Genealogical Standards of Evidence. Brenda Dougall Merriman
More recently, Boston-area genealogist Sharon Sergeant and others were instrumental in documenting the literary hoax Misha: A Memoir of the Holocaust Years. Forensic genealogy and the demonstration of genealogical standards more than hold their own in courts of law.
On a different angle, enthusiastic businesses still sell “family histories” marketed to the unsuspecting who want instant gratification. They are sold as The [insert your Surname here] Family History or similar titles, often packaged with a colourful heraldic cover. Besides a summary of the surname origin and locations where it occurs, the most relevant part is perhaps only a random list of telephone directory entries. Dr. Helen Hinchliff of British Columbia once chaired the Ethics Committee of the National Genealogical Society to produce a 120-page report on the dubious activities of mail-order firms.3 Such companies, whose names change regularly, are simply scam operators who prey on a gullible market. They would have us believe that everyone with the same surname is just one big family. More recently, the Internet has opened up the potential for websites of unreliable products. Mass-produced items make no attempt to connect to you, where your family history begins.
Equally unacceptable are heraldic devices purveyed as “family coats of arms.” Again, the ignorant are led to believe that armigerous bearings (which are legal property granted to one person) can be appropriated by anyone of the same surname. Sad to say, even the field of practising professional genealogists has seen the occasional invasion of phony credentials. “Certificates” with postnominal initials have been offered for nothing more than a goodly sum of money.
I won’t dwell longer on a small, shadowy area of genealogy, because it’s not difficult now to verify the quality of credentials or products. It takes more effort to properly examine and understand each source we use ourselves. This is why we need to stay informed, keep up with news, learn to network. The field of genealogy has reached a new assertive era with eminent advocates and educators. Ours is but to emulate!
North America
On this side of the Atlantic, the study of genealogy has shed the old stigma of elitism faster than in European cultures. The old notion of pedigrees “for gain or brag” still exists among some who dismiss genealogy, but has been greatly overwhelmed due to the huge popular interest of the last few generations.
Genealogical study has been active in North America since at least the nineteenth century. Our earliest French, English, Dutch, and Spanish settlers, who left centuries of legacy, differed in their political and religious backgrounds and their motives for emigrating. Many more ethnic and cultural groups have since joined the remarkable heritage mix on this continent. The once historical pattern of British emigration through ports like Quebec, New York, and Philadelphia, and our major North American migration pattern of east to west, lead thousands of genealogists back to these eastern areas, at some point, to search for their emigrant ancestors. From there, we all want to connect to “the old country.” And, more recently, descendents of the aboriginal inhabitants of North America have joined the quest in seeking to establish their lineages.
Hundreds of genealogical publications began appearing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some were well-researched and well-documented, inasmuch as the times and access to sources allowed. Some depended heavily on the oral or written recollections of descendants, well after the described events occurred — accounting for some deficiency in reference citations for the genealogical statements being made. In fact, many of the records we are now able to consult were simply not accessible when many of these books were published. We are very fortunate today that so much work is ongoing to recover lost documentary material, to restore and catalogue it, and to prepare finding aids and indexes.
Consulting publications of founding families and ancient pedigrees should never be understood as proof of anything. The next chapter will discuss trusting the printed or published word.
In the twentieth century, more and more genealogical societies were formed to provide support, information, and fellowship for growing numbers of family historians. Societies began publishing their own periodicals to assist their membership and preserve local information. Workshops and other methods of instruction became necessary. Textbooks began to proliferate. The custodians of the source materials used by genealogists — archivists, librarians, and government officials — have had to recognize and adapt to this surge in public demand. Natural leaders in the field emerged as teachers and authors of educational materials, and advocates for the preservation of and access to historical documents. Journals were publishing updates and corrections to the older “classic” publications.
Another adjunct to the interest in family history and pedigrees was the development of specialized societies. A few examples of lineage societies are: Daughters of the American Revolution, Descendants of Charlemagne, the Mayflower Society, and the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada. Membership is predicated upon your ability to show evidence of direct descent from a certain qualified ancestor. Some societies have been taken to the nth degree, even to the organizing of illegitimate descendants of specific monarchs or black sheep ancestors. An arguably comparable concept is the more flexible approach of “one-name” or surname societies and the eclectic Scottish clan associations.
Methodology
One of the landmarks in the study of genealogy on this continent was the appearance in 1930 of a book called Genealogy as Pastime and Profession by Donald Lines Jacobus, a man considered by his peers and honoured today as “the founder of this modern American school of critical genealogists.”4 At that time there may have been thousands of family histories in print, but there was scarcely one about the techniques and methods of sound genealogical research. It is a fitting tribute to this man’s talent and perception, that almost eighty years later the book is still relevant — and even compelling — reading. As a sidebar, Jacobus’s legacy continues in the prestigious periodical he also founded, now called The American Genealogist.
As interest in family history grew, genealogists began to recognize the parallels between their own work and the legal preparation for court cases. Family detective work — its gathering of evidence and arguing of proof — seemed to suit the precedents of the legal tradition. Established phrases were borrowed from this field, such as the preponderance of evidence principle, to be discussed in the next chapter. Genealogist, attorney, and author Noel Stevenson was an instrumental leader in clearly describing those advances in methodological practice.
In the twenty-first century, the study of genealogy surged beyond this borrowing phase. For some time, respected genealogy journals had been requiring certain scholarly standards in their submissions. In effect, this meant publishing articles with carefully weighed case studies of identity and relationships, with well-cited sources. The Board for Certification of Genealogists published its landmark The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual to give cohesion and clarified form to the principles in consensual usage.
Ultimately, serious genealogical research exhibits a higher degree of demonstrated evidence than traditional academic history or even most legal standards.
Resources and Access
Meanwhile, relevant materials and sources of information were becoming easier to access. Before the availability of the Internet at the end of the twentieth century, researching ancestors in a distant area was a slow process. So often the answers to questions and contact with others were dependent on postal mail.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (popularly called Mormons) created the world-renowned Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, the repository for microfilm copies of millions of genealogical records from around the globe. Access to the FHL and to information and databases on its FamilySearch website is free. The FHL has Family History Centers in many countries where its microfilms can be borrowed. Their online catalogue facilitates preparation for ordering films or a research visit to Utah.
Similarly, government-affiliated repositories play an important role as custodians of source material relevant to genealogy. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington, D.C., and Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa are constantly