Susan -- good thoughts. And in my asking about the reliability of the Journal, I hope no one thought I was criticizing Alvan Lyell Barger. I was unfamiliar with him and was just asking. I'm very glad to see this message list and the responses to it. Harman Clark -----Original Message----- From: Susan Donahue <Susan_Donahue@piercestevens.com> To: BARGER-L@rootsweb.com <BARGER-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Monday, September 28, 1998 10:38 AM Subject: THE BARGER JOURNALS > >Good morning, Friends & Cousins! > >It's Monday morning, and I am enjoying reading the postings to the Barger >mailing list. Thank you very much, Kim for posting the information from >the Barger Journal, and thanks also to Harman Clark who spotted the >discrepancy. This is exactly how I hoped this mailing list would >function. From time to time, we all discover conflicting information in >the records, and are faced with the problem of deciding what to believe. > > > >It has been my practice, to show both sets of information in my research, >together with footnotes, so anyone reading my work will be able to judge >for themselves. Even when I have 3 or 4 items with one piece of >information and only one with a different version, I show both. > Experience has taught me that bad information, no matter how often >repeated, is still wrong. It is also true that the truth often pops up >in the most unlikely of places. > >Harman Clark asked about the reliability of Alvan Lyell Barger's >Journals. If that wonderful gentleman, who laid the groundwork for much >of our research, were still alive, I suspect he would explain that his >research was as good as its sources. He corresponded with hundreds of >people and received responses from all parts of the country. Imagine how >vast that project was, considering that there were no computers, no >internet, and in some parts of the country, little schooling. Much of >his research took place during the depths of the Great Depression when >the price of paper and postage might well have been a sacrifice for some >of the people who corresponded with him. (I would love to have a glimpse >at some of the letters he received!) Also, it was true then, and remains >a fact, that official records are not always right, and when people copy >records, mistakes can be made. Memories fade and become blurred. As >family researchers, we encounter all these problems. The best we can do >is to try to be accurate, and to verify information which appears >suspect. > >Well, the moral of this message is: "Trust no one's research but your >own - and for heaven's sake, double check that!" Over the years, I have >heard those words repeated a great number of times by Sue Jackson, a >lovely lady who volunteers at our local LDS Family History Center. I >can't think of better advice. > >Thank you all for your participation. I just love reading your postings. > >Susan Barger Donahue >BARGER FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY >411 East Roosevelt Road >Wheaton, IL 60187 >suzid@tripod.net >