While in Florida recently, I was delighted to finally meet Betty-Jane, my third-cousin, once removed. We are both descended from Hubert Yuncker and Barbe Gossé who emigrated from Kirrberg in the Alsace region of France in 1847.
Betty-Jane and Mike
I was recently contacted by a previously unknown fifth cousin, Andrea, from Bremen, Germany. We share fourth great-grandparents, Peter Joseph Mauren and Anna Maria Minwegen. Her branch of the family remained in Germany while my third great-grandparents emigrated to America in 1840.
I’ve been researching my genealogy seriously for about ten years now. Earlier this year I applied for a “First Families” certificate during the 150th anniversary celebration of Isabella County, Michigan. This is a certificate presented to descendants of pioneer families who settled in the county prior to 1899. Little did I realize how much effort that application would require.
At a recent funeral, the pastor read a touching poem. I was so impressed with it that I found the author’s website and learned it was written over ten years ago. It has since gained some popularity and I thought it was appropriate for genealogists, who are so concerned with the birth and death dates of our ancestors.
Hamburg, Germany was a major port of embarkation for emigrants bound for America during the nineteenth century. Since the Germans are good record keepers, detailed records were undoubtedly kept about these emigrants, our ancestors. My grandmother Ida Pohl was a little girl when she emigrated with her mother and siblings from Hamburg in 1893. As an amateur genealogist, I was frustrated to learn that most of these records were destroyed by British and American bombers during World War II.
I researched marriage records from the villages of Baerendorf and Kirrberg in the Alsace region of France, during the period from 1600 through 1800. I found that men usually married women from surrounding villages, and the wedding usually took place in the bride’s hometown. The groom usually moved to the bride’s village and they began their families there.
It is helpful to use a numbering scheme when referring to the ancestral families in your family tree. Referring to a family by the names of the spouses is problematic. Their names might change as new information about them is discovered. A number is also easier to reference in a filing scheme for paper documents or index cards, as well as for computer files and Internet web pages.
Here is a method for numbering families (not individuals) for your direct-line ancestry. First, notice that an ancestor or pedigree chart is actually a “binary tree,” meaning that each node, or family, in the tree always has exactly two ancestor nodes. Each of the two nodes can therefore be assigned a unique number. This includes even the “missing” nodes, or families that you have yet to discover.
I’m searching for ancestors of my great-grandfather Joseph Voisin (1858-1916). I have hit a brick wall in tracing Joseph’s ancestors to Ontario, Canada.
There are two previously unrelated Pohl families in our family tree.
On my paternal side, Nicolas and Catharina Pohl immigrated from the Eifel region of Germany in 1840 and settled in Westphalia, Michigan.
On my maternal side, Albert and Mary Pohl immigrated probably from Austria-Hungary in 1892 and settled near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Often you discover conflicting facts for an event, like a birth date. A particular source may give only partial information, like the place of birth but not the date, or the month and year but not the day or place. Soon you have a list of multiple alternate facts, each cited by a different source.
A “preferred” fact is a best estimate. It may include information from a combination of alternate facts. A single preferred fact is often used in genealogical reports and charts, where listing several alternate facts is infeasible.
For some facts, it is not a matter of having several conflicting facts from alternate sources. Sometimes you must draw inferences from several sources to form a conclusion. Suppose you have a hunch that a particular person is your ancestor. If you evaluate several sources, you may find proof to a reasonable degree of certainty that your hunch is correct. In other words you may be able draw a conclusion even though there are no explicit facts that prove it.
As an example, marriage records often list witnesses, their ages, and their relationship to the bride or groom. Evaluating the marriage records of two sisters may lead you to conclude that one of the witnesses who appears on both records is actually their brother. The age and hometown of this witness may lead you to conclude he is indeed your ancestor.
Therefore, besides citing individual sources for a given fact, you can also cite a conclusion. Simply document the steps that led to your conclusion, and name that as your source. Future researchers can then see your logic and verify it against your sources, and any new sources that may be discovered.