There are many sources of "OTHER PEOPLE'S RESEARCH" available today. When I was a new researcher, I discovered that there was a printed genealogy of my mother's DANFORTH family, written in
1902 by John Mays. I was thrilled to stumble upon this. Initially, I copied down his research into my tree, taking everything he had written as gospel. My father descends from Moses FISK(E) and there is
an excellently regarded family history of the FISK / FISKE family written by Frederick Clifton Pierce, in 1896. (You will find that MANY genealogical books were written around the turn of the 20th century... Perhaps
people had a fear of the Millenium even then and had to publish before everything ended) There are other sources of "OTHER PEOPLE'S RESEARCH" available today that are easier to access and find, such as Family Tree Maker's
World Family Tree, Ancestry, and My Heritage. As data is data and therefore not really able to be copywrited in the same way as a fiction novel, many people simply copy what they find in other people's tree's and call it good, but
there are different skills required for genealogical research than other things... it is not just a made up story, it is, or should be, based on facts, or history, and therefore verifiable. Nobody can copywrite the FACT that
Moses FISK was the son of Peter FISK and Sarah PERRY, born in Grafton, Massachusetts, or the fact that he is the father of Celina FISK, for whom the city of Celina, Tennessee is named. Those are facts and they belong to history.
Given that various different researchers may have different skills or use differing sources, it is important to document your research in case of future conflicts. If you rely solely on "OTHER PEOPLE'S RESEARCH," I can pretty much
guarantee that there will eventually be conflicts! As highly regarded as Pierce's work on the Fisk / Fiske family was, it has some errors and conflicts. For my ancestor, Moses Fisk, for instance, the book says simply that he went to Pelham...
No state name was mentioned, he just "went to Pelham." In a simple search for Pelham, one would discover that there is a Pelham in New York, Alabama, New Hampshire, Georgia and Massachusetts. In fact, Moses FISK went to Tennessee. To my knowledge, there
is NO Pelham in Tennessee, where Moses FISK was responsible for surveying the state lines, AND founded the community of Hilham. He lived a very full life and many books have been written about him (as well as a few written BY him).
Further research, after accumulating a few years of experience, led me to CORRECTIONS in the FISKE ancestral line, published in the NEHGS Register, v. 86, 87, 88, and 92, entitled Genealogical Research in England: The Fiske Family, by G. Andrews Moriarty.
This coverage of the family provided fully documented proof of its conclusions by printing transcribed copies of various wills of the earlier FISKE ancestors, confirming relationships previously presumed and correcting others.
I "collect cousins" - Some people think that I do this to make my own family tree appear bigger, having SO MANY NAMES in my family file, but that is NOT the reason. Some of my family lines are Southern
and there is an old derogatory stereotype that southerners only marry their cousins (generally UNTRUE, as most stereotypes are). You may find this true in some royal ancestral lines, since the nobility were not
supposed to marry people who were not also nobility, which left a very limited pool of candidates to select from. It is not an accurate portrayal of people from any one specific region. It did, however, occur in
many instances of newer immigrant groups coming to America from foreign lands. This occurred more commonly before this country was established and various different colonies were established by different ethnic
groups. Huguenots married other Huguenots, Swedes married Swedes, etc. - mainly due to such a diverse difference in their customs, traditions, and languages. I have collected cousins over the years because my instincts
told me that I may see those names again some day. As it turns out, I often do.
I have a long established line of WARD descending from William WARD (1603-1687) and have researched this line for years, as my third great
grandmother, Julia Fairbanks WARD (180-1903) married Charles B. DANFORTH (1815-1901). Julia descends from his son Obadiah WARD (1632-1718) but as it turns out, I am also descended from his daughter Elizabeth WARD (1643-1710),
who married John HOWE in 1662, (This couple are ancestors of the previously mentioned Moses Fisk... my FATHER's ancestral line) As a result of this information, I determined that my parents were actually 17th cousins.
Further research into the WARD, HOWE, RAWSON and WILSON lines shows further inter-connectivity, as these families REALLY liked one another!
Carl Christopher SPRINGER Sr. (1592-1699) is my 9th Great Grandfather twice through descent into the PETERMAN family twice. Sarah SPRINGER (1762-1800) married George Washington PETERMAN (1740-1837) and Sarah's parents were also cousins,
both descended from Carl Christopher SPRINGER Sr. These are my father's ancestors. However, the Springer family is another cousin connection between my parents. I also descend from Elizabeth SPRINGER (1735-1798) who married Adonijah PEACOCK
(1724-1777), she being a great granddaughter of Carl Christopher SPRINGER Sr. through his son Jacob and his son Benjamin. Elizabeth and Adonijah's great granddaughter Catherine PEACOCK (1814-1868) married Ira DAVISSON (1812-1865) and they
were my 4th great grandparents on my maternal side. Catherine Peacock, my 4th great grandmother on the maternal side, is ultimately the 3rd cousin Twice removed from Sarah Springer, my 5th great grandmother on my paternal side and Carl Christopher
Springer Sr, my 9th Great Grandfather twice, is also my 10th Great Grandfather on another line... Therefore I collect cousins because I may (and often do) see them again in future research endeavors.
