FamHist: The Problem With Primary Source Documents

FamHist: The Problem With Primary Source Documents

This is a great post and something to consider. Many of us today will or usually post are Madness Monday posts. Well here is an article that you may want to read instead.

Often times we can't find records because information is recorded incorrectly. Death certificates, though a primary source, are a common place for this, as explained in this article.

From my experience I never rely on just one primary source. You really need to gather all of your sources and come to a working conclusion based on ALL of the evidence.

I've even found a birth certificate of my husband's grandmother that had her mother's maiden name as her father's surname and the mother had someone Else's surname. Try to figure that one out. We were luck she was a twin, or it may have never been found. The state sure couldn't find it.

Just something to consider on those maddening elusive ancestors.