> > > > Then no conclusions can be drawn. Lack of evidence only > > > > proves a lack of evidence. > > > > > > My probable ggg grandfather left no record of purchasing or > > > selling land. He did not mention land in his will. His > > > estate inventory did not mention land. > > > > > > I'd say that clues pointing in a specific direction, with > > > lack of evidence to the contrary, allow one to make logical > > > conclusions. In this case he almost certainly did not own > > > land. > > > > > > [email protected] (J. Hugh Sullivan) > > > > You can't prove a negative, so you can't prove he did _not_ > > own land. All you can accurately state is that you have no > > evidence that he ever did own land. It's a subtle > > distinction, but a very real one. > > > > "Christopher Jahn" <[email protected]> > > Although if you can show that you know who the assorted > landowners were in the area at the time he was alive, and he's > not among them, you can be pretty certain. Stop looking at > him and look at the folk around him. > > "Lesley Robertson" <[email protected]> And that only proves that he didn't own land there, not that he didn't own land at all. All you can prove is that he didn't own THAT farm, or THIS plot of land. And in fact, it doesn't even prove that. All you're doing is proving that SOMEONE ELSE owned it at this time or that time. My great-uncle actually "owned" a lot of things without appearing on any titles anywhere - he'd buy a car from you, but wouldn't transfer the title until he sold it. He'd have the car for a year or two, but the only names would be yours and the guy he sold it to. Yes, he was a VERY shady character, and stiffed his sister - my great-aunt - out of a tidy chunk of change. He borrowed a substantial sum to buy a farm, lived on it for years, but when he died there were no records that he ever owned ANYTHING. He owned that farm, but no one can ever prove it. But the lack of proof ALSO doesn't prove it. All the lack of evidence proves is that there is a lack of evidence that makes it impossible to prove anything. Nothing was in his name, so he had no estate, and my great-aunt was screwed. And that's what you record: "family reports he owned a cabbage farm at (fitb), but there is no record of it on file." And you include all the family lore, too. It still doesn't prove that he did or did not own the farm, and that doesn't matter; you have accurately recorded the history as you've been able to discover it. Rules of evidence are very clear on this, I don't understand why you're all trying to wiggle around them. It makes for sloppy genealogy. -- }:-) Christopher Jahn {:-( http://home.comcast.net/~xjahn/Main.html Bad things come to those who wait too. Christopher Jahn <[email protected]>