Well, not really. Actually, in this case, this blogpost IS the homework!
I'm taking part in an Inferential Genealogy Study Group over on Second
Life. It's based on an free online course from Dr Thomas W Jones over
at FamilySearch that you can view here. The Second Life group is being
led by none other than DearMyrt who in Second Life is known as
Clarisse Beaumont.
As I understand it so far, Inferential Genealogy is the process where you
piece together different sources of information to arrive at a conclusion
when you don't have a definitive document to help you. (Although I think
I'd search for those other sources anyway even if I do have one.). The
steps to the process are:
1. Establish a Focused Goal: Who was someone's parents, for example.
2.Conduct a Broad Search: Remember to check a wide area and time
period. Check documents for the subjects parents or children, and include
documents that might involve family and friends.
3.Understand the Records: What are their purpose. These include wills, deeds
and court records.
4. Correlate the Evidence: Take all the information you've gathered and put it
together. If there is conflicting points, try to resolve that conflict.
5. Write Your Results: Make sure they are clear, correct,and don't pass on
incorrect information.
So far I haven't done any genealogy research using all these steps. I have yet
to search through wills and deeds other than those I've already found on the
internet. Now that I have more time on my hands I'm planning to remedy
that with visits to the various places that are nearby where my ancestors once
lived. Some of the places thatg are further away, like Western Maine, might
have to wait a bit. If I had to pick a case where I used some of the steps it
would be the one I blogged about in "DIGGING UP ALEXANDER
AUGUSTUS BARKER"
I am really enjoying this course and plan to put it to good use in my research.
But it's hard trying not to "read ahead"!
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