I Am My Own Grandpa
by Moe Jaffe and Dwight Latham
Many, many years ago
when I was twenty-three,
I got married to a widow
who was as pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter
who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her,
and soon the two were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law
and change my very life.
My daughter was my mother,
for she was my father's wife.
To complicate the matters worse,
although it brought me joy,
I soon became the father
of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby then became
a brother-in-law to dad.
And so became by uncle,
though it made me very sad.
For if he was my uncle,
then that also made him brother
To the widow's grown up daughter who,
of course, was my step-mother
Father's wife then had a son,
who kept them on the run.
And he became my grandson,
for he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother
and it makes me blue,
Because, although she is my wife,
she's my grandma too.
If my wife is my grandmother,
then I am her grandchild
And every time I think of it,
it simply drives me wild.
For now I have become
the strangest case you ever saw,
As the husband of my grandmother,
I am my own grandpa!
I highly recommend using middle names as clues. Historically, there are many naming traditions, often based on your particular heritage. Italian naming traditions, for instance, include naming a first born son after the father's father, second born
son after the mother's father, etc. I am not familiar with ALL of the various heriditary naming traditions, but not all names follow a path of tradition. Some people named their children in honor of some significant historical figure... there are many
sons named George Washington whatever surname... George Washington Carver, for instance, was not related to President George Washington. The name was given in honor of our first president. I have ancestors George Washington PETERMAN, Benjamin Franklin HEMBREE,
and Walter Raleigh DANFORTH, but that does not imply any sort of relationship to the famous people that were their namesakes. I have an ancestor, Rev. Randolph HALL, and according to the History of Garrard County Kentucky and its Churches, by Forrest Calico, "Hall
performed hundreds of marriages in this region and dozens were given as a Christian name Randolph or Hall."
I have found in research that often the middle name of a child is repeated in various different children within the family and further research shows that it was a previous surname to an ancestor. My maternal grandmother was Jenny Hollis McARDLE. It turns out that her maternal grandmother was Mariah Jane HOLLIS (1846-1885)
before she married and became a PIERCE. Her husband was Lyman Van Raensler PIERCE ((1844-1909) - I still find myself wondering about his middle name as the PIERCE line eludes me. James Crittenden WEBB (1738-1805) was the son of William Warren WEBB (1700-1783) and
Elizabeth CRITTENDEN (1702-1768) Wellington Blaine PIERCE (1816-1851) married Massie Ann Greathouse HALL (1824-1846), but even with two middle names the GREATHOUSE portion was to be expected. Many descendants from that family, regardless of their current surname, chose
GREATHOUSE for a middle name in order to honor their ancestry. Massie Ann HALL's mother was Mary Bukey GREATHOUSE (1799-1844), whose mother just happened to be Marcia (Mercy) BUKEY (1768-1841) While this sort of naming tradition may be a regional concept, these lines ran
from Wheeling, WV, to Spencer Co., IN and Daviess Co., KY, and it was a commonplace practice amongst them, providing clues as well as further substantiation of the ancestry of the individuals, and I was grateful for the practice.
Don't allow certain information from living individuals to discourage your research or make you question your findings. When I discovered John Joseph ("Jo") COPELAND (1616-1682) and his condition of near-martyr to the Quaker religion, my father insisted that
I must have the WRONG FAMILY because his family was BAPTIST and ALWAYS had been - there were no Quakers amonst them! However, the first Baptist Church in America was founded in 1638 in Providence, RI by Roger Williams and therefore during the lifetime of our
Quaker martyr. Jo Copeland was banished and exiled from Massachusetts after being caught preaching and promoting the Quaker faith by the Puritan establishment there. When he returned in 1658, continuing to preach his faith, they chopped off his ear before he was
again banished. Not only that, but I recently learned another clue, disproving my father's assertion that his family was Baptist and ALWAYS had been. His mother, my paternal grandmother Savannah Mae JOHNSON MASTERS, and most of her known family, are buried at Campground
Cemetery in Overton County, Tennessee. Many of these old community cemeteries are attached to an old community church, as is Campground, but I stumbled upon an obituary for Savannah's brother Woodrow JOHNSON, also buried at Campground and it stated that he would be buried at
Campground Presbyterian Church Cemetery... uhm... PRESBYTERIAN? Not Baptist?? But Dad said they were Baptist forever! I guess he was wrong! Since the Presbyterian Church has its roots in Scotland, I should have expected it, since I do too!
I have always found it interesting to find notorious ancestors in my family tree, the good, the bad and the ugly. Not only do I have a well documented illigitimate royal line of ancestors through my VEITCH / MASTERS family line (See TAG, v.53:3), but I also
am cousins to Jessie WOODSON JAMES (Once again, the middle name is an ancestral clue... He is my 4th cousin, 5 times removed). The noteriety of these ancestors makes a family tree much more interesting and adds color, history and depth to it. Everybody seems
to desire being related to somebody famous, but skeletons in your closet can be equally interesting.
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Let me know what you think about this site, E-mail Brenda Bova.