SOURCES What is a source? Genealogy, and all research writing, is based on sources. The key to good genealogy are your sources. Primary sources are essential to excellent and accurate genealogy. Sometimes, even they can be wrong! There are primary sources, secondary sources, and anecdotal sources. Let's explore! Most beginners, and many who have been researching their trees for many years, use other family trees as sources. I remember how exciting it was to discover another family tree that had extended the lines I was working on!! I eagerly added this information to my tree without any thought as to how this other person arrived at their conclusion that this was accurate information. I mean, it was on a well known family tree site, the information looked legit, surely the genealogist had done their own homework, right? Wrong!!!
MY FIRST MISTAKE It took me years to discover that FAMILY TREES ARE NOT ORIGINAL SOURCES! Sounds like something Captain Obvious would say, but it's not really obvious until you discover your first, very discouraging, false family line. False family lines can erase years and generations of hard work and can be so discouraging that you decide to quit altogether. So, how does this happen?
VIRAL MISTAKES I'm working on a tree now that has a major mistake in it. At some point, a well meaning researcher, possibly a family member, included a distinctive middle name in a male relative we'll call John Smith. They included the middle name Cleveland. So, at first, I'm looking for "John Cleveland Smith." Everywhere I look, family trees that are researching the same line have included "Cleveland." There are at least 75 trees that include John Cleveland Smith! Problem is, I cannot find any PRIMARY sources that include that name. The more I research, the more I realize that there is no proof whatsoever that "John Cleveland Smith" ever existed. It was a wild goose chase and a time consuming rabbit trail. How does this happen? One person includes false information in their tree, publishes it publicly, and it gets copied over and over again, going "viral" in the genealogy world, infecting 100's of branches over time. The first rule of genealogy is to NEVER copy information found in another family tree. It's okay to use another tree to glean hints that you then follow to a primary source, but do not copy other trees! "John Cleveland Smith" has now infected the global tree on the well known LDS site and is in the wild. There is no hope that this will ever be corrected. However, my tree is safe, as I have eliminated the middle name and "my" John Smith is correctly documented.
DIFFERENT SOURCES An original, or primary, source in genealogy is an official government or church document. These include birth and death certificates, baptism and christening records, marriage licenses and certificates, and any other official document that has been signed and/or witnessed. A secondary source is almost as good as an original source and if properly cited can be considered a primary source in rare cases. I consider census records to be secondary sources. Why? Because people lied! Women lied about their ages, deserters lied about their birthplace, and some people just didn't like giving out that information! Sometimes honest mistakes were made. I have eight children of "John Smith." Five of them stated that Dad was born in New York, one said Pennsylvania, one said Massachusetts, and another Connecticut! One had different birthplaces for Dad on different census years! Sometimes the enumerator made mistakes, did a poor job, or was just lazy. And then there is the mother's maiden names. They are only included if the woman was not married at the time the census was taken. She may have also remarried multiple times. My own Martha C. Lamb married two Goodbread brothers, a Franklin, and a Hazzard and had multiple children by each of the four husbands! So, secondary census records need to be backed up with primary birth and marriage records. Another good secondary source are old books and genealogical magazines. These can be found in libraries or in the public domain on Google Books. All secondary sources should be backed up by primary sources whenever possible, and remember, cite your sources! I'll cover proper citations in the future.
ANECDOTAL SOURCES An anecdotal source is personal knowledge, family legend, or a verbal source. I knew my own grandmother, I knew where she was from, what year she was born, and her maiden name. I included this information on my very early tree nearly thirty years ago as an anecdotal source labeled "personally known." My Dad had a decidedly Germanic look to him resembling some well known actors of German heritage. I once asked my grandmother is there was a chance that we might have German heritage in our own family. She was adamant that there was absolutely no chance in H E double L that there was any possibility of that! She was a child of WWI, my grandfather had fought in the trenches in Europe, and those memories would not let her believe that any German was good, and heaven forbid, in our bloodline!! It wasn't until after her death that I discovered that we were indeed descended from German Palatines fleeing religious persecution in Germany and Prussia! In fact, her mothers maiden name, Goodbread, was originally Gutbrodt! If I had accepted her denial, I would have never discovered a major piece of our family history!
I have since backed up my personal knowledge with primary documentation. But why bother? Because your tree doesn't end with you, even though you may have created it. You have children, nieces and nephews, and will have grand and great children that will one day take up an interest in your work. They will need those primary sources! You may also wish to publish your tree on a public site like Ancestry, Family Search, My Heritage, or Wiki-Tree for others to see and use for hints. They will also need those WELL CITED primary sources! Before I end, let's touch briefly on Family Legends. In nearly every instance of families originating below the Mason-Dixon line, there is the legend of the Cherokee Princess. Please remember, if there's no documentation (or DNA proof) it isn't true. It's just an anecdotal story that has been passed down from generation to generation with little to no basis in fact. The same goes for descendants of British Royalty, the Lost Tribes of Israel, and the original Viking explorers of Newfoundland. Do not include these in your tree without solid documentation!
FALSE SOURCES
I really needed to touch on these, as they can be enticing, especially for beginners! False sources can be simple mistakes by genealogists, amateur and professional alike, or they can be deliberately created for whatever reason. There are "fake" family trees in every database, some created by students who have been given a genealogy assignment by a teacher. Some are created by well meaning people who become interested in doing a family tree, then drop it after making mistakes and losing interest. But there are some family trees out there in the genealogy-verse that are much, much worse.
Believe it or not, fraudulent genealogies exist, and are found even in the most reliable institutions. Gustav Anjou (1863-1942) is one of the most notorious names in fraudulent genealogy. According to an article by Ron Wild for Family Chronical Magazine, Gustave Anjou "created hundreds of genealogies in the late 1800s and early 1900s in exchange for huge fees. It is estimated that Anjou alone has tainted the lineages of over 2,000 common surnames . . ." So, when your looking at secondary sources in the Google Books search, watch for his name! You can learn more about Gustave and his works by doing a Google search. Other fraudulent works are found by Charles Henry Browning (1846-1926), Harriet (Bainbridge) De Salis (1829-1908), Brian Leese (1931-1989), and others. To learn more about fraudulent genealogies and how to spot them, visit our friends at Family Search by following this link. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Fraudulent_Genealogies
So, that is a nutshell is what you need to back up your family tree with solid proof. When you meet that scoffer who doesn't believe that Hank Williams is your third cousin, you can back it up with primary sources!! If you need help finding your primary sources, please private message me! I will be happy to help!
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