Probably one of the hardest things to deal with is conflicting family tree information. How do I determine what's right? Sometimes there just isn't a correct answer…but we expect to find it.
The bad news is that this problem is not going to go away. However, with a solid understanding of the value of each piece of evidence, effective methods of documenting your findings and a good filing system, you will be able to record your family's history and confidently share it with others. The first step is to understand the value of each piece of evidence – your source of information. This can be broken down into 3 main categories:
- Is the source document an original or a copy?
- Is the source document considered a primary source or a secondary source?
- Does the source document provide direct information or does it only provide circumstantial information?
Lets look at these three categories individually.
Original documents or even photocopies of original documents can be considered as very reliable. Hand written copies of documents are less reliable since someone may have made a error or omission when they transcribed the document.
A primary source of information, like a death certificate will have very reliable information as far as the date and place of death. However, other information that is provided might not be as reliable. For example, the death certificate might have recorded the age as 81. This is secondary information since it is not precise birth date that would be found in a birth certificate. Interviews with an individual about themselves or their children may be considered a primary source or primary evidence. Take the time to document in your notes about the quality of the evidence that you are recording.
Does the source document provide direct or indirect (circumstantial) information. As in the example above the death certificate only provides indirect or circumstantial evidence of the birth date of the individual.
It's important to document the evidence that you collect. It is equally important for you to document the quality (using the criteria noted above) for each piece of information that you collect. With this additional information you will be better able to decide the best information to record in your family history. For the record, this additional information will not always solve your dilemmas when it comes to conflicting information. But they will give you a better chance of choosing the best one for your primary records. Be sure to keep all the information you collect, its quality and its source – you never know when a new piece of information will come to light that might better resolve the conflict.
Have a look at other articles on this topic, like My Family Tree – Conflicting Information for more information on the topic. Feel free to comment on this article if you have other advice that will help other family historians resolve their issues with conflicting information.
