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Thursday, January 12, 2012

When a Reader Corrects my Lineage

A reader, Jan, wrote me stating, "You may find this of interest. There was just one wife named Elizabeth for John Graves, a widow. Of course, Donald Lines Jacobus's research is the gold standard." This caught my eye two days ago because it pertained to my John Graves line, out of Guilford, Connecticut. I hadn't written anything about this old direct line of mine on my blog, Jan instead found my RootsWeb site and decided to correct a wrong. Fortunately, she provided some information about The American Genealogist (TAG) article written in 1955 by Donald Lines Jacobus.


Immediately, I thought "How did that happen," "Where did I get my information," "How many copied it," "Darn, I have to change data," and "What is my correct lineage?" What Jan sent me didn't include the next generation, so I was pretty frantic, wondering if my next person was still in the tree. There was nothing found on Google either. Fortunately, a few hours later, I remembered that The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston had the TAG books, so I made plans for a visit in a few days. Then a lightbulb went off, and I recalled many of these periodicals are online through the NEHGS site at www.AmericanAncestors.org. Everything was there.

What was my error? Very simple, All old sources had John Graves as married to two different Elizabeths. However, there was only one, and she was a widow. Therefore some records had her maiden name, others had her 1st married name. My corrections will be very easy, and I'm lucky. Thank you, Jan for taking the time to write.

Before I make my corrections, and prepare to post the lineage for my Surname Saturday entry, I'm sharing two sentences in the last paragraph of what Donald Lines Jacobus wrote.

"It seems a pity that so many compilers of genealogies continue to rely on compilations published half a century or more ago, instead of seeking out the primary sources."

"Once more I find myself harping on the old refrain: the only certain sources of genealogical knowledge are the contemporary documents.