I agree, use these as a starting point. And if you find a grave that you are interested in, you can search findagrave and see if the person is listed there. You can also list the find and do a photo request, can use the information to contact the local historical/genealogical society and/or the cemetery itself and query them to see if they have the same information and if so what the documentation for it is. You can search online newspapers to see if there is corroborating evidence listed there. I wonder if the person that posted the warning has family information passed down to him/her that may/may not be correct and since what he/she found doesn't match what he/she has his/her personal research is threatened. I've run across this especially with beginning genealogists. "Aunt Betsy said...." and it turns out that Aunt Betsy told you what she either wanted to believe or what she thought would make a good story. This along with the assurance of a new genealogist that their family name has ALWAYS been spelled ____ . Another thing, just because the information is wrong in someone's opinion, it doesn't mean that the information was made up or perhaps even typed wrong. Dates and names may not be correct on stones, and they didn't just chuck the stone if a name or date was misspelled or wrong until recently. The stone cutter cut what he was told to. If the informant had incorrect information then that's what was passed on. Census records have errors because if the family wasn't home a neighbor may have provided the names/ages etc. This still occurs - I was an Office Supervisor during the 2000 Census and I can honestly say, that a very concerted effort was put into getting the forms filled out and there were spot checks to make sure that the enumerators weren't just making up information. Even so, there were some households where the only information we were able to get was the population count given by neighbors. All records have a possibility for errors. As they say, document what you found and where you found it, and check as many other sources that you can to corroborate what you've found. I thank everyone that has posted records on the internet as my funds for research are very limited, and I can't afford to fly to Pennsylvania, Connecticut, etc from Texas everytime I want to check a record. I also can't afford to hire a researcher in the area. Just reading the warning made me wonder what the motive was for posting it. Could it be a professional researcher that is angry that their business is threatened by records appearing online?? The fact that this person says that 70% of the records are wrong says to me that its an attempt to discredit the website. No one researching a family is going to be looking at 70% of the records on a website, even if their family never left the area. Janet Tabares http://janetaba.tripod.com/gen/index.html -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of TJ Shumaker Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 11:37 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [PAINDIAN] Don't EVER rely on Treasures of the PastCemeteryListings Yes - Treasures of the Past has errors - So does the National Archives, Mormon Records and many others - At the same time, I've found a lot of useful information and leads which I would have never found otherwise. I don't mean to critized this but anyone (ANYONE) who is doing Geneaology (or taking Genealogy) off of the internet from any source (including Census records, military records, Mormon Records, personal files, etc) should take them all with a grain of salt - - AND THEY SHOULD EXPECT ERRORS. Don't count on the Internet to document your family history - USE IT AS A STARTING POINT - NOT DOCUMENTATION..... I have Civil War Records with different birth and death dates for the same individual in the same file, which coflict with Bible Records, Death Records, Tombstones. And individuals make mistakes typing - Use the NET as a RESOURCE - not a SOURCE . . . TJ Shumaker http://www.hitchhikers-guide.com/boring/index.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 10:24 PM Subject: [PAINDIAN] Don't EVER rely on Treasures of the Past CemeteryListings > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Author: geneman1 > Surnames: > Classification: queries > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.pennsylvania.counti es.indiana/6283.1.1/mb.ashx > > Message Board Post: > > I have found as high as 70% mistakes in them. > Wrong Names, Wrong Dates, Wrong Relationships, Manufactured Information. >

