Kurt wrote: > "Bob Velke" <bvelke@whollygenes.com> wrote in message > news:mailman.673.1197574268.4586.gencmp@rootsweb.com... >> Kurt said: >> >>> I for myself is only recording facts. For that the current programs >>> are sufficient. >>> As I am a Swede, I have the church books for births, weddings and >>> deaths as primary sources. They were written at the time of the > event. >> So that makes them facts? > > You are making me curious. What is a fact for you? It must be > something in the English language that I miss... > That something was written down at the time is a fact. That it accurately records what the writer was told is, we hope, also a fact. That the writer told the truth is not always a fact; sometimes informants were mistaken and sometimes they told lies. -- Ian Hotmail is for spammers. Real mail address is igoddard at nildram co uk

"Ian Goddard" <goddai01@hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message news:9e2dnbFzaYTmKfzanZ2dnUVZ8t2snZ2d@pipex.net... > Kurt wrote: > > "Bob Velke" <bvelke@whollygenes.com> wrote in message > > news:mailman.673.1197574268.4586.gencmp@rootsweb.com... > >> Kurt said: > >> > >>> I for myself is only recording facts. For that the current programs > >>> are sufficient. > >>> As I am a Swede, I have the church books for births, weddings and > >>> deaths as primary sources. They were written at the time of the > > event. > >> So that makes them facts? > > > > You are making me curious. What is a fact for you? It must be > > something in the English language that I miss... > > > > That something was written down at the time is a fact. That it > accurately records what the writer was told is, we hope, also a fact. > That the writer told the truth is not always a fact; sometimes > informants were mistaken and sometimes they told lies. I think we really doesnŽt disagree. As the Swedish State Church was responsible of keeping track of all inhabitants in every parish, the records written at the time of the fact are quite reliable. And as the priest himself did the baptism, he knew the name of the child firsthand. It was the priest that wed the couple and the priest that buried a dead. In that sense we are fortunate in Swedish research. Kurt F > > -- > Ian