Hi Everyone, I have had an inquiry about a man Luman Latham who was enlisted in the US army in 1819, deserted from his post at Sacketts Harbor NY (on Lake Ontario) in 1820, and spent the rest of his life in Ontario, Canada, marrying there in 1822 an dying there in 1875. There are some Canadian records for him on Ancestry. Two of the documents the client has obtained list his birthplace as Vermont, about 1800-1801. Witnesses with surname Edgely were apparently from Danville, VT. They appear in the 1800 census in Vermont but not thereafter. A Latham appears in the census for that county in 1800. No Latham that could be this man appears in the Vermont Vital Records Index. After talking some with the client I see that almost all of his research has been online at Ancestry and FamilySearch; he cites “27 family trees” that all have the same info. I tried to explain that people copy from others. My instinct tells me that this is a major FAN CLUB case that would require checking client's information, plus going back and forth between Canadian, Vermont, and NY records.( His wife may have been born in Canada, New York, or Vermont.) The client thinks he has "exhausted Canadian records” and is sure the next thing is research in Vermont; but he has basically found what he could find online and has not looked at any other documents. As I say, instinct tells me this case needs someone familiar with Canada, NY, and VT records and that it is a huge case that would be too difficult for my skill level at this point. (I am still pretty new to the field.) Am I not correct that a researcher cannot say they are done with Canada, when the man spent his entire adult life there? Plus, no one has analyzed the records he did find, using genealogical analysis methods. Any input as to whether I ought to take this job, would be appreciated. I am thinking that not being familiar with Canadian or New York records, this is beyond my expertise. Thank you. Family Pictures Genealogy Ann D. Watson ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com<mailto:ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com> www.familypicturesgenealogy.com<http://www.familypicturesgenealogy.com>

Hi Ann, This is an excellent question for many reason but I will focus on your question about whether or not you should take the case. Except in very specific generic situations, I refer out inquires if they require a good part of the research to be in an area where I don't have expertise or access to necessary records. Over the years I've learned which of my collegues to refer out to (and they refer cases to me), but if you don't have anyone in mind for this job you might consider having them go to the APG website. Eventually you'll network enought to know who is expert in particular areas and then be able to refer such cases (or parts of cases) out to collegues. It sounds like you already know this though. There is so much work out there, that I personally just stay focused on what I do best and also enjoy doing. Phyllis -----Original Message----- From: "Ann Watson" <ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com> Sent: Saturday, April 1, 2017 1:17pm To: "transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com" <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Subject: [TGF] Vermont/Canada case: whether I should take it Hi Everyone, I have had an inquiry about a man Luman Latham who was enlisted in the US army in 1819, deserted from his post at Sacketts Harbor NY (on Lake Ontario) in 1820, and spent the rest of his life in Ontario, Canada, marrying there in 1822 an dying there in 1875. There are some Canadian records for him on Ancestry. Two of the documents the client has obtained list his birthplace as Vermont, about 1800-1801. Witnesses with surname Edgely were apparently from Danville, VT. They appear in the 1800 census in Vermont but not thereafter. A Latham appears in the census for that county in 1800. No Latham that could be this man appears in the Vermont Vital Records Index. After talking some with the client I see that almost all of his research has been online at Ancestry and FamilySearch; he cites “27 family trees” that all have the same info. I tried to explain that people copy from others. My instinct tells me that this is a major FAN CLUB case that would require checking client's information, plus going back and forth between Canadian, Vermont, and NY records.( His wife may have been born in Canada, New York, or Vermont.) The client thinks he has "exhausted Canadian records” and is sure the next thing is research in Vermont; but he has basically found what he could find online and has not looked at any other documents. As I say, instinct tells me this case needs someone familiar with Canada, NY, and VT records and that it is a huge case that would be too difficult for my skill level at this point. (I am still pretty new to the field.) Am I not correct that a researcher cannot say they are done with Canada, when the man spent his entire adult life there? Plus, no one has analyzed the records he did find, using genealogical analysis methods. Any input as to whether I ought to take this job, would be appreciated. I am thinking that not being familiar with Canadian or New York records, this is beyond my expertise. Thank you. Family Pictures Genealogy Ann D. Watson ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com<mailto:ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com> www.familypicturesgenealogy.com<http://www.familypicturesgenealogy.com> ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

