The word is an author’s or editor’s mark (usually printed in italics and correctly used when enclosed in brackets [sic] and not in parenthesis (sic), even though it is often used that way incorrectly). It points out that the previous word (despite its obvious absurdity, vulgarity,  inappropriateness, anomaly, imprecise meaning or inaccuracy) is spelled exactly how it was intended, is what was originally said, is written in context or explains the status of the errata (in this case, that whatever was said or written was used in context); it is not a misprint or misquote. The word sic is used immediately after the error, even when it falls in the middle of a sentence. This designates the mistake or the word’s odd usage in the source text is the source’s error or usage and not the writer’s.

When found in a French document, sic is an acronym that stands for “Sans Intention Comique” (without comic intention) meaning that even if the preceding text could be construed as funny, it was not meant to be. Yet, there may be found in it some irony.

When seen in a Scottish document, sic generally refers to something being “said in context.”

Sic is still used in court dockets and other legal records when a plaintiff, defendant or a wittness has been transcribed or quoted erroneously and the clerk recognizes the wrong spelling, a word is slang or misspoken. It is also used in other types of written manuscripts like books containing reprinted texts, which have spelling errors or words that seem odd or inaccurate.

It’s most common everyday usage is probably found in current newspapers when a journalist or writer quotes someone directly and he or the editor of the publication recognizes that the person being quoted or the author, himself, has made a spelling error.

Since it is an adverb, it becomes unnecessary to include a period inside the brackets after the word sic is used.

Even though we mention many of them in this article, there are distinctions within the usage of the word sic; it can signify several different things.

So, let’s look at a few examples:

Incorrect usage of a word – “If a woman did anything strange or questionable among the early American Pilgrims, sometimes they’d just hang them.” [sic] — Instead of using the word “them”, it should have said “they’d just hang her.”

Incorrect spelling –  “We came down yesterday to here [sic] what the mayor had to say about the sheep herders up on our mountain lands.” The spelling of “here” is incorrect. Instead, “hear” is the correct spelling.

Odd or inaccurate use of a word or phrase – “Having heard nothing to sway our minds, we go again [sic] home.” Normally, we don’t say, “… we go again home.” Depending on which tense being used, we might say, “… we (we’ll) go home again.” or, “… we went home again.”

Ironic, Sans Intention Comique or without comic intention – While chatting on the Internet, someone using geek-speak said, “I M [sic] tired of literary shortcuts!”  The irony lies in the fact that he just used a geek-speak shortcut; I M means ‘I am’. Therein also lies the comedic intention, in my opinion. I have never perceived at geek-speak as being literary.

Manumission [man-yuh-mish-uhn]
1 n. Liberation from slavery, bondage, or restraint; a setting free; emancipation. [To complete the usual legal ceremony of manumission in ancient Rome, the master turned the slave around and released him from his hand before a magistrate.]Emancipate
2 n. The act of manumitting, or of liberating a slave from bondage.
3 n. The formal act of freeing someone from slavery

Manumission Documents were a legally binding instrument of manumission — the freeing a slave from slavery. Some states, Kentucky for instance, required two white people other than the owner to be signatories for the act of manumission to be considered legal. Otherwise, any former slave who had been manumitted could be seized and re-sold into slavery.

Most often, manumission documents were recorded by the Town Clerk in the town where the slave was freed, but they were not always recorded in the most conspicuous of places. In some towns, they were recorded in the Highway Books, while other records of this type were likely to be in the Recorder’s Office in the “Miscellaneous Records” or the County Deed Books. (When searching for these records, it is a good practice to look for any and all transactions made by the slaveowner.) Sometimes the transaction might be a Bill of Sale or Transfer of Property, followed later by a Deed of Emancipation. Books of Court Orders held the free register entries; Free Blacks in most states were required to register their proof of their freed status. Court Order Books also recorded when an FPOC (freed person of color) registered their proof, the circumstances under which they established their freedom (birth/emacipation), and when the person last registered.

Manumission papers were (in a way) a type of “identification card” given to a slave at the time he/she was freed. The paper was signed by the former owner of the slave to certify that the person bearing the paper was indeed a freed man or woman; and in some states, as mentioned above, other signatures may have been required.

