Pitfalls That Can Create Brick Walls or Cause You to Claim the Wrong Ancestors

"Mary L. B." has placed an interesting article on the EOGN Discussion Forum that I wish all genealogy newcomers would read. Entitled, "Pitfalls That Can Create Brick Walls or Cause You to Claim the Wrong Ancestors," Mary details several bits of "misinformation" that most of us struggled with when we first started.

The article describes the confusion over the terms Junior and Senior in old records, the relationships of children in a household in U.S. census records, marriage licenses versus marriage returns, and more.

You can read her excellent article at: http://www.eogn.com/forum/index.php/topic,242.0.

Comments

[p.k.]

I am NOT new to Gen. research; began in 1952 (!) and still find Mary's advice extremely helpful.
Thank you many times over, Mary, and thank you, Dick, for sending it.

[Darlene Scotti-Tribou]

Mary's article gives excellent advice for new, as well as experienced genealogists. Assuming family lore (even if lore is recorded in writing)or information collected by a census enumerator is correct (use of "Jr." & "Sr.", relationship to head of household, etc.) without backing it up with primary & other pieces of supporting evidence can lead to brick walls-- or worse--wasted research time on the wrong lineage.

Thanks for reminding us of these pitfalls!

[Sarah H. Studstill]

I also found Mary's article excellent advice/reminders - I am not new either.

I had just written a note to the BRUCE mail list on Rootsweb about using caution due to what many of us in our own group of BRUCE researchers w/BRUCE had ancestors learned.

In our group of 30+ researchers, as independent as well as collaborative researchers who form our own private BRUCE group - each of us had been told since children that "we are direct descendants of Robert the BRUCE!"

Imagine our surprise when our group realized that our research has led us to determine that our BRUCE had been BROUSSE - French Huguenots who had fled to England in ca the 1600's, then emigrated as French Huguenots from England to America, landing in VA in July 1700, settling in Manakintown, VA!

Quite a shock but so far, paper trails & DNA testing seems to be making this even more certain. Yet for many yrs so many of us had looked to Scotland - perhaps more research will provide even more surprises...

Now to remember all of these things in researching!

Many thanks for any & all reminders & helpful hints,
Sarah

[Henry Bookout]

Thanks. Could be a parallel Huguenot migration Bookout/Brousse - - Bouchout's are known from Belgium and our Bookout was in MD, then VA in early 1700's; he probably immigrated from England. Henry

[BJ Hill]

Amen. My g-grandmother's name is Susannah Laughery Jeffers and I had looked for her for 10 years. I finally found her in a mental institution (which o oe wanted to admit existed) under the name Anna Wheeler. When she died her ashes were picked up and taken 200 miles North and registered in a cemetery as Anna, placed in a gravesite that wasn't hers and the words Susan Wheeler added on the tombstone of another family. Names are misleading.....never give up.