Genealogical research is filled with contradictions. That is the overwhelming reason why we are looking for primary source materials, and settling for secondary sources when necessary. With secondary sources, however, we should be looking for multiple materials that are independent of one another in origin to help substantiate a fact.

For instance, a published family history that contains erroneous information may be accepted as “fact” by a genealogist without personally retracing and verifying the information. If that genealogist adds information to his or her genealogical database and then uploads a GEDCOM file or sends it to another researcher, that person is perpetuating the error(s) published in the original family history. After several replications of the erroneous information, it may be construed as fact because, “Well, it's everywhere out there and so it must be right!”

I always tell genealogists that there are two cardinal rules in family history research:

--- Learn how to misspell your family's names, forenames and surnames–-because they and everybody else did.

--- Maintain a healthy skepticism of anything you have not personally examined, traced, and/or verified.

In “ Along Those Lines . . .” this week, I want to examine some of the places you must be especially careful when working on your family history research. As you read the column, think about your own family history practices, and consider how you can become more discerning in your own research...

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