The Soap Box
This site is a presentation of a work-in-progress. It contains both facts and suppositions about some ancestral lines. Some names have a wealth of supporting documentation. Some names have nothing. These are included in my database to RESEARCH. We can't do research without collecting data that in the end may prove useless or incorrect. It's included in my database for my easy reference. I am not a professional genealogist presenting a factual well-documented final product. I am an amateur with a love of history and research, in the midst of an ongoing project. There are lines that are not proven....here for research. If you find errors, please let me know. You may help me from going down an incorrect path and I would be very grateful. But, under no circumstances, consider this an authoritative factual work. Use it as a guide in your own research only.
I have read many conflicting opinions about posting to the web. The opponents positions include (among others): inaccurate data is being perpetuated; work is being given away for free - anyone can copy it; and sources are not included so the data can't be trusted and so on.
I consider all genealogy posted to the web as work-in-progress, posted at a given time and not yet completed. I have never seen a website with words to the effect of: This site is a final product with conclusive primary sources on all data. No! You never see that. Most often you see "This is a work-in-progress". It should always be presumed that this is the case whether it is stated or not. Genealogy, as anyone working on it should know, is a never ending research project. There is never a "final product". Some pieces of the research are proved through primary sources, some pieces seem to fit but need more work. You need to collect the tidbits of information to refer to in your search. Those bits of information are not ever stated as fact. There seems to be some belief that if it's posted to the web, it's being presented as fact and we can't post "potential lines" because if posted, it's a fact. Hogwash. It's an in-progress work and subject to be changed as more research helps us reach different conclusions.
Second inaccurate data is being perpetuated. Yes, there is inaccurate data posted and it is copied. There is inaccurate data in every tool we use for research. Good grief - Look at census records. They are used constantly as sources. But, we all know they contain many errors. In one of my lines, there is a published book by a noted professional genealogist. Long accepted as fact. Yet, some 25 years later, this same genealogist found evidence which contradicted her original findings. Should she be accused of publishing inaccurate data, which is posted all over the web? I don't think so. She published the results of her research at a given time. That is all any of us are doing. When we find new evidence, we change it. The whole history of the world is populated with "facts" that were changed as new information was acquired. Remember it was once believed the world was flat.
Anything published anywhere can be copied. Publishing to the web didn't change this. Of course it can be copied. If you publish, expect it to be copied. You can't stop it. Accept it. Did they give you credit if it was copied? Maybe. Was it because they wanted to take credit for all your hard work? Get real. Has anyone ever worked on genealogy in a vacuum, without the assistance of many many others? The poster had to do some hard work to find your work, even if it was posted on the web or you sent it to them. Where did you get your information? From the work of others. Countless people wrote genealogy books, compiled marriage books, microfilmed records and so on. Do you give credit to the census taker? Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we shouldn't give credit for the work of others. But, I disagree that it is ever done out of malicious intent to "steal' work. I've rarely talked to any researcher that didn't admit that when they stared doing genealogy research, they were so excited to find information, they didn't think to write down where they got it from. Eventually, we learn to source our information. Be kind enough to let them learn. If they don't , don't lose sleep over it. Imitation is a sincere form of flattery! Be proud someone felt your work was worth copying. I can tell you that my work doesn't have the source for every piece of information. As I go on, I work constantly on backtracking and finding out where I got some of that early information. The answer to me is simple, if you don't want it copied, put it in a dark locked closet and never share it with anyone. My single most favorite resource I have is
"History of Maury County , Tennessee" by Frank H. Smith, 1969. Why? Because he purposely did not copyright his material so it could be freely shared and distributed. I also subscribe to this philosophy:
To give without any reward, or any notice,
has a special quality of its own.---
Anne Morrow Lindberg
Although I try carefully to give credit for information I find, I am not personally in need of credit. This work is a source of immense interest and satisfaction for me. It is exciting to share information and a source of delight when it helps someone on their discovery path. It is gratifying when someone points out I'm going down the wrong path. That joy is worth far more to me than having my name plastered about as having done the research. So, copy, copy, copy - with the caveat that this is only an in-progress research project. I also enjoy doing the graphics. Take them, and please, don't put a link back to me saying you got it here. If you enjoy them, use them, period end.
Last, why post to the web? It's easier to share with my family. It puts out front my incorrect lineages with the hope that someone will help either prove or disprove them. It may help someone with their own research roadblocks and more important, they don't have to follow my steps and get the same documents I already have, and hopefully we can work together to continue forward on the research.
