Would the book "The Kelloggs in the Old World and the New" by Timothy Hopkins be acceptable as a source for application to the Society of Mayflower Descendants. What other books would be acceptable sources? Have traced my lineage back to Edward Doty, thru Edward 2, Mary 3, Hannah 4. Thank you, Janet

Janet asked: > Would the book "The Kelloggs in the Old World and the New" by Timothy Hopkins > be acceptable as a source for application to the Society of Mayflower > Descendants. What other books would be acceptable sources? Have traced my > lineage back to Edward Doty, thru Edward 2, Mary 3, Hannah 4. > ______________________________ Janet, Family genealogies as well as town histories can be used as sources to document your line - but there are conditions and certain limits. First, every attempt must be made to source your data from primary sources - and there are many to choose from so don't give up too easily. When birth, death and marriage records cannot be found there could be church or cemetery records, deeds or probates, census or bible records, etc. And, in the case of the last 3 (latest) generations, in fact any date in the 1900's, primary documentation is expected and required - citing a family genealogy will not be sufficient. When you have exhausted all efforts to obtain that elusive record for your *earlier* generations, then you may certainly turn to family or town histories. These publications can be cited whether or not they contain sources to back up their data. Note also that while the silver MF books may be cited on their own, the pink MFIP booklets (being "in progress" works) should be cited with supporting sources. The "limits" to citing these secondary books is that you cannot source an entire lineage, or several generations, based on one book, nor can you use one book as a source for the parentage of multiple line carriers. We can usually source a lineage for the first 5-6 generations and the last three - which leaves perhaps 3 generations in between that sometimes prove challenging. My rule of thumb is that I try to use these books sparingly in these 3 middle generations and I try to support the use of one book with another - two secondary sources are better than one. Susan E. Roser Governor & Historian Canadian Society www.rootsweb.com/~canms/canada.html