How Not to Ancestry

Even if your family was home, things could get skewed.
Yes, absolutely.

Doing a lot of immigrant genealogy, I've found that foreign born informants are very literal: the question "how many children do you have?" may be answered by the number of children presently in the household--not the total number of children.

Also, you are dealing with the estimations of informants. Ages can be wildly off. Places of birth may not be precise. Sometimes the terms used may be inaccurate (for example, "daughter-in-law" may mean "step-daughter").

Personally, I don't understand how anyone can do a genealogy using nothing but the census. Post #391 by @fitzgerc ought to be memorized!
 
What others have said about the census is all correct. The census can be very helpful but it shouldn't be taken as absolute regarding the details. I've documented a number where male/female designation was wrong (I'm guessing the enumerator just asked for names and essentially guessed if they were male or female). My great grandfather appears on one census twice. That's because he got a job on the railroad and moved the family to his new station, then returned to their original location to settle things. It turns out the census was enumerated in the new place two months before it was in the old place. So, he was counted in his new home place with the family but also, two months later, at the old home place.

Relationships can often be incorrect. Widowed vs divorced is a common error. Divorce (or just abandonment) was considered by many to be shameful so divorced (or abandoned) women often said they were widows, thus saving face.

Many facts are often different on different censuses. Names, birth years, places of birth, relationships; these often don't agree between censuses. Thus, one must use the census carefully and try and find other sources. As one who volunteers at an historic cemetery, I can also say that what is written in stone is not always true either. So, don't just accept a photo of a stone inscription as correct.

An old rule of thumb is that one should not consider anything as true unless there's at least three sources that all agree. I could argue technicalities but will just say it's a good principle to follow: don't just accept one source - even legal ones such as death certificates - and try to verify with other sources.
 
Did we talk about the 1890 Veterans Schedule in this thread? (Didn't get a search hit for it)
That schedule is on Ancestry ($) and FamilySearch (free). On FS, go to the COLLECTIONS line on the initial search page where you enter "United States Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War". You can see the original page for each vet--where you can read that scribble!
 
The majority of my ancestory don't show up in any Census records, which is frustrating. Mostly Maryland, which is normal.
Try variations of spellings. There was an instance earlier on this forum of someone from MD who couldn't find his family on the census--but others did: the names were messed up (sometimes by the census taker but often by the transcriber). And, often, people didn't list their names as you might have them (for example, "Benjamin F. Smith" may show up as "Franklin B. Smith"--or even "Frank Smith". You might also search by criteria such as other family members.
 
Try variations of spellings. There was an instance earlier on this forum of someone from MD who couldn't find his family on the census--but others did: the names were messed up (sometimes by the census taker but often by the transcriber). And, often, people didn't list their names as you might have them (for example, "Benjamin F. Smith" may show up as "Franklin B. Smith"--or even "Frank Smith". You might also search by criteria such as other family members.
Some things like that I've checked, but not the last/first name switch. Some names didn't seem realistic to be reversed so it didn't come to mind. Thanks.
 
Lists of "commandments" for genealogists have been around for a long time. IMO, these are some of the most useful, but not listed in any specific order:
  • Thou shalt not mindlessly copy online trees.
  • Thou shalt cite your sources.
  • Thou shalt not limit thy research to the Internet
  • Thou shalt use family traditions with caution .
  • Thou shalt not accept as gospel every written record or printed word.
  • “Thou shalt not use bacon as a bookmark.” [you know what is meant]
  • Thou shalt credit those who help you and ask permission of those whose work you use
  • .Thou shalt monitor "Legal Genealogist" (or something similar) for legal and ethical guidelines.
  • Thou shalt not destroy or doctor original evidence.
  • Thou shalt not monopolize library materials (whether printed material, the copier, microfilm readers, etc).
  • Thou shalt not "leap frog" generations.
  • Thou shalt not shed tears on original documents.
  • Thou shalt no combine coffee-drinking with research
 
Although this is not US but the UK 1911 Census is not that complete because of a campaign by suffergettes and supporters not to complete the forms. No voting rights no census forms. So another rule don't be surprised if someone is missing from the records.
Often people are missing from US censuses because the handwriting is so bad that the transcriber/cataloguer has been mislead. Also, people were not as inflexible about their names as we are today.
 
Often people are missing from US censuses because the handwriting is so bad that the transcriber/cataloguer has been mislead. Also, people were not as inflexible about their names as we are today.
I suspect that some of the names used know are very different from what would be found on their european records before emigrating. I suspect the clerks on Ellis Island changes thousands of surnames.
 
