My problem is I have a lot of brothers with just brother 1 and sister 2 and so for all I know one of those brother 1's may be a Gorege Campbell. My line of Campbells married cousin's too and I found that it was a church thing as they married within their church group. My line has some John's and a Allen Campbell and they was from Scotland and then went to Ireland and one of my John Campbell's left Ireland in 1720 or 1722 and came here and left behind a wife and child and that is all we can find out about him and he has sister 1 2,3 and brothers 1,2,3,4, no names just the numbers. Bobbie Campbell Hopper -------Original Message------- From: Mary Ellen Date: 12/08/05 23:09:17 To: CAMPBELL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CAMPBELL] To all persons Questioning Facts This is all so true Lilly, I can add several examples of birth, death, marriage and wills that prove exactly what you are saying. One example that really needs research is what is written in the Heritage Books, I have seen reports on different ancestors that has been proven incorrect in different ways yet repeated again in the book #2. Don't get me wrong, these books are great for a beginning point to research your ancestor, but it isn't necessarily the honest truth. Most are stories handed down through the generations. But I do enjoy looking through the books to get some sort of a handle on a relative, a feel for the area and a possible point in the right direction. Remember the birth dates were generally recorded much later than the actual birth and some times not even reported by a relative but perhaps a message sent by a neighbor on their way to a recorders office. Marriage dates could be way off as the preachers weren't always next door to perform the ceremony. Long ago they usually made trips through the area when they could. As far as death certificates which would also apply to birth certificates, the spelling could be way off. I found that true with one of my great grandfathers, the only familiar thing was the last name started with a "C". I would imagine this had to be an error by the person recording the death. This I was told could be corrected if I could get a letter from the undertaker, doctor or a living relative or neighbor from that time period. Unfortunately they are all dead...so the last name on the death certificate is wrong but I know it is wrong...I go by the dates and name on his tombstone. Just trying to point out that just because it is written in a book doesn't necessarily make it so. Right now if my mother was giving information to someone who wants to write a book on her life and times, it would probably be so confusing because at 83, she has a hard time remembering certain things at different times and at other times she is very clear about things. I think I would probably trust a family Bible more than anything and I know that there are probably lots of arguments against that example also. I think that what we have been doing for the past several months, going through the census and gathering information from different cousins, looking at the birth, death, wills, deeds, census information and marriage certificates to try and figure out which is which and what is what brings us closer to the truth than anything. I appreciate the information that all of the cousins have contributed and I feel that one of these days we will find out who George Campbell's parents are and where he came from and when. Thanks to all of you, I appreciate all that you have done and continue to do. Mary Ellen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lilly Martin" <malik@scs-net.org> To: <CAMPBELL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 4:38 AM Subject: [CAMPBELL] To all persons Questioning Facts > To all others researching, > > I have only been doing research fro 4 yrs, so I have not learned alot, but > a few basic things I learned the old fashioned hard way. > > 1. Never believe that a Will will name all children. A Will will name > only those kids or persons that the writer of the Will would LIKE to give > something to, or to remember in the Will. > > A rich son might not be mentioned, but his dead brother's kids might. > Why? The rich son is already set up for life, why give him more, when he > doesn't need it? I can show you many Wills of men with large families, > and only a few kids are mentioned in the Will, so the names in a Will do > not necessarily equate to the number of children a man/woman has. > > I can show you a death bed Will of a young father, who forgot to name one > 4 yr old son. Why? He was in pain, sick, half dead at the time, his wife > was also sick, and pregnant. I think the neighbor men came to take down > the Will and get it recorded, and they wrote down the kids names as fast > as possible, the best they could, but with both parents laying at death's > door, one little boy got forgotten. He still grew up with the other > brothers, and when he died his kids were partially raised by his brother, > but he was never named in the Will. > > 2. Never put faith in the term Sr. or Jr. You could find a document for > Joel Campbell, and signed by Joel Campbell and witnessed by Joel Campbell, > Jr. and 'naturally' jump to the conclusion that they were father and