Ancestory.Com Hints
I use ancestory.com ... it's been useful, but I don't take their "hints" as gospel .. I use those as, just as suggested, hints! I take the information presented and then I go out and prove it to myself by finding other proof.
One such example is my great grandfather John Lang. His death certificate tells me his mother's name was "Sarah Belford". This put a stop to my searching. I couldn't find any records for a Sarah Belford that would fit in with the details I knew about his father Henry, or John himself.
I kept getting hints to other trees that listed her ...
Strangely, when I look at some of the Ancestory.com family trees they have Sarah Belford as John's mother, and the trees just stop there. Some have gone on to find a Sarah Belford that "sort of fits" and then have a whole knew family history from some Sarah Belford attached to the Laing tree.
But I found her .. proved through more than one source that her actual name was Sarah Weatherstone ... Why the different name? I can only guess she'd taken up with another man before her death, though never married him. Perhaps the family just wanted to disassociate themselves with Sarah Weatherstone the convict.
If I can't find any proof of the hints, I accept them .. and I put a ? mark to show that I really just don't know. But I dig and I dig until I get my proof ... and sometimes when I don't??? ...... when I callously prune that branch and let them go!
One such example is my great grandfather John Lang. His death certificate tells me his mother's name was "Sarah Belford". This put a stop to my searching. I couldn't find any records for a Sarah Belford that would fit in with the details I knew about his father Henry, or John himself.
I kept getting hints to other trees that listed her ...
Strangely, when I look at some of the Ancestory.com family trees they have Sarah Belford as John's mother, and the trees just stop there. Some have gone on to find a Sarah Belford that "sort of fits" and then have a whole knew family history from some Sarah Belford attached to the Laing tree.
But I found her .. proved through more than one source that her actual name was Sarah Weatherstone ... Why the different name? I can only guess she'd taken up with another man before her death, though never married him. Perhaps the family just wanted to disassociate themselves with Sarah Weatherstone the convict.
If I can't find any proof of the hints, I accept them .. and I put a ? mark to show that I really just don't know. But I dig and I dig until I get my proof ... and sometimes when I don't??? ...... when I callously prune that branch and let them go!
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