ROOKIE MISTAKES

In searching for ancestors

COMMON MISTAKES

No goals or vague goals Unorganized note keeping Direct line search versus collateral search Search for the living Untapped sources Family legends and traditions Spelling variation, changes in history Single source versus multiple sources

NO GOALS OR VAGUE GOALS

Rookies often have little focus. When questioned about the person and event they seek, a rookie may not have anyone specific in mind. They just want to find ancestors as quickly as possible. Further, they are often without a family group when they ask questions.

Example: The French couple

UNORGANIZED NOTE KEEPING Rookie family group records have

meager source citations, and are limited to births, marriages, and deaths.

Their research logs often consist of small slips of paper tucked into the pages of a spiral notebook

They tend to make handwritten copies of sources.

Their copies of sources are scattered and poorly organized.

DIRECT LINE SEARCH VERSUS COLLATERAL SEARCH

Looking for a single individual

Looking for the farthest back ancestor with the least data

Looking for the connection with that famous person

instead of

Looking at the entire household

(siblings, in-laws, cousins)

* provides more data points as evidence

* provides clues about ancestors

* helps fill in the gaps in temple work

SEARCH FOR THE LIVINGRookies are more interested in searching for close relations and people they know.

They feel that other ancestors are ‘too far away,’ there is no connection

Example: Sandy and New Zealand

UNTAPPED SOURCES,TALKING ABOUT THE LIVING…

Encourage the rookie to talk to grandparents, cousins, aunts, etc. to obtain records, stories, pictures and other information about his ancestors.

Especially information that cannot be obtained in genealogical records because of the privacy act (110 years)

Example: “The Gap”

FAMILY LEGENDS AND TRADITIONSBeing send on a wild goose chase

Sort out the truth from fiction

Example cases:

Levi versus Louis

Abandoning ship during the South African War (1899-1902)

SPELLING VARIATION, CHANGES IN HISTORY

Rookie abides by spelling of a name or places; if different it is not accepted.

However

Spelling variations in documents are not uncommon

Nicknames are sometimes used in records instead of the legal names

Name changes, adaptions during immigration and at Ellis Island

Change in language, change in spelling

EXAMPLE OF NAME VARIATIONS AND CHANGESRecords

example: “Frisian Name” Sietze, Sietse, Siet, Sijtie, Sijtze, Cijtien (Syke)

example: Last Name: Crauwel, Krauwel, Crouwel, Krouwel, Cranwel

Ellis Island - myth and fact Going by the ship’s registry

name was misspelled by officer in foreign country Széleky → Ciqeau

Immigrant had various reasons for a name change:

illiteracy

minor registered by adult’s last name Diamond → Cohen

stigmatized by last name (Jews) Finkelstein → Stein

hard to pronounce in new country Kohnvalosky → Cohn

SINGLE SOURCE VERSUS MULTIPLE SOURCES

Rookies think if they use a single source: e.g. a census record they are good to go…

therefore

Rookies are often too quick to draw conclusions without enough evidence

Compare records and look at the details;

they often provide clues to continue the search

OMIT SOURCE CITATIONS AND COPYING RECORDS

Rookies tend to be sloppy or totally omit making a reference and a copy of the source documents they find.

KEEP AN OPEN MIND

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

LOOK AT THE DETAILS

PRAY