Don't Make Assumptions

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Common advice is to start your tree with yourself, adding your parents and grandparents and then working back (or sideways or down) however you want to proceed. When I started my tree, hints for myself were primarily school yearbooks and a few public records. For my dad, there were draft cards and census records. Both immediately made me understand there are "facts" people probably get wrong when taking details from these records (if they trust the checkboxes presented when saving facts on Ancestry).

I went to a private school, not far from my home. But if you were to save the location of this school as my residence (as Ancestry helpfully suggests), you'd be wrong. The school is listed in one town, when I really lived in an adjoining town. I made a mental note never to accept the helpful checkboxes Ancestry shows when saving a hint, and to mine my details before I save each record. It takes longer, but it makes for a more accurate tree. (For yearbooks, I choose to enter a fact about education so I can record the location of the school).

Likewise, when working with draft cards, I have to ask myself where did the facts from this record really happen? Certainly the residence should be correct, but the other information? Unlike residence, vitals like height, weight, eye color, etc were most likely taken at the spot the draft card was filled out. The employer (if listed) might have a different location from the residence or where the card was filled in. I enter each detail based on the location I believe to be accurate for the specific fact, I don't lump them all into the same place.

Even SSDI records can be a little different. Sure, last benefit and last residence may be shown, but it doesn't mean it's where a person died...it's simply where they probably lived before their death. I've found deaths that occurred at home, yes. But they also happen at hospitals, nursing facilities, and even while away on travel or in an accident.

Obits are a treasure trove of facts. But the obit "happened" at the location it was published, while the facts contained in the obit likely happened elsewhere (possibly many different locations). The same goes for baptism records. It may be the closest you can come to a birth date (especially prior to births being recorded). But if all you have is a baptism, you only know the date the person was baptized, unless it happens to state the date of birth. Baptisms could happen days to years after birth (and in some religions, it happens in adulthood). And the place the baptism happened may or may not be where the family actually lived. A church may have been in a nearby parish or town. 

Public records, voter registrations and censuses are a little better. They're typically recording something happening at a specific place and possibly time. Likewise, marriage records are fairly accurate. But while a marriage license may show where a couple intended to marry, if there's no return of the license, you can't assume the marriage actually took place. Is it likely, sure. Is it guaranteed, no. Even with a returned license, the marriage may not have happened in the same place the license was issued.

The point of this post is to ask yourself "where did this fact happen?" Many times, it absolutely will be the same as the helpful checkboxes, but sometimes it isn't, or you may simply not know. It's incumbent on each of us as researchers to ask the questions and record the facts as best we can. Don't simply take information on a screen at face value when saving hints. Don't make assumptions. You only know what you know.