Get Expert Advice on How to Make Sure
Those Pedigrees are Perfect?
Jean Wilcox Hibben PhD, MA, CGSm - Well Known Genealogical Speaker. See her Bio and her website link below. October 21, 2015 By Glen N. Greener
If you’re feeling pretty good about your genealogy charts and confident that your family history is shipshape, you might want to pay attention to what Jean Wilcox Hibben, CG, has to say about dealing with the details. The former professor with a PhD in folklore can shake your confidence and provides advice on how to make sure those pedigrees are perfect. One of her courses is titled, The Devil is in the Details.
Dr. Hibben wants to help family historians become family history detectives. She is easy to find on social media. She appears on YouTube and Twitter and has . . .
If you’re feeling pretty good about your genealogy charts and confident that your family history is shipshape, you might want to pay attention to what Jean Wilcox Hibben, CG, has to say about dealing with the details. The former professor with a PhD in folklore can shake your confidence and provides advice on how to make sure those pedigrees are perfect. One of her courses is titled, The Devil is in the Details.
Dr. Hibben wants to help family historians become family history detectives. She is easy to find on social media. She appears on YouTube and Twitter and has . . .
circlemlending.org The website of Jean Wilcox Hibben -Board-Certified Genealogist, family historian, national speaker, folklorist, and troubadour her own blog, Circlemending: Completing the Family Circle.
When you research in indexes, transcriptions, abstracts, data bases, census records, abbreviations, foreign languages, photographs, headstone data, or even family names, Dr. Hibben advises caution.
According to her, “It is easy to accept the information on any of these types of documents, believing it to be thorough, accurate, and containing all the necessary data."
Do not be fooled. Wherever possible, obtain the original (or copy of same) record. Even when cost is involved, it can save you much in the long run. Even original documents (e.g., death certificates) can be laden with errors . . . always take the time to research the information, even if you believe the source to be credible.
With census records, Dr. Hibbing’s advice is to check information on one census record against other census schedules for the family from other years. We should not accept an age, occupation, name (or spelling of name), birth location, or any other data from a single census as being completely accurate.
A family name might be a short cut to the wrong trail when mistaking one person for another with the same name. For example, cousins in the same town often carry the same names. Even uncommon names are duplicated, and common names appear over and over. Hibben suggests double checking with descriptors to differentiate among these people including: occupations, wife’s names, or village of birth.
When you are working with foreign languages, you might consider joining an organization involved with research in that country. Dictionaries, on-line translators, and the FamilySearch translation guides can help with basic information in documents. Make sure to consider the nuances of different languages that can drastically change meanings.
Dr. Hibben advises that even headstones can throw our research off. They could be erroneously engraved. Headstone information that someone else has extracted from a tombstone might be incomplete if they didn’t clear away the dirt and grass to make sure they have all of the information from the stone.
Jean Hibben has five suggestions for avoiding research purgatory because of the devils in the details:
When you research in indexes, transcriptions, abstracts, data bases, census records, abbreviations, foreign languages, photographs, headstone data, or even family names, Dr. Hibben advises caution.
According to her, “It is easy to accept the information on any of these types of documents, believing it to be thorough, accurate, and containing all the necessary data."
Do not be fooled. Wherever possible, obtain the original (or copy of same) record. Even when cost is involved, it can save you much in the long run. Even original documents (e.g., death certificates) can be laden with errors . . . always take the time to research the information, even if you believe the source to be credible.
With census records, Dr. Hibbing’s advice is to check information on one census record against other census schedules for the family from other years. We should not accept an age, occupation, name (or spelling of name), birth location, or any other data from a single census as being completely accurate.
A family name might be a short cut to the wrong trail when mistaking one person for another with the same name. For example, cousins in the same town often carry the same names. Even uncommon names are duplicated, and common names appear over and over. Hibben suggests double checking with descriptors to differentiate among these people including: occupations, wife’s names, or village of birth.
When you are working with foreign languages, you might consider joining an organization involved with research in that country. Dictionaries, on-line translators, and the FamilySearch translation guides can help with basic information in documents. Make sure to consider the nuances of different languages that can drastically change meanings.
Dr. Hibben advises that even headstones can throw our research off. They could be erroneously engraved. Headstone information that someone else has extracted from a tombstone might be incomplete if they didn’t clear away the dirt and grass to make sure they have all of the information from the stone.
Jean Hibben has five suggestions for avoiding research purgatory because of the devils in the details:
- Spelling doesn’t count, The spelling of a name is subject to interpretation.
- Get input from someone who is not part of the family. They might be more objective.
- If someone questions your research, even if you are sure of it, go ahead and investigate to find why there is doubt. You may have missed something or possibly help the other person repair their errors.
- Just because information was provided by a family member or a professional does not mean its accuracy is guaranteed. Always double check the reasoning behind any declaration of relationship.
- Finally, watch those abbreviations! For example UNK is not a surname. It’s an abbreviation for” unknown”, not United Kingdom Likewise, not many parents would give their child the first name of Gnu. When you come across it, it usually means “given name unknown.”
Meet Jean Wilcox Hibben;
PhD, MA, CG, former So. Cal. college speech professor (MA – Speech Communication; PhD – Folklore) is a national speaker and genealogy writer. She is the former director and current staff trainer for the
Corona, CA Family History Center, was lead researcher for Genealogy Roadshow in 2013 and worked on Travel Channel’s Follow Your Past in 2014-15 (to be aired in 2016).
With over 35 years of research experience, she is serving or has recently served on the following Boards of Directors: APG, the So. Cal. Chapter of APG (current VP), the Genealogical Speakers Guild (current VP), the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, the Calif. Genealogical Alliance, and the Corona Genealogical Society (current 1st VP).
Her website is: http://www.circlemending.org.
PhD, MA, CG, former So. Cal. college speech professor (MA – Speech Communication; PhD – Folklore) is a national speaker and genealogy writer. She is the former director and current staff trainer for the
Corona, CA Family History Center, was lead researcher for Genealogy Roadshow in 2013 and worked on Travel Channel’s Follow Your Past in 2014-15 (to be aired in 2016).
With over 35 years of research experience, she is serving or has recently served on the following Boards of Directors: APG, the So. Cal. Chapter of APG (current VP), the Genealogical Speakers Guild (current VP), the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, the Calif. Genealogical Alliance, and the Corona Genealogical Society (current 1st VP).
Her website is: http://www.circlemending.org.