What is he looking to find out... what's the goal of the research? Yes, with that many family trees, likely wrong and copied to and from each other, you would absolutely start over from the beginning. Your client may not be interested in paying you for the time it would take to do that, but you've already had the feeling it's the right thing to do. As far as it being too difficult for you, that is how we learn... working on things a bit above our level. Do you have resources you can draw on if you do contract with this client and run into trouble? Deanna Korte deanna@dekgenealogy.com > On Apr 1, 2017, at 4:17 PM, Ann Watson <ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com> wrote: > > Hi Everyone, > > I have had an inquiry about a man Luman Latham who was enlisted in the US army in 1819, deserted from his post at Sacketts Harbor NY (on Lake Ontario) in 1820, and spent the rest of his life in Ontario, Canada, marrying there in 1822 an dying there in 1875. There are some Canadian records for him on Ancestry. > > Two of the documents the client has obtained list his birthplace as Vermont, about 1800-1801. Witnesses with surname Edgely were apparently from Danville, VT. They appear in the 1800 census in Vermont but not thereafter. A Latham appears in the census for that county in 1800. No Latham that could be this man appears in the Vermont Vital Records Index. > > After talking some with the client I see that almost all of his research has been online at Ancestry and FamilySearch; he cites “27 family trees” that all have the same info. I tried to explain that people copy from others. > > My instinct tells me that this is a major FAN CLUB case that would require checking client's information, plus going back and forth between Canadian, Vermont, and NY records.( His wife may have been born in Canada, New York, or Vermont.) The client thinks he has "exhausted Canadian records” and is sure the next thing is research in Vermont; but he has basically found what he could find online and has not looked at any other documents. > > As I say, instinct tells me this case needs someone familiar with Canada, NY, and VT records and that it is a huge case that would be too difficult for my skill level at this point. (I am still pretty new to the field.) Am I not correct that a researcher cannot say they are done with Canada, when the man spent his entire adult life there? Plus, no one has analyzed the records he did find, using genealogical analysis methods. > > Any input as to whether I ought to take this job, would be appreciated. I am thinking that not being familiar with Canadian or New York records, this is beyond my expertise. > > Thank you. > > > > > > Family Pictures Genealogy > Ann D. Watson > ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com<mailto:ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com> > www.familypicturesgenealogy.com<http://www.familypicturesgenealogy.com> > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I forgot to say, he is looking for the parents of the man. Family Pictures Genealogy Ann D. Watson ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com<mailto:ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com> www.familypicturesgenealogy.com<http://www.familypicturesgenealogy.com> On Apr 1, 2017, at 4:37 PM, Deanna Korte <deanna.korte@gmail.com<mailto:deanna.korte@gmail.com>> wrote: What is he looking to find out... what's the goal of the research? Yes, with that many family trees, likely wrong and copied to and from each other, you would absolutely start over from the beginning. Your client may not be interested in paying you for the time it would take to do that, but you've already had the feeling it's the right thing to do. As far as it being too difficult for you, that is how we learn... working on things a bit above our level. Do you have resources you can draw on if you do contract with this client and run into trouble? Deanna Korte deanna@dekgenealogy.com<mailto:deanna@dekgenealogy.com> On Apr 1, 2017, at 4:17 PM, Ann Watson <ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com> wrote: Hi Everyone, I have had an inquiry about a man Luman Latham who was enlisted in the US army in 1819, deserted from his post at Sacketts Harbor NY (on Lake Ontario) in 1820, and spent the rest of his life in Ontario, Canada, marrying there in 1822 an dying there in 1875. There are some Canadian records for him on Ancestry. Two of the documents the client has obtained list his birthplace as Vermont, about 1800-1801. Witnesses with surname Edgely were apparently from Danville, VT. They appear in the 1800 census in Vermont but not thereafter. A Latham appears in the census for that county in 1800. No Latham that could be this man appears in the Vermont Vital Records Index. After talking some with the client I see that almost all of his research has been online at Ancestry and FamilySearch; he cites “27 family trees” that all have the same info. I tried to explain that people copy from others. My instinct tells me that this is a major FAN CLUB case that would require checking client's information, plus going back and forth between Canadian, Vermont, and NY records.( His wife may have been born in Canada, New York, or Vermont.) The client thinks he has "exhausted Canadian records” and is sure the next thing is research in Vermont; but he has basically found what he could find online and has not looked at any other documents. As I say, instinct tells me this case needs someone familiar with Canada, NY, and VT records and that it is a huge case that would be too difficult for my skill level at this point. (I am still pretty new to the field.) Am I not correct that a researcher cannot say they are done with Canada, when the man spent his entire adult life there? Plus, no one has analyzed the records he did find, using genealogical analysis methods. Any input as to whether I ought to take this job, would be appreciated. I am thinking that not being familiar with Canadian or New York records, this is beyond my expertise. Thank you. Family Pictures Genealogy Ann D. Watson ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com<mailto:ann@familypicturesgenealogy.com> www.familypicturesgenealogy.com<http://www.familypicturesgenealogy.com> ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message