I do geneology, and maybe I can shed a little light on the subject.

[Michael Weatherhead]

I was astonished, some years ago, while using the resources at an LDS location, to discover that a lady whom I have known all my life was, instead of my aunt, actually my mother. When I pointed out the error I was instructed to bring some credible documentation before it could be changed. Bringing my actual mother down to confirm our relationship was not sufficient. Oh well, I know who has been the recipient of Mother's Day gifts from me and that'll work for me.

On another note, does anyone know of any free online searchable/viewable state databases like the one for Missouri where one can view death certificates? Birth or marriage?

They once had my Aunt Joan (lives in Phoenix AZ), and my sister named Joan (lives in Tallahassee Fla), living at my Dad's address (Prescott Valley, AZ). It wasn't FamilySearch's fault, it was just a record, in their system.. I don't remember what kind of a record it was.

[jebrooks76]

The D.O.B. and D.O.D. are what get me. I had the Boyd line traced back quiet far only to go back from my grandfather and find out I had made a mistake about 6 generations ago. Samuel Boyd (Knockavaddy 1718-1804) was born in 1718 but I had his father dying in 1704. But that is all I can find. So I don't know if its an error or I went into the wrong line. I guess I will have to do some more 7 day free trials and hope to find something..

[tripleblessed]

Not to be discouraged. My family has been doing genealogy for more than 50 years, a couple of books on the family. One hardbound, more than 500 pages. Two major genealogy libraries have grown out of our efforts, we're still sorting and digging. It's a long-term project, one you will hopefully enjoy. Much quicker now than when we started, and more records available. More come online every day. That, however somewhat complicates things, as greater involvement increases the number of folk who don't know how to sort through 12 people in the same generation with the same name, and once it's online, it's there forever, even when wrong. Recheck, recheck, recheck. Dig through wills, newspaper death notices, court records, the Scottish Record Society; you may find your folk on jury or militia lists, as witnesses on other folks wills, or their executors...... I didn't have money to throw at it, so I read a llooottta stuff available free. Found good things, and learned that much of what is taught as history here and across the pond simply isn't what happened according to the folk who were actually there.

If you're looking at the colonial and Revolutionary period, check land grants thoroughly. Sometimes you can find your folk
as rod or chain guys on the surveys, which may connect you to who their neighbors and friends were, and marriages that
grew out of those connections.

Enjoy!

[Red Redwine]

Are there any reputable professional genealogy researchers out there that can help when you hit a roadblock?

[Steve Ashton]

Yes there are professionals that can be hired and consulted.

Perhaps the best known and one of the most highly regarded sources for genealogical help is "The Family History Library". This is the Genealogical arm of the LDS church. It is open to the public and you can contact professional Genealogists through them.


https://familysearch.org/locations/saltlakecity-library

[OC Richard]

Yes I know names can be mis-heard and misspelt but a puzzler to me is the name of the wife of my great-great grandfather Leonidas Hamilton Cook (GAR).

In various censuses (censii?) and other sources she's called Lovenia Webb, Lurena Webb, Lurana Webb, Louvena Webb, I can't remember what all.

Well we at least have a general notion of her name!

[NPG]

One thing that I have encountered both with genealogy and with historical research is in the transcription from older documents. Handwriting can be hard enough to decipher as it is, but throw into the mix older styles of writing along no formal spelling rules and you can get results that are far from the original. The digitizing of documents has been a delight (especially the Old Bailey for me personally), but it can be perilous if not done with proper understanding. My father's own entry on I believe Ancestry.com is a good example. He was born in February, but the hand writing on his birth records make the 2 look like a 7 and so he shows up as born in July on Ancestry.

[tripleblessed]

Some of the mis-hearings are understandable, but some not so much. We have a daughter of one of the Maryland Carrolls
(O'Carrolls of Eile) named Atheliza, which has created all kinds of fun for census and genealogy folk. The name was popular among the families of Counts of Flanders, Holy Roman bigwigs, and Norman knights in the British Isles. It apparently has
several forms, depending on the language of the family.

My ggg-grandfather sold a Revolutionary land grant, and the document, written in one hand (not his), spelled his name three different ways on the same page.

[SeumasA]

My ggg-grandfather sold a Revolutionary land grant, and the document, written in one hand (not his), spelled his name three different ways on the same page.

I've run into that too. I have a fairly common last name--Allen--and I've seen it spelled Allan, Allen, Allin, Allun, Allyn etc., sometimes two or three different ways in the same document.

[tripleblessed]

Yes there are professionals that can be hired and consulted.
Perhaps the best known and one of the most highly regarded sources for genealogical help is "The Family History Library". This is the Genealogical arm of the LDS church.

I have waited hoping someone else would address this issue, but this needs to be said. Yes, to both of the above points, absolutely. Big caveat. Recheck, recheck, doublecheck, get someone else to recheck. In my family, there were three
Capt. William Moseleys in Virginia in the 1660s, one quite prominent. Ours was less so, but locally notable. A distant cousin did well in the construction business, and hired a known professional genealogist to do the work, thinking it would be more trustworthy than a cousin. Getting the results, counter to the paper trail we had in hand, he spent several thousand dollars erecting a monument in my mama's family cemetery, not even his own branch of the family tree. It extolled the virtues and prominence of our ancestor, a prominent textile merchant from Rotterdam. Wrong guy, now
DNA confirmed. Probably a cousin from around 1300, but not our direct branch at all. His branch left the Welsh borders rather than convert to CofE, and Holland was still Catholic. All the Capt. Moseleys in VA eventually run back to the Welsh borders, descendants of mercenaries hired by William to help win England, rewarded with lands in Wales and along the border. So now we have folk writing down the info off the monument as our history, further confusing the issue. Most want to be descended from the most prominent folk (not always a good choice), and I hear, "What do you know? If it
wasn't right they wouldn't have that big monument.".

In my own personal searching, I have had similar experience, most especially with the LDS site. Vast resource, but much
entered on hearsay or misremembered tales from childhood. Start there or somewhere like it, it can be very helpful; but do your own fact checking. More paper trail is now available online, and an investment of time can avoid these confusions.