Why do you not depend on the index or transcription to a
record even if the listing contains all the information? Or rather, why
shouldn’t you depend on it?
Often times in a search you will find a transcribed record
that is typed rather than the hard to read handwriting of the original
document. An index can often have very detailed information within it. In fact
sometimes on Ancestry or Family Search databases you can’t see a facsimile of
the original document.
Although these records are easier to read and to take
information from, we are cautioned not to depend on them. The experts that are
writing books or teaching us will warn about mistakes being made. If you have
done genealogy for very long yourself, you have probably encountered a few of
these differences yourself and know the wisdom of looking towards that original
source. However, often we tend to forget or want to opt for the easy way out. I
was once again reminded to be careful.
Today I was looking at some records of a family that I
became interested in researching over the weekend. Originally I was helping my
niece to research some of her ancestors and push back into New England on the
line where she had some unsubstantiated information. A paper read at a reunion
of the family in the early 1900s hinted at Rhode Island roots for the family,
but had no evidence beyond the recollections of a granddaughter who had written
the paper.
With my experience in early New York State and Rhode Island
families I was able to find some starting points for her and she is now well on
her way to establishing that one of the lines mentioned is from Westerly, Rhode
Island.
Meanwhile, I started following some of the children to see
what might be found there. I came across a couple brothers and at least one
sister who became involved with the LDS (Mormon) church early in its history.
Palmyra, New York is, as many know, where the Mormon Church began. What I have
found interesting is the number of people several counties east of there in the
Mohawk Valley that were early followers and move west with them.
 |
| Screenshot from Family Search |
That is the long version of how I came to be looking at this
census record for Alfonso Green in the 1870 census[1]. Looking at the transcription in the clip, you
can see that he is mulatto. Or is he? I had no indication of a mixed race in
this family. The mother’s line goes back to those in early Rhode Island
mentioned above and all seemed to be white. If you look at the actual census,
however, you can see that in the race column is a hastily written letter that
could be either a “m” or a “w”. All
before and after are listed as white, and unless I find further information, I
would read this one as that as well. Sometimes what you think of as a simple
fact can be muddled in a transcription!
[1] "United
States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCY-KZS : accessed 11 April 2016),
Alfonso Green, Utah, United States; citing p. 29, family 209, NARA microfilm
publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records
Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,111.
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