Hello List: Why are some people always ready to down others that have taken their time to read a cemetery and post the information for all to use as a guide? What if Treasures of the Past wasn't up and running, where would you get the information? What records are 100% correct? None that I have found so far. I had a neighbor that said her birth year was incorrectly cut into her tombstone but she wasn't going to do anything about it. I have a family bible that has the wrong year of birth of the child. So, lets THANK the people that take their time to go out and gather information and furnish it for others to use as a guide. I have never seen any site that has said that everything listed is 100% gospel. Anyone that has done a lot of research will find, through time, where you find conflicting information. Keep up the good work to all of those that take their time to help others. Bobby Troup Janet Tabares wrote: > I agree, use these as a starting point. And if you find a grave that you > are interested in, you can search findagrave and see if the person is listed > there. You can also list the find and do a photo request, can use the > information to contact the local historical/genealogical society and/or the > cemetery itself and query them to see if they have the same information and > if so what the documentation for it is. You can search online newspapers to > see if there is corroborating evidence listed there. > > I wonder if the person that posted the warning has family information passed > down to him/her that may/may not be correct and since what he/she found > doesn't match what he/she has his/her personal research is threatened. I've > run across this especially with beginning genealogists. "Aunt Betsy > said...." and it turns out that Aunt Betsy told you what she either wanted > to believe or what she thought would make a good story. This along with the > assurance of a new genealogist that their family name has ALWAYS been > spelled ____ . Another thing, just because the information is wrong in > someone's opinion, it doesn't mean that the information was made up or > perhaps even typed wrong. Dates and names may not be correct on stones, and > they didn't just chuck the stone if a name or date was misspelled or wrong > until recently. The stone cutter cut what he was told to. If the informant > had incorrect information then that's what was passed on. Census records > have errors because if the family wasn't home a neighbor may have provided > the names/ages etc. This still occurs - I was an Office Supervisor during > the 2000 Census and I can honestly say, that a very concerted effort was put > into getting the forms filled out and there were spot checks to make sure > that the enumerators weren't just making up information. Even so, there were > some households where the only information we were able to get was the > population count given by neighbors. All records have a possibility for > errors. > > As they say, document what you found and where you found it, and check as > many other sources that you can to corroborate what you've found. I thank > everyone that has posted records on the internet as my funds for research > are very limited, and I can't afford to fly to Pennsylvania, Connecticut, > etc from Texas everytime I want to check a record. I also can't afford to > hire a researcher in the area. Just reading the warning made me wonder what > the motive was for posting it. Could it be a professional researcher that > is angry that their business is threatened by records appearing online?? The > fact that this person says that 70% of the records are wrong says to me that > its an attempt to discredit the website. No one researching a family is > going to be looking at 70% of the records on a website, even if their family > never left the area. > > Janet Tabares > http://janetaba.tripod.com/gen/index.html > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of TJ Shumaker > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 11:37 PM > To: [email protected]; [email protected] > Subject: Re: [PAINDIAN] Don't EVER rely on Treasures of the > PastCemeteryListings > > > Yes - Treasures of the Past has errors - So does the National Archives, > Mormon Records and many others - At the same time, I've found a lot of > useful information and leads which I would have never found otherwise. > > I don't mean to critized this but anyone (ANYONE) who is doing Geneaology > (or taking Genealogy) off of the internet from any source (including Census > records, military records, Mormon Records, personal files, etc) should take > them all with a grain of salt - - AND THEY SHOULD EXPECT ERRORS. Don't > count on the Internet to document your family history - USE IT AS A STARTING > POINT - NOT DOCUMENTATION..... > > I have Civil War Records with different birth and death dates for the same > individual in the same file, which coflict with Bible Records, Death > Records, Tombstones. > > And individuals make mistakes typing - Use the NET as a RESOURCE - not a > SOURCE . . . > > TJ Shumaker > http://www.hitchhikers-guide.com/boring/index.htm > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 10:24 PM > Subject: [PAINDIAN] Don't EVER rely on Treasures of the Past > CemeteryListings > > > >> This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. >> >> Author: geneman1 >> Surnames: >> Classification: queries >> >> Message Board URL: >> >> >> > http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.pennsylvania.counti > es.indiana/6283.1.1/mb.ashx > >> Message Board Post: >> >> I have found as high as 70% mistakes in them. >> Wrong Names, Wrong Dates, Wrong Relationships, Manufactured Information. >> >> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > >