By Juliana Szucs
Published family genealogies, biographies, and local histories have been at the heart of many a debate among family historians. To use or not to use, that is the question.
What Are They?
Published family genealogies and histories are the product of research gathered by the author(s) and compiled into a book. Often, they focus on a particular set of forebears in a family and document lines of descent from them. Others may focus on the ancestry of famous figures, and some will also go back to the furthest documented ancestor and then back down the descendants of that ancestor, including many distant cousins of the subject.
Local histories document the history of a location, typically a county or city/town, but sometimes also regions, states, valleys, etc. Biographical details on prominent residents and early settlers were often included. In the US, many of these publications were created around the time of the centennial as part of the celebrations. Notable connections to Revolutionary War heroes may feature prominently, while some relatives may have been omitted for various reasons.
By extension, you could qualify online trees as published trees as well, but that’s a story for another day. We’re talking about books or pamphlets that you may find in a library or local society, or more commonly now, online on genealogy websites, as well as Google Books, Internet Archive, HathiTrust, etc.
But the veracity of these secondary sources can be questionable. County and local histories are often referred to as “brag books,” because they were a chance for descendants to boast of their famous connections. This must be noted because sometimes, facts were blurred to make a connection “fit.” And let’s face it, sometimes the facts were just tossed out the window to secure a link to greatness or access to a lineage society.
Historical events are also often presented with the partisan view of the author(s). Some unsavory parts of history were whitewashed when mentioned, and sometimes left out of the books completely. Black communities were largely ignored as were outrages against them and Native Americans, who were often portrayed in offensive terms.
But to use or not to use? In Thomas Jones’s article “Perils of Source Snobbery,” he reminds us that, “…effective family historians consult and assess all sources, regardless of type, that might help answer their research questions. They exclude no potentially useful source, and they trust no unverified source.”1
Avoiding Perils and Pitfalls
The key to using these records is to remember that they are secondary sources. They were created after the fact, and as such, can be more prone to inaccuracy, than primary sources, which were created at or near the time of the event being documented by those with first-hand knowledge. And we have the added problem of people who may have fudged a bit to have their family included in a prestigious tome.
That said, they may contain details not readily found elsewhere, that can (and should) lead to
further research. I ran across an entry for a wandering ancestor of a family member who had made his way from his birthplace in Connecticut in the early 1800s to Fountain County, Indiana, by 1827, just 11 years after Indiana statehood, and one year after the county’s formation.
His entry in a genealogy book, gives an ancestry going back a number of generations, but more importantly noted his leaving with the rest of the family shortly after his purported father’s death. While much of the family settled in Ohio, he went on and his entry in the family history talks about his living in Indiana and moving on to Kansas, where he died. This all matches with what I know of him and it is my first lead to him in Connecticut—and to look to see if I can find a record of him and his family in Ohio.
Do I trust all the information? No. There are some red flags when it comes to him. His birthplace is reportedly across the state from where the family has deep roots. His father would have been in his forties when he was born. Not unusual, but also a little ping at me to be careful.
But will I take a look. Absolutely. His purported father was a real person (in this case). He left records that can be consulted to see if there is a link. The records of him, others left behind Connecticut, and the family who went on to Ohio can be consulted, and here I can hopefully get the evidence I need to prove that relationship.
There are two possible outcomes. A) The book turns out be correct and I have made that leap from Indiana eastward. Or B) The book is wrong and I’m back to square one. And if I’ve ruled that possible candidate out in my search, I know enough about him that I can keep that information in mind as I continue my research so that I don’t confuse the two again.
Tips for Using Published Sources
- Always consult them, but treat them as clues, not certainties. Corroborate every single fact, just as you would with any source. After all, any record is subject to error.
- Know your source. I found this particular record in Ancestry's collection of North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000.2 Within this collection, there are nearly 1,000 individual publications, which are sources within the source. Find the source within the collection that is associated with the record, which in this case was The Life of George Dewey, Rear Admiral, USN, and Dewey family history. From the page where an Ancestry Hint™ landed me, I used the image numbers to browse to the front of the book, where I found the title page on image 3, which gives me important information like the author and publication date. Treating this online collection like a book now allows me to browse any table of contents, front and introductory matter, indexes, bibliographies, and any other goodies it has to offer. This information also needs to be included in citations that reference this source.
- Don’t limit your browsing to only details about the family you’re researching. Histories and genealogies can reveal migration patterns and the origins of others in a person of interest’s community. And knowing the surnames of their counterparts in the places they came from, can show up in relationships in the new location, so knowledge of the community is invaluable. It’s the FAN Club (friends, associates, neighbors). Live it, love it, learn all about them.