Since African-Americans could not testify in court, their Manumission Papers spoke for them. Escapees who tried to pass as an FPOC needed more than a fake pass, which made the trafficing of forged manumission documents prior to and near the beginning of the antebellum period a lucrative business. Proof that the trade in forged documents sometimes appeared in newspaper advertisements where an owner was searching out an escaped slave:

“… He is likey to have forged papers that will have freed him in January 1816…”

Later into the antebellum period, however, manumission papers became more standardized as printed forms that required a fairly detailed personal information about the bearer. They were often a typeset paper with either lines or empty spaces where the owner could write in information pertaining to the freed person. This standardization made it much more apparent as to who may or may not be free.
In some cases, however, manumission was not permitted:

“I made personal application to the court, but it was judged that I had done nothing ‘meritorious;’ and thus I remained the slave of Mr. Smith for one year, when, feeling unsafe in that relation, I accompanied him to New York, whither he was going to purchase goods, and there I was legally and in due form made a FREEMAN, and there my manumission is recorded.” —Lunsford Lane; or, Another Helper from North Carolina.

After The Emancipation Proclamation was voiced by President Abraham Lincoln, the word emancipated was often substituted for manumitted on legal documents. The document manumitted nearly 4,000,000 slaves, most of them in the South.

In the most minimal sense of the word, a census is a population count. However, it is much more involved than that. It is a systematic procedure for acquiring, collecting and recording certain types of personal, rudimentary and demographical information about each person in every household of citizens in a specific state, province or country. By recommendation of the United Nations, such an accounting of the populations world-wide is to be taken at least every ten years. Some countries take them more often; some less.

Historically, censuses have been taking place for millenia. For instance, it is said that the Egyptians were taking censuses as far back as 3340 BC. China’s oldest known census was taken over 4000 years ago. One of the oldest surviving censuses was enumerated by the Persian Empire in 500-499 BC. Even the Inca’s during the 1500s took censuses by tying knots in Llama hair using a base-10 numerical system.

The data that is collected by each country is used to determine taxes, birthrates, flux and influx of the population from and into other countries. Additionally, census data is used commonly for obtaining statistical information about a population, research, marketing and planning. It also serves as a base for sampling surveys. In some countries, census data is used to apportion electoral representation.

In the United States, census data is used to allocate Federal funds to the States for many social and economic programs and to determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives for each State. The data is both collected and protected by law.

Typically, census data is processed to obscure individual information, and the U. S. Government only releases that data as public information after seventy-two (72) years (92 Stat. 915; Public Law 95-416; October 5, 1978). Therefore, records for the 1940 and later censuses are not yet available.

However, by using form BC-600, certain individuals who need specific data about themselves or a member of their immediate family may get it directly from the U.S. Census Bureau, P.O. Box 1545, Jeffersonville, IN 47131 (where unreleased census records are stored) for a congressionally mandated fee.

There has been a census enumerated by the United States Federal Government every ten years since 1790. Of the first three censuses taken by the U. S., the government neither provided printed forms nor paper for the use of the enumerators, so those records were collected in ledgers (provided by either the county or the enumerator himself) by U. S. marshals or other officials appointed to collect the data.

Due to the fact that only one master copy was made for each of these censuses, many of the ledgers were either lost or have disintegrated. The only records remaining from the 1800 Census are for 13 states. For the 1810 and 1820 records, I am not certain how many remain, but more information about them is available in the book entitled, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 written by William Thorndale, who writes, “Nearly all lost pre-1890 federal censuses are from this 1790-1820 period.”

Unfortunately, almost all of the population schedules for the 1890 Federal Census were destroyed due to a January 1, 1921 fire at the Commerce Building (part of the Department of the Interior) while they sat in the basement outside the fireproof area that contained and protected other census records.

The 1930 Federal Census has now been sent to the National Archives, and those records are available for public research.

