rI hope by now you’ve given up hope of creating the perfect family tree. I don’t believe it exists.
The first rule of genealogy is “There Will Always Be Errors and Omissions!”
The second rule is “Review Rule One.”
Sometimes conflicting information isn’t because of anyone’s error. My Grandma spelled her name Mabel on the inscription when she gave my Dad a gift Bible. Not sure what her monument says, but she was born in Mable, Minnesota, and at one time in that town, any parents naming their child Mable would get some free land. It’s spelled Mabel on some documents, and Mable on others.
My children’s second great grandmother was named Johanna Sophia, but her descendants can’t agree on whether her daughter was Johanna Sophia or Sophia Johanna.
My aunt Margaret was known to family by that spelling, but her monument says Margarette as well as at least one census record.
Speaking of the census! There’s a great place to find misspelled names. I’ve found that one year everyone in a household was listed by their middle name! The original records were hand-written, so you can imagine the challenge they had when trying to decipher the digitized records.
Surnames, of course, often changed spellings over the years. If someone spells Stillwell with only 3 Ls, I don’t rule them out.
Monuments and markers are sometimes erected years after the burial. Dates, therefore, can be easily confused.
That’s the beauty of saving scanned or downloaded documents and listing the source in the Source Clipboard. Now you’ll be able to consult your entry and tell what the source was for any piece of information. When someone challenges your info, you can reveal your sources and reason together.
The first rule of genealogy is “There Will Always Be Errors and Omissions!”
The second rule is “Review Rule One.”
Sometimes conflicting information isn’t because of anyone’s error. My Grandma spelled her name Mabel on the inscription when she gave my Dad a gift Bible. Not sure what her monument says, but she was born in Mable, Minnesota, and at one time in that town, any parents naming their child Mable would get some free land. It’s spelled Mabel on some documents, and Mable on others.
My children’s second great grandmother was named Johanna Sophia, but her descendants can’t agree on whether her daughter was Johanna Sophia or Sophia Johanna.
My aunt Margaret was known to family by that spelling, but her monument says Margarette as well as at least one census record.
Speaking of the census! There’s a great place to find misspelled names. I’ve found that one year everyone in a household was listed by their middle name! The original records were hand-written, so you can imagine the challenge they had when trying to decipher the digitized records.
Surnames, of course, often changed spellings over the years. If someone spells Stillwell with only 3 Ls, I don’t rule them out.
Monuments and markers are sometimes erected years after the burial. Dates, therefore, can be easily confused.
That’s the beauty of saving scanned or downloaded documents and listing the source in the Source Clipboard. Now you’ll be able to consult your entry and tell what the source was for any piece of information. When someone challenges your info, you can reveal your sources and reason together.
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