Week 4-Data

Week 4-Data

Data is what we are all lookinjg for. It may be names, dates, places or events, but without this data there would be no lineage to trace. There have been many times that I have been looking for a birthdate and come across two names with different DOBs. How do you know that one of them is the right date of are either of them correct? Proof-documentation will help prove that you have the correct dates with the right person.

County records, Church records, cemetary records, and government records are a good place to start after you have questioned the family about what they can remember. Don't forget that as we age our memory goes, so double check gramndma's memory with the conty birth records and cemetary records.

Libraries are another great source of information. While volunteering with my local library it was my job to comb through the microfiche of the local paper and copy any reference to the local "colored" organizations. The data was then copied onto paper then put into a data base. This data base will enable people who are looking for relatives that lived in and around Marion Indiana in the late 1800s to the early 1900s to document the residency and events of those ancestors.

With the data in a data base that is more redily available to genealogists around the world people can be certain that events, like weddings, promotions, and sometimes deaths, occured and when they occured. Technology is enabling those in far away places to find out information that may have cost them more moey and travel time than it does now.

Libraries, especially genealogy departments, can be a wonderful source of local information.
Do not be afraid to ask the librarians for help, that is their job. They are in a position to help find people, dates and events that may have been hidden from sight.

Michelle