The data found on Census records can be invaluable resources for genealogical research. Here is a basic list of the data you may find on each of the U. S. Federal census schedules:

• 1790-1820 –The first four, handwritten into ledger books, contain basically the same types of information: name of the head of the household, tallies for other family members by age range, number of slaves owned, number of other free persons, and at least the county in which they lived. (You may have to look for that in either the first pages relating to a county or in the final tally sheet for the county.)
• 1830 — The 1830 census was the first census year in which the U.S. government provided printed forms, but the data collected was much the same as the previous ones.
• 1840 — In 1840, the government added occupational information and the names of military service pensioners.
• 1850 — For the 1850 census, the form for the schedule changed drastically with a completely different format than the previous censuses. In this schedule, the name of the community or area, the county and state, the enumeration date and the name of the enumerator appear at the top of the page. Each dwelling was accounted for with the name; age; sex; color; territory or country of birth; whether the person attended school or was married within the year; whether the person could read or write if over age twenty; whether the person was deaf-mute, blind, insane, or “idiotic”; and, whether or not a fugitive from the state. These questions were asked about every person in the house. Beyond that, the census asked for real estate values and the occupation of every male over age fifteen. A Slave Schedule was also initiated with the 1850 census.
• 1860 — The 1860 census was similar in content to the 1850 census with a few additions. Now the government asked for the occupation of every person over age fifteen, the value of the personal estate and whether or not a person was a pauper. A Slave Schedule was for the second and last time.
• 1870 — Adding more to the 1870 census form from the 1850 schedule, dwelling houses and families were numbered in the order of visitation. The old questions became more specific: age at the last birthday and if a child was under age one, the months were recorded as a fraction (i.e. 5/12 being a 5-month old); sex, color, profession, trade or occupation of every male and female; place of birth (specifically requesting state, territory or foreign country); father and mother’s place of birth; if an individual was born or married within the year, the month in which the event occurred; who attended school within the year; ability to  read and write; and, the deaf and dumb, blind, insane and “idiotic”; male citizen age twenty-one or older whose right to vote was denied or abridged.
• 1880 — For every person in each household, this census asked the name; race; sex; age; month of birth when born within the year; relationship to the head of the household; marital status; whether married within the year; occupation or months unemployed; place of of birth; parents’ birthplaces; school attendance during the year; whether unable to read at age ten or older; whether sick or temporarily disabled on the day of enumeration and the reason; and, whether blind, deaf-mute, “idiotic,” insane or permanently disabled.
• 1890 — In this census, the schedule form changed again. It was the first schedule in which the form was geared towards canvassing one family at a time. However, due to the 1921 fire in the U.S. Commerce Building, only 6,160 of the people listed on the census survived. This census also included a Veterans Schedule for Union Soilders (some Confederate veterans were included).
• 1900 — For this census, the form returned to a Population Schedule much like those used before the 1890 census. This schedule provides the address of the dwelling, the name of each person in the dwelling as well as his/her relationship to the head of the household; race; sex; month and year of birth; age; marital status; years married; number of children born to the mother; number of children still living; places of birth  and the parents for each individua in the dwellingl; was the individual was foreign born, year of immigration and the number of years in the country; citizenship of foreign-born people over age twenty-one; occupation; whether the person could read, write and speak English; was the home owned or rented; was the home was on a farm; and was the home mortgaged.
• 1910 — This Population Schedual is much like  the 1900 Schedule except it does not contain the exact birth month, years married or the number of children born to a mother. Other items it asked for were language spoken; employment status (i.e. whether one was an employer, employee or self-employed); the type of industry in which one was employed; and the number of weeks that person may have been unemployed during 1909. There was an Indian Schedule included with this census that also asked for the tribe or band of the individual.
• 1920 — The Population Schedule for 1920, like most of the preceeding censuses asked for the usual data whether the home was owned or rented, free or mortgaged; whether an individual was naturalized or alien; year of naturalization; mother and father’s place of birth and “tongue”.
• 1930 — In 2002, the 1930 Population Shcedules were released for public use. They hold most of the same data as previous 1900s census records with a few additions: was the home owned or rented; value of home, if owned; monthly rent, if rented; whether the home had a “radio set”; kind of work done; industry; class of worker; veteran status (yes or no); and, war or expidition, if yes.

Although census records are vital tools for such research, the Census Bureau does not provide their data. Instead, census records may be garnered from a variety of other places, such as: The National Archives, the Latter Day Saints (LDS) Genealogical Archives in Utah and numerous other LDS libraries scattered across the country, local libraries (especially those having either genealogy or history departments), many university libraries, and a large number of websites spread across the Internet, just to name a few.

