I know it's not the New Year yet. I do have a resolution for that (make more timely blog posts).
I am talking about resolving issues in your family tree research. One thing I have learned over the years is that when you first start your family research, you just are so excited to find information that you are not quite as focused on whether or not it's fact and if it applies to your person or not. As time goes on, as you learn more about the significance of details, and as you realize that not everything is cut and dry you understand that your methods are not set to a specific standard. With the recent years developments in the DNA world and the ability to chart a family tree with not only documents but science, it's been pretty obvious that my tree also has quite a few historical folk lore. Historical folk lore to me is worse than family stories passed on from generation to generation. These are documents that have been researched by well meaning ancestors who followed a valid paper trail by walking foot-to-ground and uncovering information in person. The documents they found supported the evidence they had which was then compiled into pamphlets, books and histories then published and populated in local and regional areas - sometimes even crossing the country. The problem with many of these is the same problem we still have today. Much to our surprise there were more than two people named Thomas Jefferson Duke in the state and locale of research. WHAT?! .. it's true. Dozens of them. T J, Thos J, Tom J, J T, J Thomas..... it truly is exhausting. Many of them born within a few years of each other and most of them related in some way all born within a 50 mile radius. But, when you are limited to the documents within your reach physically, it is impossible to know this. With the advent of digital access to all this information combined with DNA testing, we are able to see issues, recognize hundreds of name variations and family connections as well as resolve issues that we might never have seen 10 years ago. Many of us joke about "starting over". In some cases, it may be completely necessary to resolve some of the historical folk lore in our trees and use only well researched and documented facts combined with a great DNA resource. Whatever you decide to do to resolve your folk lore family research, make sure you stay connected to the living while enjoying your Adventures in Genealogy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Help Me Keep this Website Free. Donate from just $1 to any amount of your choice!
AuthorMichele is an obsessed mother of 4 residing in North Alabama. Hobbies include long walks in the woods, on the beach and in strange cemeteries and libraries. Genealogy friends need only apply. Categories
All
|