Some misinformation may be a slip of the tongue given in times of extreme grief or even happy confusion\u2014such as the grandmother\u2019s maiden name instead of the mother\u2019s maiden name on a death certificate or the place of residence for the birth place on a census or marriage application.<\/p>\n
Facts that become common knowledge or \u201clocal truth\u201d to residents in small localities are often taken for granted and thus not passed on to succeeding generations.<\/p>\n
Truth can be a relative term, highly subjective in context, yet truth nonetheless. In a perceptive article, \u201cFolklore and the Historian,\u201d(Louisiana History<\/em><\/strong> 26 (Spring 1985): 141-54). Carl Lindahl discusses the issue of truth in folklore terms. What often appears to be misinformation, ignorance, or deceit is often truth as a particular culture knows it. And concealed within that truth are clues that can open your research to further study.<\/p>\n For example, Lindahl quotes Dennis McGee (interview 8 July 1981) as saying: \u201cMcGee, that\u2019s a French name. I don\u2019t know anyone named McGee who doesn\u2019t speak French.\u201d McGee is telling the truth as he knows it. His distant Scottish ancestry slips into the background in Louisiana culture and his own birth supplies truth he shares\u2014everyone named McGee in his community is French: they speak French, they live according to Cajun customs. Lindahl concludes that even suspect folk information holds germs of real truth.<\/p>\n What appears to us as inaccurate data is actually truth connected to the family. It becomes a part of the family store of knowledge. If you accept it as such and corroborate all you find with sources generated from a variety of perspectives, you will come closer to actual truth as you compile your lineage. This is perhaps the best argument for documenting thoroughly the information you discover. For documented data can be mixed, matched, or discarded as reality emerges.<\/p>\n Stay tuned as other aspects of evidence are presented for your comparison with what you encounter as you research your family, your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle http:\/\/arleneeakle.com <\/a><\/p>\n PS Tune in next time for evidence in equity and Chancery Cases–you will be surprised at the variety of places wills are recorded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some misinformation may be a slip of the tongue given in times of extreme grief or even happy confusion\u2014such as the grandmother\u2019s maiden name instead of the mother\u2019s maiden name on a death certificate or the place of residence for … Continue reading