In history, including church history and genealogy, we always have to consider the source. The BRETHREN ENCYLOPEDIA is not a source in and of itself, but, rather, a collection of writings of hundreds of sources. The articles in Volumes 1 and 2 were written by hundreds of "authors" listed in pp. xiii - xxxv at the beginning of Volume 1. Each written article refers to that article's author at the end of the text of the article. When I use the BE I always look up the author as a part of reading the article. If the author is not a historian or a known expert on the subject, I read it with great reservation. Almost all of the authors in the BE were untrained as historians. An article on a church was often written by someone who was a minister at that church at the time the BE was put together. Articles on families were often written by family members. In all cases, each article has to be judged by its author. Errors and omissions happen in all encyclopedias. The BE should not be judged too harshly given that the Brethren did not keep complete and consistent records of baptisms, marriages, deaths, callings, ordinations, ministerial appointments, individual church histories, etc. The way I look at it is that the BE is only a starting point and unavoidably incomplete. We should not expect to find more than what was possible at the time it was published. Dwayne Wrightsman

Living here in BC I have very little genealogical information available other than what I can order through the FHL films and what I can find on online. Many years ago I received a page from the BE from Elgin IL on the Glück/Glick/Click family and am still very grateful for the information. The BE page is just one small part of my overall understanding of my family history. I would like to thank anyone who takes the time to contribute their information! Right or wrong the time and effort taken is much appreciated!! Robin Poeschek Kamloops BC On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 8:40 AM, Dwayne Wrightsman <[email protected]>wrote: > In history, including church history and genealogy, we always have to > consider the source. The BRETHREN ENCYLOPEDIA is not a source in and of > itself, but, rather, a collection of writings of hundreds of sources. The > articles in Volumes 1 and 2 were written by hundreds of "authors" listed in > pp. xiii - xxxv at the beginning of Volume 1. Each written article refers > to that article's author at the end of the text of the article. When I use > the BE I always look up the author as a part of reading the article. If > the > author is not a historian or a known expert on the subject, I read it with > great reservation. > > > > Almost all of the authors in the BE were untrained as historians. An > article on a church was often written by someone who was a minister at that > church at the time the BE was put together. Articles on families were > often > written by family members. In all cases, each article has to be judged by > its author. Errors and omissions happen in all encyclopedias. The BE > should not be judged too harshly given that the Brethren did not keep > complete and consistent records of baptisms, marriages, deaths, callings, > ordinations, ministerial appointments, individual church histories, etc. > > > > The way I look at it is that the BE is only a starting point and > unavoidably > incomplete. We should not expect to find more than what was possible at > the > time it was published. > > > > Dwayne Wrightsman > > > ------------------------ > Search the Archives at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/BRETHREN > ------------------------ > Support Our Sponsoring Agency > The Fellowship Of Brethren Genealogists (FOBG) > For further information contact Ron McAdams mailto:[email protected] > ------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

I don't think any of us meant to be critical in a mean way, just pointing out that true, it is a starting point for some people and always check facts on anything you research. There are errors in it. The people who compiled it certainly did not have access to all the archives we have access to. Good advice on the author index, and good advice on where to get your advice. Thanks, Dwayne, you have done a great deal of help for many people on and off this list. Ruth -----Original Message----- From: Dwayne Wrightsman Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2011 10:40 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [BRE] In Defense of the BE In history, including church history and genealogy, we always have to consider the source. The BRETHREN ENCYLOPEDIA is not a source in and of itself, but, rather, a collection of writings of hundreds of sources. The articles in Volumes 1 and 2 were written by hundreds of "authors" listed in pp. xiii - xxxv at the beginning of Volume 1. Each written article refers to that article's author at the end of the text of the article. When I use the BE I always look up the author as a part of reading the article. If the author is not a historian or a known expert on the subject, I read it with great reservation. Almost all of the authors in the BE were untrained as historians. An article on a church was often written by someone who was a minister at that church at the time the BE was put together. Articles on families were often written by family members. In all cases, each article has to be judged by its author. Errors and omissions happen in all encyclopedias. The BE should not be judged too harshly given that the Brethren did not keep complete and consistent records of baptisms, marriages, deaths, callings, ordinations, ministerial appointments, individual church histories, etc. The way I look at it is that the BE is only a starting point and unavoidably incomplete. We should not expect to find more than what was possible at the time it was published. Dwayne Wrightsman ------------------------ Search the Archives at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/BRETHREN ------------------------ Support Our Sponsoring Agency The Fellowship Of Brethren Genealogists (FOBG) For further information contact Ron McAdams mailto:[email protected] ------------------------ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I am in awe that such a fete was accomplished in such a few short years. Yes there are errors and omissions, but I have yet to see a work of genealogical or historical nature complete to the last dotted 'i' and crossed 't'. Overall, we would be much less informed about our rich Brethren heritage without its existence. However I must take a bit of exception to your statement Dwayne. I am the author of the Spitler family article. I submitted it air tight with the prescribed number of words. It was edited to include a completely different Spitler family that had no connection to the one of the article. Unfortunately, it was not passed back to me for review, so it is incorrectly printed. I also submitted the Flora (Flory) Family article which the family history editor added to and changed. The one fact that should have been included, but was deleted is there are in excess of 500 ministers and missionaries of which I have in my records that descend from the 1733 emigrants, Joseph & Mary (Bugh) Flory. Nearly all represented various branches of the Brethren. Even those of us who strive are not always accurately quoted in the printed word. Gale Honeyman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dwayne Wrightsman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2011 11:40 AM Subject: [BRE] In Defense of the BE When I use the BE I always look up the author as a part of reading the article. If the author is not a historian or a known expert on the subject, I read it with great reservation.

Thank you, Dwayne, for your understanding so well the structure and building of the Brethren Encyclopedia. One has only to know how difficult it was to locate information about any of the Brethren groups previous to the publication of the BE to realize the scope and the dream of those who envisioned an encyclopedia of most of the Brethren groups in one encyclopedia. There are inconsistencies in the information provided. True. Yet I find inconsistencies even with this website. My own messages have been returned to me without posting when they exceed 300 words. My two most recent postings were returned, one--twice, one--once, before posted. Is there a limit to the length of our postings on this website, or it selective? > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2011 11:40:05 -0400 > Subject: [BRE] In Defense of the BE > > In history, including church history and genealogy, we always have to > consider the source. The BRETHREN ENCYLOPEDIA is not a source in and of > itself, but, rather, a collection of writings of hundreds of sources. The > articles in Volumes 1 and 2 were written by hundreds of "authors" listed in > pp. xiii - xxxv at the beginning of Volume 1. Each written article refers > to that article's author at the end of the text of the article. When I use > the BE I always look up the author as a part of reading the article. If the > author is not a historian or a known expert on the subject, I read it with > great reservation. > > > > Almost all of the authors in the BE were untrained as historians. An > article on a church was often written by someone who was a minister at that > church at the time the BE was put together. Articles on families were often > written by family members. In all cases, each article has to be judged by > its author. Errors and omissions happen in all encyclopedias. The BE > should not be judged too harshly given that the Brethren did not keep > complete and consistent records of baptisms, marriages, deaths, callings, > ordinations, ministerial appointments, individual church histories, etc. > > > > The way I look at it is that the BE is only a starting point and unavoidably > incomplete. We should not expect to find more than what was possible at the > time it was published. > > > > Dwayne Wrightsman > > > ------------------------ > Search the Archives at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/BRETHREN > ------------------------ > Support Our Sponsoring Agency > The Fellowship Of Brethren Genealogists (FOBG) > For further information contact Ron McAdams mailto:[email protected] > ------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message