As a side note for U. S. Citizens:
The data used to be collected by town officials or Federal Marshals, but no longer. This year (2010) more than 140,000 U.S. Census Field Workers (U. S. citizens) will be mobilized to canvas the country. So, if a Census taker comes to your home, you should cooperate with them. Actually, it’s required by law to respond to the Census Bureau’s request for information.

In the past, the census has been very safe with nothing more than an occasional drunken official to be concerned about, but this one – with the InterNet, scammers, fraud (more prevalent than ever before) and identity theft – could be more stressful than any previous census.

That’s because, unfortunately, this Census provides an opportunity for identity thieves to knock on your door, ask personal questions and use the U.S. Government’s name to compel people to answer, especially if they are not informed and cautious.

Please take a few minutes to read what the Better Business Bureau has to say.

Baptismal and Christening Records   

Directions for filling out an Ancestral Chart:

Start by numbering the first chart as 1. Subsequent charts, should you need more than one, are numbered 2, 3, etc. 

• List your name in place #1 on the far left side of the chart. 
• At the “B:” write in the date of your birth showing it thusly: 16 Sep 1928. The day is always written first, then the month utilizing a 3-letter abbreviation, finally the year is always expressed with all four digits. Always use MAIDEN NAMES for the females listed on your chart. 
• At the “P:” or “P1:” write in the place where the birth took place, that is — the City, County (optional), State and/or Country. When all locations are known, this is expressed thusly: City, County, State or Province, Country. Otherwise, use commas and spaces where an area is not known, such as: City,  , State or Province, Country, if the county is unknown.
• At the “M:” write in the date of your marriage; express it like the format cited for birthdates. 
• For the next “P:” or “P2:” write in the place of the marriage. You may want to exhibit the name of the church in addition to the city, as this information may perchance be of interest to others. 
• “D:” is earmarked for the date of your death, but since you are scribing the chart, I bet you aren’t dead yet. (Sorry for the slightly morose humor there.)
• For the next “P:” or “P3:” write in the place of the death. You may want to exhibit the name of the cemetery in addition to the city. 

“An act was passed by the Assembly in 1752, which recited that John Bland, late of London, merchant, was in his lifetime seized of a tract of land in the parish of Westover, county of Charles City, containing 8,000 acres more or less, known by the name of Kymages; by virtue of a conveyance from Edward Bland, dated March 20th 1674, and by his last will, dated May 3d, 1680, he devised said land to Sarah Bland, his relict and executrix, and Thomas Povey, Esq., his executor; and that these persons, by deed March 25th, 1681, conveyed to Edward Bland and his heirs 2,000 acres, being part of the said 8,000…”

The word relict highlighted above refers to Mr. Bland’s wife as his survivor.

Relict rel·ict/ˈrelikt/

A term that refers to the surviving member of a marriage, whether it be the husband or the wife.

The one surviving the death of another; esp., widowed. noun. Archaic a widow.

Are you aware that many published family histories have not been properly researched or documented? Unfortunately, this fact is all too true. Some published histories (whether found on the Internet or offline in libraries or other archives) are created from errant information. Sometimes people have even published fraudulent information! Furthermore, if you or your hired researcher are unable to locate the original documents or retrace source citations, it is simply impossible to know whether a published family tree you have found is accurate or legitimate or not.

Like many beginner genealogists have experienced, especially those who have had no formal training in genealogy or historical research, was not aware how very crucial it is to document my findings as I began my own research some 30 years ago. Consequently, once I did learn that valuable lesson, I felt a need to go back to SQUARE ONE for much of my research in order to locate and copy or transcribe any I found to document and verify everything I’d collected to that point. Although, it seemed an insurmountable task, I am so glad I spent the extra time to do the job right. Unfortunately however, there were many of the original sources I used that I was never able to relocate. Therefore, in the hopes to help others not make the same mistakes that I did, this article is geared towards understanding and implementing proper citations for one’s own research.

As for the documents and sources I could not find, I removed them from my files because they were no longer of any use to me; they proved nothing. I haven’t discarded them though; they now occupy space in my research notes. So if I ever do happen across them again, I know exactly what I was looking for.

“What is a citation?” you might ask.

