VIOLETS

Image from Graphics Fairy

 

KEEPING TO PROFESSIONAL GENEOLOGY STANDARDS WHEN YOU'RE NOT A PRO

 

Get a copy of this book!

 

If you're a do it yourselfer, well, you can do a budget job, but you should try not to do a sloppy job.  If you're going to do a family history project, strive for pro standards.  Really, nothing less will do.

 

I'm going to pick on the Latter Day Saints here.  They have the world's biggest collection of submitted genealogies in the world and I know it's a temptation, especially if you are not personally that into the research work, or it's just not your best subject in this life, to lean on these pre-submitted genealogies, some of which are old enough that the contact information provided in them is no longer any good.

 

For the LDS members to me it is even more essential that each and every person and familial connection be proofed since there are spiritual rituals and services done based on this proof.

Sadly, years ago when I was still tempted to accept a submitted genealogy, I came across some interconnections between submitted genealogies and well, very sloppy research.  All three submitted in one case contained errors.  Which is why, I think that even when or especially when you are an LDS member, that you be thorough. And sometimes that means that it's going to take a longer time and more effort than you have in you, or that you'll have to stop!

 

THIS BOOK STRESSES THAT WE MUST ALSO PROTECT OTHERS, keeping confidential any personal or genealogy information, and that we can submit only that which is substantiated with facts.

(In a family history writing project, one may document oral histories and so on, but also point out what is and isn't proofed)

 

C 2016 All Rights Reserved Ancestry Worship - Genealogy

 

TODAY'S THE MOMENTOUS 1940 U.S. CENSUS RELEASE! 3.9 IMAGES SCANNED!

released as in, no more privacy issues, released for the public viewing. We genealogists are Jumping!

Seriously, I'm taking a week off from blogging to hit the National Archives site to find some of my own ancestors on this census and I do so hope that they fall in the "every 16th family" category.

What's so special of being in that category? During the 1940 census every 16th family was asked ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS! (SEE CORRECTION BELOW!)



LINK TO THE EXACT PAGE TO START ABOVE and ON THE SIDE BAR! GOOD LUCK!



APRIL 1940 100,000 CENSUS TAKERS fan out across the United States... to finish their work in one month.

CORRECTION : I attended a lecture by Steve Morse yesterday and actually it's not every 16th family as you go down the list. In order to mix it up a bit, it was 5% of the population as determined by the line number on a page. The line numbers could be 14, 29, 54 and 68, for instance. (Census was taken on the BACKS of pages as well.)

ANCESTRY FAMILY TREE SUBMISSIONS PROVE TO BE UNRELIABLE BUT INTERESTING

Today I spent some time on the Ancestry Genealogy databases at the Family History Center in Los Angeles, which carried this at no charge, so long as you use it on premisis.

I did something I have never done before: I checked to see if anyone had posted a family tree on some of the lines I'm working on that have lead to brick walls.

I found a LOT of information, but almost none of it was proofed. This means that people were posting what they "knew" or without a tie to a source. So people were posting what they were told or had in their memories or based on things they have at home - such as Wedding Invitations or Funeral cards, or maybe information written in the Family Bible.

I did find some interesting information which needs to be proofed. To do that, I will take a marriage date that was listed and look for a document on microfilm or from an city, state, or county, archive to see if for myself.

The best of all the family trees I found was totally based on census. This person included all the terrible mispellings from the census.

I also found several people who had posted on the same trees that were missing a lot of information, but if these people had contacted each other, they might have been able to fill in the blanks, and decide among themselves who was going to proof information and correct all the assumptions.

What was it they used to say about assumptions? They make an as* of you and me!

TRICKY! SITUATION IN GENEALOGY : MYTH MAKING RELATIVES

One project I'm working on requires that I go against a myth that a woman created long ago to hide the fact that she was married after she became pregnant. Today this is common statistically (as is unwed motherhood) in the United States. But even today among more conservative or religious people it is a rarity. Even today many Westerners believe that they should wait until they are married to have sex (and since most Americans STILL marry in their early twenties this may not be so difficult!) Many more believe that contraception is a responsibility until the couple can afford a child or children. So for many such behavior is a shame. This woman who has spent a life hiding her before marriage pregnancy was born in the 1920's and was pregnant in the 1940's. My research will blast apart a mountain of lies. But that is not my intention. My intention is to prove the facts with documents. Not only was the 50th anniversary of this couple (You would think that 50 years together might absolve some sins!) celebrated by her family on a day that has nothing to do with the real date and well past the birth date of her daughter (excuse - a surprise party) but the invitations were carefully worded and designed not to mention any dates at all. Genealogy research must be proven (fact checked) and such lies cannot stand in published research.