Genealogical Standards of Evidence: A Guide for Family Historians

By Brenda Dougall Merriman

Genealogical evidence is the information that allows us to identify an individual, an event in his or her life, or the relationship between individuals. In such a process, we often hear or use words such as evidence, proof, or documentation. Brenda Dougall Merriman takes readers through the genealogical process of research and identification, along the way examining how the genealogical community has developed standards of evidence and documentation, what those standards are, and how they can be applied. As a supplement to courses, workshops, and seminars, this book provides both an in-depth and inexpensive reference, perfect for compiling and checking research notes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dundurn
• Release date: Mar 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9781770705944

Brenda Dougall Merriman

Brenda Dougall Merriman, Certified Genealogist (CG), is the author of Genealogy in Ontario and United Empire Loyalists: A Guide to Tracing Loyalist Ancestors in Upper Canada. A member of the Ontario Genealogical Society since 1970, she founded the Ontario Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists. She lives in Toronto.

Book preview

Genealogical

Standards

of Evidence

GENEALOGIST’S REFERENCE SHELF

Genealogical

Standards

of Evidence

A Guide for Family Historians

BRENDA DOUGALL MERRIMAN

Copyright © Brenda Dougall Merriman, 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press and the Ontario Genealogical Society. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Editor: Ruth Chernia

Design: Courtney Horner

Proofreader: Allison Hirst

Printer:Transcontinental

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Merriman, Brenda Dougall

Genealogical standards of evidence : a guide for family historians / by Brenda Dougall Merriman.

(Genealogist’s reference shelf)

Previously published under title: About genealogical standards of evidence.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-55488-451-3

1. Genealogy. I. Ontario Genealogical Society II.Merriman, Brenda Dougall. About genealogical standards of evidence. III. Title. IV. Series: Genealogist’s reference shelf

CS88.A1M47      2010 929’.1072       C2009-907197-5

1 2 3 4 5      14 13 12 11 10

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

Printed and bound in Canada.

www.dundurn.com

Ontario Genealogical Society

Suite 102, 40 Orchard View Boulevard

Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4R 1B9

tel. [phone]      fax. [phone]

[e-mail]     www.ogs.on.ca

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 The Background

2 Genealogical Research Standards

Checklist of Genealogical Sources

3 Learning and Practice

4 Some Illustrated Examples

Reading and Reference List

Notes

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It was my privilege to serve for six years as a trustee on the Board for Certification of Genealogists, during the great period when genealogical principles and standards were being defined on their own terms. In the twenty-first century, genealogy and family history will reach greater heights of recognition and acceptance as an independent field of historical study.

My thanks go to the colleagues who originally encouraged me to develop this manuscript, and to my associates who kindly reviewed it. Special acknowledgement goes to Alison Hare, CG, for being there. Any deviations and errors are solely mine.

INTRODUCTION

Q: Why read this book?

A: It is intended as an introduction to the habits of careful researchers; an inexpensive reference work for checking the research notes you compile; and as a supplement to courses, workshops, or seminars you may have attended.

• This book will explain how the genealogical community developed standards of evidence and documentation, what those basic standards are, and how you can apply them to your own work.

• This book will not tell you how to find the sources you need for your own research or how to trace your ancestors in detail. You can learn more about family history sources and research techniques from many expertly written manuals and the courses and conferences offered by genealogical societies.

One of the greatest attractions of genealogy and family history is that each of us has a unique nuclear family, shared only by our birth siblings. Thus, discovering our family history begins as an absorbing personal pastime to find the parents of our parents and so on. Soon, however, it will begin to overlap with cousins and descendants of earlier generations as we meet them. Some of them will be researchers, too. Genealogists also frequently share such common connections as ethnic origins or migration patterns. Few other hobbies or professions provide such enjoyment in the hunt, the thrill of discovery, the satisfaction of solving problems.

You might ask, what is the difference between a genealogist and a family historian? Essentially, they have become the same (the terms are used interchangeably in this book). In the past, genealogists tended to compile rather dry tomes of multigenerational names and vital statistics; family historians often produced a labour of love with little reference to solid sources of information. Traditionally, the genealogist followed more or less acceptable formats and a family historian used a more fluid style of presentation. Now most of us aim for the same goal: a well-documented narrative that tells the story of ancestors, not merely a tree with bare names and dates. Family tree seems to be a rather generic term these days for almost any family history project, whereas more properly it refers to a chart or diagram of names and relationships.

Genealogical evidence is the information — evaluated and analyzed — that allows us to identify an individual, an event in his or her life, or the relationship between individuals. Genealogy and family history revolve around issues of identification. In describing how we establish or argue an identification, we use such words as evidence or proof or source documentation.

By its very nature, the construction of a genealogy requires evidence or proof for the linking of generations. If your cousin insists that your family is descended from William the Conqueror or Louis Riel or the Mayflower passengers, what does he use to substantiate this claim? His grandmother told him, so it must be true (Grandma was the soul