1. Census Records can be a Primary Source or a Secondary Source. If we had access to the 1990 US Census (we don't), we could use it as a Primary Source, because the information on a modern census MUST be collected from an adult head of the household. In other words, a person is giving information about them self and their own children. I think it's safe to assume that we all have first hand knowledge of our own birth date and those of our own children, so we could use the 1990 US Census as a Primary Source. Unfortunately, this is not true of the US Census records that we have access to--1790 through 1920. Years ago, the persons collecting the census data got it wherever they could. It might have been from an adult head of household. I'm sure that it sometimes was. But just as often the information was given by a child, a neighbor, or the hired hand. That's why we find so many discrepancies in census records--and it's why we cannot use the census as a Primary Source. Another contributing problem was illiteracy. The further back we go, the more we encounter this problem. The 1790 census, for example, was taken at a time when many people were illiterate. They couldn't even spell their own names so the census taker had to spell them phonetically--sometimes with interesting results! If you are looking for an ancestor on the census, you need to consider every conceivable spelling you can imagine! 2. Compiled data bases, such as World Family Tree or the LDS Ancestral File or a printed compendium of genealogy, are Secondary Sources that are useful only as clues, but cannot ever be used as proof of anything. This type of data base (I'm sure you can think of others), is generally not documented and, often, it isn't even possible to find out who submitted the material. And, what's more, some of the people who compile these data bases don't care whether they are accurate or not! A case in point: I found my ancestor, Joseph Hartshorn, on a CD data base a few years ago. He was hooked up to the wrong father and, therefore, the wrong ancestry. I wrote to the producer of the CD, explaining the situation and enclosing a well-documented correction. I asked if my correction could be included in a future compilation and I asked for the name of the person who submitted the wrong ancestry. My letter was never answered and no correction was ever produced. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people are still using this CD and thinking that Joseph Hartshorn's ancestry is correct. Another case: A current producer of CD data bases is modifying the data that people submit--quite arbitrarily. If a date is unknown to the submitter and, therefore, is left off, it is not okay with this producer of CD's. They estimate the date! They have no data on which to make an educated guess, they just assign an arbitrary date. It think you get the picture. I don't mean to be negative, I just want to urge you to use caution when you use a compiled data base. Get your clues and then look for primary sources to provide proof. Happy hunting! Your Cook Cousin, Sue Roe