Beware of Secondary Sources
Ancestry Daily News
5/12/2000 - Archive
Beware of Secondary Sources!
Beware of Secondary Sources!
– George G. Morgan
It is always exciting to find a piece of information about an
ancestor. The experience of seeing his or her name in print or,
better yet, on an original document is enough to send most of us
into a state of euphoric joy. The best of these materials are the
primary sources—those records created at or very near the time an
event occurred. An original birth certificate or a marriage license
certainly qualify as a primary source. However, there are other,
secondary sources that provide information, but which may not be as
reliable as primary sources.
Whenever I speak at genealogical society events or conferences,
people invariably approach me with examples of records they have
found, and they ask my opinion about the reliability of the
information. In this week's "Along Those Lines . . . ", let's
examine some examples of materials that are secondary sources.
What Defines a Secondary Source?
Secondary sources are those records or other pieces of information
that were created at some time after an event occurred. The passage
of time, the lapse of memory, and the lack of knowledge (or
ignorance) of the person providing the information all conspire to
make the evidence less than reliable. In addition, an informant
sometimes falsifies information for some reason, and that can throw
a whammy into your research.
Secondary sources should be viewed with a high degree of skepticism.
By their very nature they should be suspect, and you should always
seek additional evidence to either corroborate or contradict the
facts they present.
Examples of Secondary Sources
Compiling a comprehensive list of secondary sources could be a huge
effort. However, let's look at a six major examples of secondary
sources and discuss why they are less reliable than primary source
materials.
Bible records can be misleading. The first two things I look for in
handwritten family history entries in a Bible are (1) the
publication or copyright date of the book and (2) the handwriting.
I have a family Bible in my possession which was published in
Edinburgh, Scotland in 1797. Many of its blank pages at the front
and back are inscribed with individuals' names and their dates of
birth, marriage, and death. Many of them are written in different
handwriting and with different pen nibs and ink. However, there are
two very questionable sets of entries.
The first entry indicates that "Mary Farley was born on January 5,
1776." This is obviously a secondary source, as it records an event
that predated the publication of the Bible by some twenty-one years.
The second entries concern the births of Jinnet L. Morgan ("born
September the 29th 1839") and Samuel W. Morgan ("born July the 16th
1841"). What makes these entries suspicious is that they are written
in the same hand with what appears to be the same pen nib, and the
ink is faded to exactly the same shade. This is indicative that the
two births, separated by almost two years, were most probably
recorded in the Bible at the same time. These examples are therefore
probably secondary sources.
Land records can be deceiving. Transportation was not as easy in
previous centuries as it is today. A trip to town for supplies was
made in a wagon and often was an all-day affair. A trip to the
county courthouse may have taken several days and was usually
undertaken only as a real necessity.
I have come across deeds from the 1700s and 1800s in my family that
were recorded at the county courthouse years after the actual land
transfer occurred. In once instance, the owner of the property died
in 1832, and the land transfers—two of them—were not recorded until
1889. In truth, the original owner left his land to his son (without
a will) and his son died in 1864, leaving the land to his son. The
latter decided to sell the land in 1889 and had to record the deeds
of land transfer for the two previous ownership changes before he
could sell the property.
Cemetery markers are not always correct. Don't believe everything
you read just because it's set in stone. Cemetery markers are not
always created and placed immediately following a death. Sometimes
they are not erected for months or even years. During the Great
Depression of the 1930s, for instance, families were sometimes too
impoverished to erect a simple gravestone at the time of a family
member's death; this homage had to wait for better financial times.
Also, stone carvers made mistakes. There is a stone in a cemetery in
downtown Tampa, FL, on which the stone mason made a mistake in the
spelling of the deceased's name. He apparently returned to the grave
and struck a diagonal line through the incorrect letter and then
carved the correct letter above. Always seek corroboration for
everything you see on a gravestone.
Some documents can be both primary AND secondary sources. Death
certificates are notorious for their errors. The only primary source
information on the death certificate is the date of death, and
sometimes even this is incorrect. Always examine the date of death
and the certificate's issue date. If there is any significant time
lapse, look for other corroborating evidence elsewhere. Also, the
date of birth, birth location, age, names of spouse, and names of
parents are all secondary sources. Never take these details for
fact. Remember that someone else acted as informant in order to fill
out the certificate. If he or she didn't know the correct
information, he/she may have guessed at it. Use these pieces of
information as pointers, but always find other substantiating
evidence.
Transcriptions, extracts, and abstracts may be wrong. Whenever you
obtain information from a printed transcription, extract, or
abstract, make the effort to obtain a copy of the original document
from the courthouse or other repository where the transcription's
author worked. Printed transcriptions may contain errors, and
important information may have been omitted when an extract or
abstract was written. Worse yet, you don't want to perpetuate that
author's error by passing it on to other researchers.
Transcriptions, extracts, and abstracts are always secondary sources
and should always be verified and corroborated with copies of
original documents.
Internet materials are secondary sources too. With the boom in
Web-based genealogical research, we have a vast new body of
information available to us.
However, everything on the Web should
be corroborated with other primary-source evidence. Remember that
even scanned images of original documents may have been digitally
altered. Evaluate other researchers' source citations, try to obtain
the materials they site so you can review them yourself, and always
seek out copies of any and all primary-source documents.
Reevaluating Your Source Materials
Over the years I've been researching my family history, I have
encountered many materials that appeared to be primary sources but
which proved to be secondary sources. The importance of reexamining
your evidence again and again cannot be stressed enough. Every time
you encounter a new piece of evidence or a new fact, receive a new
e-mail from another researcher, locate an obscure book at a library,
obtain a new pedigree chart or family group sheet from another
family member, or visit a cemetery marker that may corroborate or
contradict some other fact you already have in evidence—go back and
look at what you already have.
Don't accept anything as fact;
reevaluate your materials and reassess the hypotheses you have
developed. If something doesn't quite fit, you have a problem that
must be investigated and resolved.
While secondary sources may be all that you have in some cases,
remember to place a different weight of proof on them than you would
primary sources.
Never lose sight of your quest for primary-source
evidence that corroborates or contradicts the secondary materials.
You're seeking proof, and just like on the TV courtroom dramas, the
burden of proof is on you.
Happy Hunting!
George
George G. Morgan is a proud member of the Council of Genealogy
Columnists. He would like to hear from you at atl@ahaseminars.com,
but due to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer
every e-mail message. Please note that he cannot assist you with
your individual research.
Visit George’s Web site at
http://ahaseminars.com/atl for information about speaking
engagements.
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Created on ... January 12, 2001