Source, Source, Source 

Almost all new genealogists make the same mistake and regret it later: They don’t record their sources.  It is so easy to grab the information from a hint provided by Ancestry.com and load the data into your tree.  Wow!  You just added one more person to your tree.  However, you likely missed a key requirement.

It’s critically important to record where information comes from.

If your aunt tells you your grandfather’s birth date, don’t just record the date. Record that your aunt told you the date.

Even better, ask your aunt how she knows his birth date and record her answer. It might sound silly, to ask your aunt how she knows her own father’s birth date. She may tell you she’s always known it. But sometimes the day that a family celebrates isn’t the birthday that’s recorded on official documents.  This is especially true for those generations where births sometimes arrive less than 9 months from the marriage date and folks might be embarrassed to let others know this fact. 

The best thing would be to ask your aunt if she has any documents that show your grandfather’s birthdate. Ideally, you should make a copy of them. (Making a copy can be as easy as taking a picture with your phone!)

When someone tells you a date, it’s considered second-hand or derivative information. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true. It’s just slightly less reliable than primary or original sources.

Original Sources

Original sources will be items like a birth certificates, marriage certificates, land records, census records, wills and probate material, parish and other religious records and civil registrations. 

Derivative Sources

Other forms of data will be considered as derivative information.  For example, transcripts, translations, abstracts, indexes, etc.  To prove the identity of an individual, we should not rely on derivative data.

That does not necessarily mean that all original documents agree in all details.  For example, the first name might be spelled slightly differently.  These small variations are what genealogists work through to establish the exact identity of an individual.

We know this might sound overly formal. You might just be a casual family historian, not a genealogy scholar. But like we said, most genealogists end up regretting that they didn’t record their sources when they were first getting started. And other people may want to rely on your research at some point.  For example, if you use WikiTree, it’s a requirement that you record your sources.

Ron Gilmore

Email:    rvg3@me.com

Website:       https://rgenealogy.ca