Checking Your Facts When Researching Your Ancestry

Checking Your Facts When Researching Your Ancestry

When researching your ancestors, it is crucial to your research that you find their correct vital statistics. You need to know their full name, birth date and location, marriage date and location, death date and location, and the full name of their parents. In order to insure that your vital statistics are correct, it is critically important for you to stay organized and check and re-check your facts based on a variety of sources.

The only way to be able to double check your sources is if you keep complete, accurate, and organized notes. Notes should be taken on loose-leaf paper, which can be combined into three-ring binders, or kept in bound notebooks so that all of your notes will stay together. It is also a good idea to develop a personal system for labeling your notes. On a part of each piece of paper, such as the upper-right-hand corner, include pertinent information, such as the surname of the family or individual you are taking notes on, the location where you are taking the notes so that you can return there later if necessary, and the date on which you are taking the notes. Different surnames should be kept on separate pieces of paper. If your notes mention more than one surname, create a duplicate under the other surname(s). Try to not recopy your notes too much in order to decrease errors. Also, don’t forget to cite your sources, including title, author, date of publication, and other pertinent details about where you found your information. Your genealogical findings will not be considered reliable if you can’t prove that you got it from a reliable source, and all your hard work will be for not. Also, if you cite your sources well, then if you find conflicting information, you can double-check the original source to see who or what is in error. Finally, you may also want to consult a source again for more information.

When taking notes, you can abbreviate words, but you must be thorough about certain details and include full names whenever possible. When writing names, enclose maiden names in parentheses and place before married names. Enclose nicknames in quotes and place after the first name. Finally, aliases can be included following surnames by placing them inside parentheses after the abbreviation “a.k.a.”, which means “also known as.” It is helpful, even essential, to make a list of alternate names and alternate spellings of names for all of your ancestors. In index searches that require the correct spelling of names, such as the Social Security Death Index, being aware of alternate spellings and names can help you locate your ancestor. Names can be tricky in other ways as well. Alternate spellings of certain names, such as Gale (Gail) or Francis (Frances), could indicate whether the ancestor being referred to is male or female. Therefore, it is important to write names in your notes exactly as you see them to ensure they are spelled correctly. In addition, other names you may assume are female were actually also used for males in the past, such as Mildred and Beverly. Finally, women can have changing surnames as a result of marriage. You will want to keep track of all of your female ancestors’ surnames, including their maiden names. If you don’t know an ancestor’s married or maiden name indicate that with empty parentheses or a question mark when you writer her name.

Place names and dates require just as much thoroughness and accuracy as people’s names. When you are taking notes, record full place names, including county, city, and state. For example, some states may have cities and counties with the same or similar names. When writing about places, also include any references that are made to geographic landmarks. Record dates by beginning with the day, spelling out the month, and ending with the full year. For example, writing the date as “12 February 1895” makes it clear and correct. The typical abbreviation for dates, such as “12/2/95,” can lead to confusion regarding which number is the month and which is the day (i.e. whether the date is December 2 or February 12) and what the correct century is (1895 or 1795?). Finally, carefully check your notes before you end each research session, and make sure they are completely clear. There’s no telling when or if you will be able to consult the source or sources again.

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