In genealogical research, every statement of fact –whether it is an ancestor’s surname, a date of birth or a death date– must have its own individual source; and, that source should be cited.

cite
Pronunciation: syt
To quote as an authority or example.
To mention or bring forward as support, illustration, or proof

ci·ta·tion
Pronunciation: sy tay shun
A quoting of an authoritative source for substantiation
Enumeration or mention, as of facts

When researching our family, it is vital that we keep proper track of from whence each and every piece of information came. It is important both as a means of verifying or “proving” our data and to provide a way for us or other researchers to return to that source if future research leads us to information that conflicts with our data.

If you have been exploring your family’s history for very long, like me, you have managed to amass large quantities of information, many tiny scraps of paper, and many bits and pieces to your genealogical puzzle. You most certainly have written on all sorts of paper forms or in a computerized genealogy program (if you use a computer and software for your research, I hope you also keep back-ups and paper copies of everything) to record all the names, dates, facts and events that you have collected over the years.

There are caveats though:

*     Can you tell me where you found the information about your great-grandmother Smith?

*     Do you know where her dates of birth and death came from?

*     Did you record the names of every book and its author from which you collected the data?

*     Do you have pictures or transcriptions of the gravesites you visited; can you honestly say you visited the cemetary’s office to record all of the  information about where they are physically located?

*     You may have known where everything came from when you added it to your own data, but did you record information about the records from which you obtained the data?

*     Do you remember where the information came from now?

*     Can you find that data again?

For genealogical purposes, I can not stress how very important it is to track every tiny piece of information you gather. There are so many possible sources that you may come across, that citing your data is utterly vital. A genealogy citation should record as much information about a record or an interview as possible, even if the information is only implied. However, there are many ways to record a citation, and they vary for different types of sources, too. So, let’s get started and have a look at how it is done.

Again, there are many ways to record a citation. They vary for the many different kinds of sources that we encounter. For instance, how a book is cited differs from the way a newspaper clipping is cited. While no one expects a hobbyist genealogist to learn all the different citation formats, you should always try to be as complete and consistent as possible. Whether you use the usual punctuation and style (commas, colons, semicolons, brackets, etc) is up to you. The most important thing, though, is to be consistent so it is easier for you to be able to revisit the sites where you found the information be the need arises, and so others with whom you share your information are able to follow your citations easily.

If you use current genealogy software, generally all you have to do is input the information. Most of the genealogy programs today either guide you into creating proper citations or they just do it for you as you enter the required data.

However, if you still do genealogy by hand (pen and paper style) –every genealogist should do so to a certain degree– here are a few things you will want to remember. When citing any record, you need to include several items: an author (if one exists); the name of the book, title of the article, the type of document or the kind of record; the publisher or the authority from which the record came; date of the publication or document; page or certification numbers (where applicable); and, the source location or repository.

Although the location or repository of a source is not usually included in citations for other types of research, it is both relative and an extremely important fact to include for genealogy research. Here’s why… you may come realize that you need to find a particular book or document again. So how do you find it, if you haven’t recorded the record’s location? Knowing which library, archive or repository is the right one for that particular record makes the search much easier. This is especially true if you travel extensively or write away for copies of source documents.

The following is a guide for creating proper citations:

Books: Author(s), book title, (publisher, first publication or copyright date), page number(s) that include your information, name and location of source or repository

Example with one author:
F. Wilbur Helmbold, Tracing Your Ancestry, (Oxmoor House, Inc., 1976), pp 44-45, my personal library

Example with multiple authors:
Michael Kelsey, Nancy Graff-Kelsey and Ginny Guinn Parsons, Marriage & Death Notices from the ‘South Western Baptist’ Newspaper, (Heritage Books, 1995), pp 44-45, Allen County Public Library, Ft Wayne, IN

In the case of multiple authors you may also use a notation like … Michael Kelsey et al instead of listing each member of the team.

Newspaper Clippings: “Article Title”, name of newspaper, (city, date of publication), page numbers, type of source — i. e. distributed copy, microfilm, microfiche, photocopy, etc.– location of source

In the case of citing the location of the source for a newspaper, the natural source is, of course, the address of the publisher. However, if you found your information at the library, use the library’s address.

