger. All these names descend from the same family. I have traced my “Marburger” family back to Prussia near the city of Marburg. Once the family came to America, it all got jumbled. When, where and why the name changed, no idea. The important part, if I hadn’t checked my sources, I wouldn’t have half the information that I have.
One last important, but uncomfortable question needs to be
asked about your source: Did your ancestor lie? Here are just a couple of
reasons an ancestor may have lied on a record. Age requirements: such as
marriage and military. To cover up: by this I mean something like an
illegitimate child. Yes, I actually have an ancestor who wrote in his bible
that his grandson was actually his son. Although, I don’t know the real
reasoning behind the incorrect information, it does appear my ancestor was an illegitimate
child.
Here is another helpful article I came across this week
about sorting fact from fiction. http://genealogy.about.com/od/family_legends/a/common_myths.htm
Double Check Your Source!!!
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