Genealogy is a process as well as a result…

> Miller, LaDeane W. Select Families of New Mexico. 1999. 20 volumes. Presented in Register format, with every-name indexes at the end of each family section. Most families are traced back to their origins in Mexico City or other provinces of Mexico. Documents are interspersed throughout the genealogies.

This particular set is available on CD and in book at Family HistoryLibrary. I have seen the set and it is quite sizable.

However I had been in contact with researchers in Mexico concerning some entries in this set – they said they are to be taken with grain of salt because LaDeane Miller has not provided the sources for them, particularly Ortiz connection to Christopher Columbus. David Samuelson

Many thanks to David Samuelson for sharing these evaluative comments. Each and every genealogy source, documented or not, needs careful scrutiny and comparison with other sources for fit. Family histories provide one of the most consulted, and perhaps one of the most under-evaluated records in our genealogy evidence arsenal.

St. Louis Public Library, History and Genealogy Department–Third Stop on our Eastern Trip, 2007–holds family histories and among the ones we checked: Heraldry sources not found in other research facilities where we have direct access. Among the ones we checked:

Johnston, G. Harvey. The Heraldry of the Campbells, with Notes on all Males of the Family, Descriptions of the Arms, Plates, and Pedigrees. 1977. Inverary, Argyll: Beinn Bhuide Holdings, Ltd. This is a authorized reprint of the 1920 edition, signed by Argyll himself. The Campbell family is one of the largest in the world. And Argyll shared his “ever strengthening belief in the importance of attempting to re-establish links that once existed with families in Scotland.”

Morrell, Francis V. Ancestry of Daniel Morrell of Hartford. 1916. This volume includes the descent of Thomas Morrell, Newtown LI, who resides there 1 Mar 1666. The author quotes record after record to show that Morrell does not appear in the records until 1666 despite claims by previous writers.

Copying data from these two histories does not constitute uncritical acceptance of their contents. Neither does citing the volumes in a bibliography, nor recommending them to you. I expect that if you choose to check them out, or to use the data they present, that you will subject that data to careful genealogical scrutiny. Raise questions, compare the data with similar facts in other sources, and clearly indicate your own conclusions separate and distinct from those presented by the author.

Genealogy is a process as well as a result. Don’t short circuit the process just to get to the result. Your favorite genealogist–on the road, Arlene Eakle

PS Go to arleneeakle.com and click on photos, then sub-menu 2007 October Trip. Kathryn took a photo in the St. Louis Public Library before she knew it was forbidden. Tomorrow we research at the new Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne IN. And we are very excited to be here. Stay tuned.

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