“Parade Teaches Patriotism”, Post-Tribune, (Gary, IN, July 5, 2008), pp 4A, microfiche #GPT 07052008 at Lake County Public Library, Merrillville, IN

Vital Records: Kind of record –include the name of the person for whom the record exists, i. e. Birth Certificate for John B. Doe–, date issued, file or certificate number, (authority where the record was issued –if known. This one goes inside the parenthesis), location of source — this location is going to be the State’s health and/or vital statistics agency or the local one nearest you

Certificate of Death for John Thomas Lane, 11/29/1933, State file #23663, (Alabama Center for Health Statistics, Montgomery, AL), certified copy in my collection

Website: Name of the site, owner — if known, (location of the owner or site and most current copyright date –if known. URL, the word Online, and the date accessed or last verified or both

Early American Roads and Trails, Beverly Whitaker, (Kansas City, MO, 2002). http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gentutor/trails.html, Online, accessed March 26, 2006, last verified june 7, 2010

If you have copies of documents or records in your possession, it is “politically correct” to make that known. It is good practice, however, to indicate what type of document or record you actually possess. Use entries like the ones listed below (The preceding words in parenthesis may be used or omitted; those following the statement may be used instead of its preceding word. Just remember to be consistent.):

(in) my personal library

(in) my personal files

certified copy in my collection (possession)

original in my collection (possession)

copy in my collection (possession)

photocopy in my collection (possession)

transcription in my collection (possession)

            abstract in my collection (possession)

When citing letters, emails, diaries, journals, church, cemetery or other public records, it is advisable to use the citation method for Vital Records and include the name of the person in the type of record — such as “Interview with Aunt Octavia Smith”–. Be sure to include the author of the record and page numbers where necessary. When citing an interview, the person being interviewed is the author.

In the case of magazine articles, use the citation method for newspaper clippings, citing the author of the article and the name of the publication after the article’s title. Also include a volume, issue  and page numbers if known.

Never accept someone else’s citations until you have verified them for yourself. That’s why we make citations in the first place, to verify the information from either side. When accepting information from other researchers who have data about your family, do not carte blanc add their citations to your data. Even if a fellow researcher tells you they found such and such a date in a marriage record, you should cite the researcher as the source of information (noting as well where they said they found the information).

Remember, you can only accurately cite the marriage record if you have viewed it for yourself. Using unverified information from other people leads to possible errors or misinformation in your research.

So let’s recap, don’t do you and your family a disservice by grabbing undocumented information from unfamiliar sources. Be wary of collecting errant or fraudulent information. Every document, scrap of paper or statement of fact must have its own source; and, the source must be cited.  When citing a source be careful and consistent. You can initially cite the information as having come from another individual, but be certain to make a list in your research notes for the things in theirresearch to verify by visiting the records they found. By following this procedure, you insure that your own data is as correct and as complete as you can possibly make it.

If you take heed and cite your sources as you acquire new data, you will very seldom (if ever) have to retrace your steps or revisit numerous registry offices, database websites, libraries or cemeteries to confirm your information.

After the death of an individual, an estate may be opened by any interested party, who files/filed an Application to Administer the estate. The application is filed in the county in where the decedent resided.

The Court then appoints an estate representative, called a fiduciary, according to the decedent’s will or statutory guidelines and issues Letters of Administration or Authority. This court appointed fiduciary (representative or administrator) performs duties similar to those of an executor named in a will. For instance, if a will is left but no executor is named, the administrator settles the decedent’s debts, pays any necessary taxes and funeral expenses and then distributes the remainder according to the procedures set down by governing laws.

In a situation where there are no instructions in a will, the administrator must distribute the estate of the deceased according to the rules laid down by statute and the common law.

In either case, following the statutes and local Court rules, the basic steps of administration are usually as follows:

• Application for authority to administer the estate
• Admit the will into probate, if one exists
• Appointment of a fiduciary, the administrator
• Gathering the decedent’s assets
• Obtaining appraisals, as required
• Filing an inventory in a timely manner
• Payments to creditors
• Filing estate and income tax returns and paying those taxes, if any exist
• Distributing the remaining assets to beneficiaries
• Closing the estate by filing a final account or certificate of termination in a timely manner

Although a book could probably be written about the information we’ll share in the next few lines, we will make it as brief yet as concise as possible. However, you can follow the links, if you desire more information about any specific type of source.

Original vs. Derivative Sources
All sources are not created equal. It is important that genealogists understand the meanings behind the terms original and derivative, because there are two types of sources and they are, indeed, original and derivative.

