Wisdom Wednesday~Tip of the Day

The mantra in real estate is: Location, Location, Location.

In genealogy, if there is a mantra, it should be: Document, Document, Document.
Go to the Source; if your source is a derivative record then by all mean seek out and examined the "Original Record."

Case in point: For years, since 1995, I have had this little piece of information on my 3rd great grandfather tucked away in my genealogy database.

 

#6-Ratliff, William H. vs. Mary Parsons Adm. et al - Bill for account & c 1843Abington Parsons departed this life on or about 13th day of April 1826. Heirs: Widow, Mary Parsons; children: Ann Parsons, born June 27th  1818, intermarried with Richmond White; Timney Parsons, born September 2, 1819, intermarried with Noah Sellers; Raymond Parsons, born December 5, 1820; Elizabeth Parsons, born March 9, 1822 intermarried with William Sellers; Thomas Parsons, born May 10, 1823; Mary M. Parsons, born April 10, 1825.

Source: #6 Index and Genealogical Abstracts of the Chesterfield District Court of Common Pleas, Equity Side, 1823-1869, page 115 as recorded in "Cheraw/Chesterfield District Wills, 1750-1865 & Abstracts from the Court of Common Pleas 1823-1869, Published  by James C. Pigg, Copyright 1995.

I have a source cited for this information; it’s a book compiled by James C. Pigg in 1995. Yes, this is the source of my information; but, it’s a derivative record/source; it is not the Original Record/Source document. The original source records are on file in the SC Archives in Columbia, South Carolina. 

So recently I asked a genealogy friend, who makes frequent visit to the SC Archives, to take this piece of information and  see what he can find at the Archives.

This photo is a snapshot of Item #6 the “Ratliff, William H. vs. Mary Parsons Adm. et al - Bill for account & c 1843.”

Photo courtesy of J. Poole

That’s quite a stack of papers compared to the extract published on page 115 of  in James Pigg’s book.

Now I need to make time to visit the archives and see what is in this folder about my 3rd great grandfather, Abington Parsons. I can hardly wait.


TIP of the Day: Make certain you seek out and review the original source for all extracts, indexes, etc.




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[1] James C. Pigg, Cheraw/Chesterfield District Wills, 1750-1865 &: Abstracts from the Court of Common Pleas 1823-1869 (Washington, D.C.: self-Published, 1995), page 115.

Tech Tuesday~Research Tip

Jacqi Stevens on her blog “A Family Tapestry” made the following statement “Though I could not locate their record for the 1910 census until—thankfully!—someone entered a correction on the Ancestry.com index ...”

And this little comment gave me a great idea to pass on to you, my readers.

Don’t blow by these updates/corrections provided by individuals to correct misinformation on Ancestry. These little corrections are a golden gem for your research.  

In the 1880 Census for Polk County Texas, I researching a Purvis line. In this 1880 Census I’m looking at an entry for Golivare Purvis.

  

Now I know his name is misspelled and I know his correct name; but, this error has been reported to Ancestry as erroneous  and Ancestry has made a correction to their database. Now here the hidden gem in this entry:

Click on the new update [Edmond Goldwire Purvis] and you will see this information appear:




Next click on the name of the Contributor and you have instant access to a fellow researcher that is researching the same families.







I do hope this helps you to connect with your fellow researchers and maybe even a long lost cousin.























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[1]  Images from Ancestry.com