I suspect that some of the names used know are very different from what would be found on their european records before emigrating. I suspect the clerks on Ellis Island changes thousands of surnames.
It certainly is true that European forms of the name and American forms differ greatly. However the changing of names at Ellis Island probably didn't happen in the magnitude that many would think because most names there were taken directly from ship manifests.

Not only were European names "Anglicized" but sometimes there was a major change when Americans couldn't pronounce. I had a relative whose name was Tomas Torjusen; he became so annoyed that people insisted on pronouncing his surname with a hard J that he altered his name to "Tom Ferguson" (pity the poor Scotsman who tries to unravel this!).
 
I find interesting, years (decades?) ago someone wrote a history of the family name on one side of my family. I haven't found it to purchase yet, but it seems to be fairly interesting.
 
I suspect that some of the names used know are very different from what would be found on their european records before emigrating. I suspect the clerks on Ellis Island changes thousands of surnames.
There was an interesting recent episode of Henry Louis Gates' Finding Your Roots in which he demonstrated that these errors were NOT created at Ellis Island, but in transcribing the passenger lists directly from the logs of the ships they emigrated on. His contention was that any errors were made on embarkation and the immigrants were likely completely aware of them. Makes me wonder whether or not my Connelly/Conley ancestors were aware of the anti-Irish sentiment here when they registered themselves as Connellas!
 
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Lists of "commandments" for genealogists have been around for a long time. IMO, these are some of the most useful, but not listed in any specific order:

Addendum: there are two diametrically opposite methods of thinking that reduce the number of shadows where facts can hide.

1) Think Smart - spell properly, pursue logical tangents, expect people to be where you were told they'd be.
2) Think Stupid - spell like an Ellis Island clerk trying to decode a thick European accent, transpose letters, expect first initials only, @etc.
 
Addendum: there are two diametrically opposite methods of thinking that reduce the number of shadows where facts can hide.

1) Think Smart - spell properly, pursue logical tangents, expect people to be where you were told they'd be.
2) Think Stupid - spell like an Ellis Island clerk trying to decode a thick European accent, transpose letters, expect first initials only, @etc.
Very good!

Love pursuing logical tangents--too many people don't. Might not the 1st addendum be adjusted to "spell creatively"? A surname that today is spelled "Reynolds" may have been "Runnels" in years gone by.

I'd say that the 2nd addendum ought to apply to census takers as well!
 
I recently joined ancestry.com and I found out that I had a great great great uncle on my paternal grandma's side who was killed July3, 1863 at Gettysburg. Robert James Phillips was his name and I believe he fought with a Mississippi regiment. He left behind a 26 year old wife and two small boys. I knew a lot about my family's civil war involvement from the research my brother in law has done, but he had not discovered this. Thankfully, his brothers, Crockett Phillips and Benjamin A. Phillips, who was my great great grandfather survived the war.
 
What others have said about the census is all correct. The census can be very helpful but it shouldn't be taken as absolute regarding the details. I've documented a number where male/female designation was wrong (I'm guessing the enumerator just asked for names and essentially guessed if they were male or female). My great grandfather appears on one census twice. That's because he got a job on the railroad and moved the family to his new station, then returned to their original location to settle things. It turns out the census was enumerated in the new place two months before it was in the old place. So, he was counted in his new home place with the family but also, two months later, at the old home place.

Relationships can often be incorrect. Widowed vs divorced is a common error. Divorce (or just abandonment) was considered by many to be shameful so divorced (or abandoned) women often said they were widows, thus saving face.

Many facts are often different on different censuses. Names, birth years, places of birth, relationships; these often don't agree between censuses. Thus, one must use the census carefully and try and find other sources. As one who volunteers at an historic cemetery, I can also say that what is written in stone is not always true either. So, don't just accept a photo of a stone inscription as correct.

An old rule of thumb is that one should not consider anything as true unless there's at least three sources that all agree. I could argue technicalities but will just say it's a good principle to follow: don't just accept one source - even legal ones such as death certificates - and try to verify with other sources.
I have grandparents whose tombstones have the wrong birth years for both of them because my grandmother was 17 and grandad was 21 when they eloped, and they and their elders some how managed to keep this secret from their children and grandchildren. I want to correct this info on Find a Grave.
Every official record, census and marriage certificate and high school record, etc disputes the date they gave us. I'm not sure why this was such a scandal. They kept the marriage secret for a year because grandmother's family did not approve of grandad and grandmother was a teacher who would have lost her job (married women could not teach).
 
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