EXAMINING EVIDENCE TO PROVE A PEDIGREE

by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

In the school of methodology for genealogists, we must learn to weigh and evaluate evidence similar to the way juries do as we attempt to prove our genealogical connections. There are differences, however. In a court of law there are two major categories of evidence:

admissible --meaning it is worth considering, but still varies in degrees of reliability.

inadmissible -- meaning it is not allowed to be heard because it is not reliable enough to even be considered in a legal proceeding.

But genealogists do not have judges to tell us what can or cannot be heard. We "hear" it all. We look at every shred of information we find and often draw incorrect conclusions because we do not know how to weigh it or how to resolve the frequent occurrence of conflicting evidence.

Many researchers assume if several pieces of information agree, the data must be correct, and off they go down the proverbial primrose paths. Such roads often lead to erroneous pedigrees and frequently into dead ends.

There is a great deal of confusion surrounding the terms "evidence," "proof," and "sources," and even experts in the genealogical field do not agree on meanings. Donn Devine, a certified genealogist and practicing attorney, in an excellent article on "Evidence and Sources" in the June/July issue of Ancestry magazine, provides this guidance:

Source -- is the means by which information comes to a researcher.

Evidence -- is the physical form in which information is presented to the senses.

Proof -- refers to documents used as evidence for many lineage society applications, but actually is a name for a process that takes place in the mind, not for the evidence on which it is based.

After collecting information, take a careful look at what you have and sort it into two groups:

-- Primary evidence or sources. These usually are written records; the first or earliest documents in which a particular piece of information was recorded, and created at or near to the time of the event.

-- Secondary evidence or source. Think of this as second-hand information that has come from some other person or record.

Get as close to the primary records and original documents as you can. However, keep in mind that even they may contain errors. Just because it is a primary source does not guarantee the information is correct, but it is more likely to be. Additionally, make the effort to trace your secondary evidence back to primary sources. Don't blindly accept information you find in a book, CD, or on the Internet.

How do you resolve conflicting evidence? Follow the advice of Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, given in a lecture on this subject at the National Genealogical Conference recently:

Judge Each Item of Evidence with the test of the four "Cs":

-- Closeness (in place and time).

-- Credibility (of the person who made the record).

-- Causality (why the record was made).

-- Corroboration (with other evidence).

Of course, if you do not know where the information came from, how can you evaluate it? That is why you should carefully record and cite your sources.

For more information on evaluation of evidence, see the chapter of that name in The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy by Val D. Greenwood (2nd edition). This book should be in your personal library. It is available from Genealogical Publishing Co., of Baltimore; (800) 296-6687 or at: http://www.genealogical.com/

(c) 1997, Los Angeles Times Syndicate