Youve finally had the breakthrough youve been waiting for. That family line you thought must have appeared out of thin air has been located in a book, or in a database you found. And suddenly you have five, maybe seven generations of new information taking your pedigree back to the middle ages. Now your enthusiasm is elevated. You are excited about this family line, and youre sure you can push it back even further. You can hardly wait to get to the library, or back to your computer and give chase once again. Dont! Im not saying your enthusiasm is misplaced. But, just because youve had some success you shouldnt throw out the fundamentals of good research. Sure you want to make even more progress. But, take some time to make sure of what you have before you go off on what could be a fruitless journey. Avoid further frustration by taking time to evaluate what you have found. Go over it just as you should have done when you first began your genealogical research. Check the dates to make sure they match up. This is a good way to see if someone else has matched up people from the same generation (the father or mother is too young to have children), or if they have missed a generation (the father or mother is too old to have children). If you see a problem with dates, check the source to see if it was just a typo, or if the underlying research was bad. Look at the names. It is quite common for sons to be named for fathers, and for daughters to be named for mothers. But, if you see a father and mother with the same names as son and daughter-in-law, look a little closer. At times, some genealogists have been frustrated with trying to place a family they are sure belongs, but havent been able to fit in properly. So, they have just put the family in twice to fill the gap. Check out the localities involved. Our ancestors could be very mobile, so quite a bit of movement should be expected. But, there are warning signs of poor research. For example, if all of the children were born in one locality every two or three years, while a single child (often the one you would be descended from) was born in a different town a hundred miles away, you should be leery. This may have been an attempt to "graft" an ancestor into a known line that has no connection to the right one. Even when you are convinced the research is good, check as many of the facts as possible to see if there is something that was not seen by a previous researcher. For example, if the information on a family was derived solely from a will or other probate record, it may be missing mention of children or other relatives who had died prior to that time. Data on these people might be found in other records, such as census schedules or church registers. Or, if information came from a family Bible, it may be missing localities. Again, church registers may help supply the missing data. Once you have done the "fundamentals", go ahead full speed with your attempts to find more of the family line. Without the fundamentals, you might just wind up spinning your wheels. Sally Rolls Pavia Sun City, AZ [email protected] List Owner: [email protected] "Without genealogy, the study of history is lifeless." All incoming and outgoing email checked by Norton Anti-Virus 2002 .