Thursday, April 10, 2014

Common Mistakes, 4


 
 
 
Genealogy tip for the day: Common Mistakes, 4

 

Today, we are continuing our look at mistakes that either we make ourselves, or errors made by assumption. We are up to #25.

 

#26. Given names are gender specific. Wrong Assumption! Normally this is the case but it is not always the case. I have known a lot of Jerry's, Bobbie's and other similar names in my life time that were not guys. I also had a professor named Jan who was a "Mister". Beverly can sometimes be a male name. An example of that is the gospel singer, George Beverly Shea. Although for the most part names are gender indicative, don't let that box you in.

 

#27. Failure to accurately record your information.  When transferring new information into your records whether paper or computer, you should read and reread it 2-3 times. If possible let it cold and come back again and check. Another option, if you have someone interested, have another person read what you've transcribed. There's probably nothing worse than perpetuating the wrong information. It is very hard to correct.

 

#28. If you do not know a name or a date, or place, don't make one up. Don't assume you know the answer. Abnormalities and oddities happen all the time. People never do follow the same pattern or routine.

 

#29. Blindly trusting others' research. See #27! You should always check out new information, especially someone else's research. You must find out how they documented their information, if they did. Only then can you trust their information.

 

#30. Don't need more than one copy!! BAD mistake. Even if you have your information on your computer, you should have redundant backup information, and NOT on your computer. I had a friend who kept one back up in a fire box and another one at the bank. You don't need to do this daily but periodically. It would be easier to put a month's worth of work back into your research than to have to redo all of it. (Been there, done that!)

 

#31. Skipping Generations. The only place you can get away with that is in the Bible. Some generations were actually from grandfather to grandson, or great grandson. But you can't do that in genealogy today if you want your work to be believable and trustworthy.  Sometimes we don't do this intentionally but by making assumptions.

 

#32. I don't need a goal, I'm just going to start with me and take off! Wrong Assumption. You can end up chasing down a whole lot of rabbit trails. You need to have some kind of goal, even if you revise it from time to time. Who of us haven't done that already. My goal is to "get to the pond" (the person who came to this country). Occasionally I have fallen into information I wasn't expecting, so I didn't pass it up just because it was beyond my goal, but for the most part it does help guide my research.

 

#33. There is no standard way of recording information. Wrong Assumption, again. You need to follow the rules, play according to Hoyle, keep it kosher - whatever you want to call it.

 

As for people's names, that may depend on the form or software you are using, but be consistant. Dates are ALWAYS small to large, i.e. day - month - year. This is sometimes called the military way or the continental way. It is also called the genealogical way.

 

Locations follow the same pattern - small to large. Town (or maybe township), county, state. For another country or states that do not have "counties" but call them something else, it is still the smaller to larger direction you record them.

 

Well, let's let that kind of settle in for today and we'll finish up tomorrow with the last 8 that we have.

 

 

 

“History is who we are; Genealogy is who I am” sg

 

 

 

Like what you read? Let us know.

 

 
 
 

 


Today’s Recipe

April – Tomato Month

 
 

 

Ingredients


·  4 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
·  4 sprigs fresh thyme
·  2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
·  1 shallot, thinly sliced
·  1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
·  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
·  1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
·   

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Arrange cherry tomatoes in a single layer in a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Top with thyme sprigs, garlic and shallot; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and stir to combine.
2. Bake, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes pop and ooze, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove baking dish from the oven and discard thyme sprigs. Use immediately or let cool and transfer to a covered container. Refrigerate until ready to use. Tomatoes will keep for 3 days.

 

 

 


Apr 1st   Caprese Stacks







 

 

ENJOY!

 

Now You Know!

 

 

 

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