Cross-Referencing Timelines

 As I continue to update and document the sources in the timeline for myself and my immediate family, I'm also taking the time to add the relevant facts and information to my parents and other family members as well.

For instance, timeline facts about my birth and those of my siblings can also be added to my parents timeline to give them additional data points and avenues for research.

Technically, only the mother can be certain to be at the locality of a birth, but assuming the father is in the area as well will give another place to locate additional records for them.

Working through these timelines on my own life and those of my close immediate family members will give me the practice that will be needed when I'm dealing with the more distant ancestors.

Even Weak Evidence Can Teach

Earlier I posted that the only fact cited for my birth in my Rootsmagic database was from a published genealogy of nearly 50 years ago.  While this source wouldn't be one I would hang my hat on as definitive evidence of my birth, the fact is not without use in my research.

Rummel, Merle & Madelaine Olt, comp., "Three Sons of Steffan Petry, 1729-1977", Gateway Press, Baltimore, MD, 1977, p. 401.

Working with this citation in my timeline for the research question of , "The objective of this research project is to identify the parentage of Travis LeMaster, born [redacted] in [redacted], Indiana."  

There are a number of things I can extract from this source, even though it isn't the best.

The source gives an exact date of birth, though it does not list a place.

The source is not an original record, but an authored narrative.  It is unknown who was the source of the information, but my assumption is that my father was likely contacted by the compilers of the genealogy and provided the information about our family group.

Because I cannot determine who the source of the information presented was, this information is neither primary or secondary, but is of an undetermined nature.

Is the evidence direct or indirect?  It is direct because it answers the question of who my parents are.

So I've listed the date of birth fact in my timeline, without a place, and noted on my timeline that the source is Authored, of Undetermined Information, and provides Direct Evidence of answering the research question.

In the comments section of my timeline, I've indicated that the source is a compiled genealogy, my assumption that my purported father was the source of the information, and that I am listed as the oldest child of the family group.

Now I'm on to the next source, citing the information, and building evidence to answer my research question.

 

Documenting Myself

Building out a timeline for myself, I noticed that the fact of my birth only contains one source listed in my RootsMagic database, and it's not something that would hold up to any sort of scrutiny.

Rummel, Merle & Madelaine Olt, comp., "Three Sons of Steffan Petry, 1729-1977", Gateway Press, Baltimore, MD, 1977, p. 401.

While I have primary sources for my birth scattered among my digital genealogy files, apparently I'd never taken the time to actually examine those sources and update documentation in my database.

In today's era of no privacy, where there are enough public records out in cyberspace for someone who wanted to know my birthdate could find it out, I'm sure the young folks today would be surprised to know that there are also bound genealogies in libraries that have some of the same data printed less than 50 years ago.

[Side note: No documentated cases of identity theft have ever been proven to be caused by genealogical research - I'll recommend you read this excellent post from James Tanner.]

For the purpose of this project my research question is stated thusly, "The objective of this research project is to identify the parentage of Travis LeMaster, born [redacted] in [redacted], Indiana."

Because this phase of the research involves living people, I will not post the particulars.