son. > Not so at all, untrue! They were grandfather, and grandson, and the > father of Joel Campbell, Jr was not named Joel at all. > > So why do people use these term Jr. if not to mean their father was named > the same? They are also used as an identifier of AGE. Let's say I have a > community and there are several men, and in the same area named George > Campbell. Some are brothers, some cousins, some unrelated, some Uncles. > Along comes the census taker, and I tell him my name is George Campbell, > Jr. Was my Dad George also? No, he wasn't, but I want the census taker > to record that I am the YOUNGER man of the area named George Campbell, not > to be confused with my Old Man Uncle of the same name, or my OLDER > cousins, also of the same name. The same could be said of Sr., that might > mean that this man was the OLDEST man in his area name George Campbell, > out of a whole crowd similarly named. > > Don't ever believe the terms of Jr or Sr, unless you first determine > through other mans that you really do know who this person is. In fact, > at first you should doubt those terms, and then proceed to rersearch to > learn the true identity of that person. > > I come from a James Thompson , III yet he always said he was James > Thompson, Jr. Why, because his father was James Thompson, so he thought > he was Jr, but in reality he was #3, he just didn't rmember his > grandfather. > > 3. Never believe a death certificate. The DEAD person did know their own > name, and birth date and birth place and Parents names, etc. But the > problem is, the DEAD person was not filling out the DEATH certificate. It > was some daughter in law, or the cousin, or the old folks home, or the son > in law, and those people may, or may not know anything about that person. > I have many a death certificate filled out even by the deceased own > children, in which all the facts were distorted, convoluted and incorrect. > It is sad, shocking, and frustrating to look at an official document, and > know that it is incorrect. > > How do you verify it was wrong? You find the Birth certificate and then > you know the details of the death certificate were wrong. The parents are > giving the birth record of their child, they know when he was born and > where. If it says Iowa, then you know the death certificate which states > Maryland is wrong. I spent 6 months looking for a family in Maryland, and > I kept wondering why that name was so very uncommon in Maryland, it was > because the family was never in Maryland, nor even near to Maryland, but > the son who gave his mother's death info to the county officials thought > she was born in Maryland. To his mind, anything EAST of California, was > called Maryland! > > So I would always believe a Birth certificate before I ever believed any > death certificate. > > And marriage certificates can be wrong also. It is only as good as the > clerks handwriting. You may remember Nancy Campbell on her marriage > certificate? She was not Nancy Campbell, her name was Nancy Coffey. She > had no Campbell blood in her, she was simply getting married to a > Campbell. That mix up took me 3 -4 months to fathom, other researchers > kept trying to explain it to me, and I would go round and round, still > stupified. Finally I got to grasp the truth of the situation, based on > the parents, and their Wills, etc. > > 4. Never believe a History book which gives the Biography of local > persons, and states who their parents are and where they came from. These > books were written by writers who would come around and say they would > interview folks, and for a fee, they would write up your family story in a > Book which would be specific to your county location. > > My relative knew his mother was Lucinda, but she died when he was a baby, > and he was raised by his loving step-mother Nancy. So in the county book > he never mentioned his real Mom, only talked about his father and Nancy. > Now Nancy was born in NC, his real mom was born in IN, in all the many > lifetime of census records for him, he always states his mother's birth > place was IN. This means he was truthfully well aware he was not the son > of Nancy b. NC, but yet the book says that. So you can never believe a > book, even thought the family was interviewed for the book. People lie, > people forget, people change facts, etc. > > In conclusion, don't believe anything until you have studied it this way > and that, and have understood the family, and confered with others, and > feel comfortable with the facts of the case. Be prepared to find out that > there are birth, marriage, and death certificates which are wrong, or > partially wrong. Be prepared to find Wills which won't name your > relative, yet you know they should be named. Be prepared for anything. > Don't get nervous, or worried, this is a fun hobby, we can't make it a > science, it is an art, and it won't all fit into a nice neat box. There > will always be rough jaggedy edges we need to smooth down. > > Best regards, > Lilly Martin > > > > > ============================== > Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for > ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx > > ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.13/195 - Release Date: 12/8/2005