Hello Listers, I got permission to forward this information to you. I do not know if John had ccd a copy of this to the list. It appears that he tried to send to the others who I had sent ccs to, with a previous query about the Carts. Just to be sure, I am sending this to you, in case anyone missed it. It has some good information, which helps clear the cobwebs. Joyce in Ca. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/3231 http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/a/r/m/Joyce-C-Armstrongcooper/ http://www.rootsweb.com/~carvgs/rgs.htm Main names I am researching, VINCENT, TAYLOR, BRUNS,LIVESAY,ELLIS,MCCLUNG,JOPLING, COOPER, and many more, too numerous to post.... ----- Original Message ----- From: John Hoff <johnho[email protected]> To: jarmscoop <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, April 08, 1999 9:12 AM Subject: Re: Cart/Vance > Joyce - > > The 1850 census record is undoubtedly your Cart family. The ages are > apparently 'off' on most everyone, but the important fact is that the names > are all correct. It lists the parents' names and the children's names - and > the children are all in correct order. Census records are always incorrect. > Using a census like this is how people come up with a birth year for Conrad > of 1784. Then that information gets published for years before anyone > finds the birth record in PA. Just imagine how the census was taken. > Someone drops by the farm and gets the information from whoever is there - > "Polly" is visiting the neighbors and one of the children gives the census > taker all the details. Or Adam gives the census taker all the details - and > what man could ever remember the ages of all his kids? What's important is > the family structure. And exact ages weren't so important back then. > > As for the marriage information on CD remember that FTM simply takes the > information that people send them on a GEDCOM and publishes it on CD ROM. > Even if the information was extracted from church records it is possible > that the year was miscopied. Just use your common sense. There couldn't > have been two couples with the same names married in Monroe Co. on the same > day and month one year apart. And this is a record which can be easily > checked. The Mormon information on the Ancestral File is subject to the > same problem - it's just information supplied by any genealogist who cares > to send it in. The Ancestral File is notoriously flaky. Even the IGI can > be in error although much of it is based on original records. Genealgy will > teach you > to trust no record absolutely, but to base your decisions on the > preponderance of the information and to weight the value of that > information. Don't trust anything just because it is published. > > I agree with you that the information on the Schmidts and the Heppenheimers > is confusing, but you have to remember that William Cart was living in the > same area as was Adam. They had the same neighbors and friends and probably > attended the same church. (Assuming that the information on Conrad James > Cart's birth is correct and that his father was William Cart. I haven't > seen any church records to confirm this.) > Under those circumstances it isn't unusual to see a name like Heppenheimer > turn up on records for both Adam and William. > > You will have to forgive me for being so dogmatic and "preachy". I get > frustrated trying to separate fact from fiction in so much of what has been > published. > > > > John > [email protected] > > > >