After thirty-five plus years of genealogical research I have explored many "rabbit trails[1]" in my quest to document the family history. My ancestors are from a burned county and records prior to the Civil War are very rare.
Basically, I have found two major reasons for these "rabbit trails"
1. A lack of extant records for the area of research
2. The propagation (copying without verification) of bad data through e-mail, message boards, printed trees without documentation, etc.
For instance, for years I have looked for the wife of Frederick Rivers and this event have resulted in many hours of lost time. They are many secondary documents vehemently proclaiming that Frederick Rivers' wife is Sarah Purvis and others that says Mary Boatwright, take your pick. However, there is no primary source document naming either woman as the wife of Frederick Rivers. So when I receive an e-mail stating that Frederick Rivers married Mary Boatwright on 19 Apr 1765 at James Island, Charleston Co.,SC; I'm hooked and I'm off to chase the rabbit. My first response was "would you send me a copy of the primary source document?" Its years later and I'm still waiting for that document. In the meantime, I spent hours at the Family History Library (SLC) trying to confirm this information. No record has been found as of today.
Frederick Rivers was born bef 1754 and died after 1820. He was married and had a family consisting of two boys and two girls based on the 1790-1820 Censuses for Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Only three (3) children have been identified. The name of his wife and youngest daughter is still unknown.
Some of this started about 1927 with the release of the book "The Davis family (Davies and David) in Wales and America: genealogy of Morgan David of Pennsylvania[2]".
On page 54, the author made these comments in a footnote: "Frederick Rivers b ca 1739 died 1810, married 1762 Mary Boatwright, b. 1745 died 1814. Chesterfield Dist., S.C. He served as a Private in the Revolution. (Stub Entries to Indents, Lib. N, No. 650.) Left children Frederick, Jr. Isaac, James and Nancy.
The next "rabbit trail" was also propagated by this book. That "rabbit trail" is the wife of Jonathan Daniel Davis. Jonathan Daniel Davis is a son of my fourth Great grandfather and brother to my third great grandfather.
Again in the "Davis Book"[3], page 124, the author states that Jonathan Daniel Davis was "Born Cheraw Dist., now Chesterfield County, S.C. 1800, married prior to 1819 Sarah _____ (Barnes or Rivers), born S. C. 1795. He died sometime between 1831-1839."
Since this book is not sourced, I have no idea where Mr. Davis found this information, but I suspect it was through correspondence with family member living in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
The lack of per-civil war documents and family folklore that has become garbled over the decades are major contributors to some of this misinformation.
I have found one document, per-Civil War, relating to Jonathan Daniel Davis. Just for familiarity before 1850 there was only two Jonathan Davis' in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. They were Father and Son, Jonathan Daniel Davis, Sr. and Jonathan Daniel Davis, Jr.
In 1837, the following notice appeared in the local newspaper[4],
This document first proved that the statement that Jonathan died between 1831 and 1839 is only partially right. He definitely died sometime after 23 January 1837.
Secondly, the article refers to Jonathan Davis and his wife Elizabeth. Since this notice has to do with the division or sale of the Real Estate of George Parker, it's evident that Elizabeth Davis, wife of Jonathan, is related and most likely a daughter of the said George Parker. We know this is not Jonathan Daniel, Jr.; in the 1850 Census[5] Daniel, age 32, is listed in his Mother household who is listed as Sarah Davis. My take is that Sarah Davis is Sarah Elizabeth Parker Davis. While there is not conclusive evidence, we have a piece of evidence that points in this direction whereas no documentation is available to substantiate a Barnes or Rivers surname.
You are certain to experience "rabbit trails" in your research. Don't just "shrug" them off or discount them entirely. They are a lot like "family folklore"; sometimes, you may find them to be productive.
[1] False leads, misinformation,
[2] Harry Alexander Davis, The Davis Family (Davies and David) in Wales and America: genealogy of Morgan David of Pennsylvania (Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1927), pages 54.
[3] Harry Alexander Davis, The Davis Family (Davies and David) in Wales and America: genealogy of Morgan David of Pennsylvania (Washington, D.C.: n.p., 1927), page 124.
[4] "Division or Sale of Real Estate of George Parker", Cheraw Gazette (Cheraw, South Carolina), 14 February 1837, page 4, Col. 4.
[5] 1850 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Page 180B, Line 38, Dwelling 162, Family 1262, Household of Sarah DAVIS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 28 August 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm M432 Roll 851.
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