When referring to the physical description or properties of a document or record, original sources are records that contribute written, oral or visual information that is not derived from any other written or oral record; they are derived from first-hand knowledge. They are, in fact, the source from which a copy, reproduction, translation, transcript or an abstract is usually derived because they are the first record of their type. An original source, therefore, is most often the original document or recording related to any event or fact that may be in question; However, certain exceptions do exist; it may also be a legible and legitimate image of an original document seen as a photograph, a good quality photocopy, a scanned copy on the Internet or a CD-ROM, or an official copy on microfilm or microfiche like those provided by the NARA for census and military records.

Derivative sources, by their definition, are records which have been derived — hand copied, abstracted, transcribed, indexed or summarized — from previously existing sources. Thus, a derivative source may not retain the same value as the original because as they are copied from one derivative source to the next errors are more apt to be amplified over time.

As a rule,original sources carry more weight than derivative sources.

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Information
The information provided by the sources we find can be classified as primary, secondary or tertiary information. When referring to the quality of a document or record, we can say that primary sources are the records of choice. Since this type of record was/is created at or near the time of an event by a person who witnessed or had reasonably close knowledge about the event. It contains primary information; and, primary information is information provided from first-hand knowledge of the recorder or the informant.

By contrast, a secondary source, is a record created significantly after the event occurred or by a person who was not present during the event. It is secondary information; and, secondary information is information that was not provided by someone or some thing with first-hand knowledge.

Finally, defining a tertiary source of information for genealogical purposes is often problematic, at best. Typically tertiary sources of information represent distilled information, collected or summarized from other sources. Therefore, we can fairly safely say a genealogical report is a tertiary source of information. This is true in that it contains the culmination and compilation of a variety of information gained from many different sources, both primary and secondary, about a single person or a family. The same would be true for a book written today about one’s noble heritage.

Primary sources always carry more evidentiary weight than do secondary or tertiary sources.

As we gather data from various sources of different types, we use that information to compile evidence, which can be classified as either direct or indirect.

Direct evidence is relevant information that answers a question (whether verbalized or not), such as, “What is my mother’s date of birth?”, “When were my grandparents married?” or “What was my great grandmother’s maiden name?” Therefore, a birth certificate provides direct evidence about someone’s date of birth, a death certificate provides direct evidence about someone’s death and a marriage certificate provides direct evidence about a marriage date as well as the names of the people being married.

Indirect evidence, on the other hand, has relevant data, suggests that other information may be relevant and often implies an answer to a question, but it may need other supporting evidentiary data to form a positive conclusion.

Here’s an example of indirect evidence:
I was searching for a great uncle. When and where was he born? In an old church record, I found the birth but there was no name to confirm this child was my uncle. The listing included the names of my great grandparents, the date of birth, the town where they were living and the reference — “son of the Smith’s.” This baby had not yet been named.
Some time later, I received a letter from another researcher in my family. With her letter, she included a photocopy of my great grandfather’s Bible, where he had written in the names and dates of birth for his children. The date for the uncle I had been looking for was clearly the same as the one I had previously found in the church record. One document (the Bible inscriptions) gave me direct evidence of this Uncle’s birth and by comparing the two documents I gained indirect evidence about where he was born. Finally, about a year later, I found three census records with his year of birth and his state of birth included. These census records provided more indirect evidence suggesting that I had drawn the correct conclusions.

We must analyze the evidence to draw a conclusion. So, the better the sources and information, the stronger the evidence. This in turn leads to more reliable conclusions.

Keep this in mind… as sources are collected, you will begin to see trends — among other data, you notice that dates of birth match as do marriage dates, places of residence and dates of death also match. Then when you DO come across conflicting data (and you will) it becomes much easier to determine the reliability and validity of a newly found source. This is especially true if you know where the rest of your data has been found or you know where it came from. That is why it is so very important to copy down as much information as possible from each and every source as it is located.

Eventually, other researchers may want to verify that certain (or all) assertions you make about people filed within your genealogical records are correct. Those researchers can then use the source information you provide to assess the reliability and validity of what you have recorded, written or said about your ancestors, just like you did when you compiled the information. However, in order for another genealogist to retrace your steps and find the same data you found, you must create an accurate source citation for each and every event or fact you locate about a family member.