Relatives by Heart, Not by Paperwork

Thanks to an exchange of messages with another genealogy researcher, I was reminded that even when relationships are unofficial, they can be super-important to our ancestors.

In this case, the researcher was interested in one of hubby's ancestors (Lynn), who had a foster daughter (no full names, for privacy reasons). 

Lynn's obit mentioned the foster daughter, indicating a close emotional link. In fact, when the foster daughter's husband died, his obit named Lynn as grandmother of his child. 

So far as we know, there was no official government documentation of this foster relationship. They were relatives by heart, not by paperwork.

To honor this special bond, the researcher is connecting all of these folks on his family tree, with an explanation. 

Sources? He cites the obits as his sources. 

A lovely tribute.

Local Knowledge, Part 4: Big Apple, Fine Print

Brooklyn directory dated August, 1941
had listings "corrected to July 10, 1941"

Read the fine print to date a source.

That's my local knowledge tip for today.

It actually works for every source in every location.

But in New York City, finding the date of a phone directory takes a bit more effort, because the entire city population is NOT listed in a single, massive directory. No, New York has five boroughs, each of which has its own quite large phone book.

Five boroughs, five phone books, and--just to make things more interesting--five different cutoff dates for listings. Which borough did your ancestor live in, and when? The fine print matters in the Big Apple.

August Cover Date Means . . . ?

In my previous post about searching free NYC telephone directories, I showed a sample from a 1941 Brooklyn phone directory. The snippet at top is a repeat because I want to emphasize that the cover date was August, 1941.

I clicked to the official page 1 of that directory to read the fine print. It said: "This issue corrected to July 10, 1941."

So what? If I search the August edition for an ancestor who moved to a new Brooklyn address on or after July 11, I either won't find that person or I'll find outdated information. A missing listing might mean . . . passed away, or married, or changed name, or moved away.

Or if someone's missing, it might mean no phone (ever or only for that particular year). That was the explanation when I couldn't find ancestors who, it turned out, were living as boarders in someone else's apartment. I discovered them in an earlier directory and in a later directory, both times in their own apartment.

Five Boroughs, Five Cut-off Dates for 1940

Looking at the 1940 phone directories digitized and posted online by the New York Public Library, I was surprised to see that each borough's directory had a different cut-off date for listings.

• Manhattan (1940 directory): "This issue corrected to November 9, 1939."
• Bronx (Winter 1939-40 directory): "This issue corrected to October 19, 1939."
• Brooklyn (Winter 1939-40 directory): "This issue corrected to January 4, 1940." 
• Queens (Winter 1939-40 directory): "This issue corrected to December 13, 1939." 
• Staten Island (Winter 1939-40 directory): This issue corrected to January 9, 1940."

I had ancestors in four of these five boroughs, so I needed to know where to look and check the dates of each edition. "New York City, 1940" wasn't enough.

Turn on Your GPS and Look at the Actual Image

Oh, it's tempting to accept the transcription here, and not look further.

After all, Aaron Work (1837-1924) is only a roomer in somebody else's household. He's a 1c4r, not a major figure in my husband's family tree.

But maybe he's rooming with a member of the FAN club (friends, associates, neighbors) possibly meaningful to family history?

Time to turn on the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard). Don't settle for somebody else's transcription.

Always look at the image of the actual record. 

Here's what happened when I went looking for Aaron Work with the GPS in mind.

Transcription says household of King family

I was researching Aaron Work for last week's #52Ancestors prompt, because he was a fire insurance agent and the prompt was fire.

In the 1920 US Census, Aaron was widowed and a roomer, as the transcription shows. Following the Genealogical Proof Standard of referring to the original record rather than relying on a transcription, I clicked to view the Census page.

And that's when I saw something that I've heard about but not yet experienced in 23 years of genealogical research.

"Supplemental" entry

Aaron's entry was added later by a supervisor, long after the enumerator had completed that page. It was marked as "supplemental" and added on April 1st, whereas the rest of that page was dated January 22.

The official Census Day in 1920 was January 1st, but officials continued to follow up and look for people who had not been counted in the first round. Apparently Aaron was one of those people missing when the enumerator came to his door.

Look at the red arrow on the supplemental entry above. The note shows where Aaron really belongs in the Census: "See 4A, line 37." Also note that Aaron has many blank lines above his name. The entry directly above him, with blank lines in between, is of the King household, and therefore the transcription seems to have lumped him into that household. Wrongly, as it turns out.

Page 4A, line 37 

I clicked backward on the Census images from page 8A, where the supplemental entry was listed, to page 4A. Above is a snippet showing number 37 at far left of the Census page. The date of this page was January 13, 1920.

The two people in this household are brother and sister, names that I don't recognize but will have to research to determine if they're at all related to the Work family.

Where Aaron Work was on the day the Census enumerator originally came around, I can't guess. I only know that he was later tracked down and added as a supplemental entry.

If I had accepted the transcription without checking further, I could have been chasing King as a potential FAN club member--and gone down an entirely incorrect path.

Thanks to the GPS, I didn't take a wrong turn. I looked at the image and saw the household where Aaron Work would have been enumerated if he had been home.

In citing my source, I need to mention both the 8A Census page of the supplemental entry and the 4A Census page of the household where the supervisor said he resided in 1920.

Clues Buried in Sources on Other Family Trees

Good genealogy researchers trust good sources, right?

And that's why, any time I view other people's family trees on Family Search or Ancestry, I go straight to the sources. This allows me to retrace the steps of any family history researcher and examine the evidence for myself. I analyze and weigh the details of every piece of evidence. If the evidence seems solid, I add it to my tree, cite the source(s), and factor it into my genealogical conclusion.

If a tree has no sources, I move on--nothing to see.  Family stories and relatives' memories are only a starting point--we need actual evidence to construct a reliable family tree. Too often, family trees posted online use other family trees as the source (a la the sources titled "Ancestry Family Trees"). Sorry, not good enough for the Genealogical Proof Standard.

Sources for other people's trees, if any, will be hiding in plain sight.* At the top, a family tree on Family Search, with the button "print family with sources" circled in dark green near the bottom of the image. Click, and up pops a pdf of a family group record followed by pages of full sources (like the ones below).

I compared this tree with a tree on Ancestry, where the sources are in the center column for convenient access. Both of these trees had good sources--different sources, in some cases. By viewing the original documents, not the indexed or transcribed versions, my neighbor and I picked up good clues to research as she follows the Crandall branch of her family tree.

* Thanks very much to reader Marian, who pointed out that on the profile page of each person in Family Search, there are sources listed. Clicking on a fact will bring up any linked sources--then click on the sources to see the documents. I print the list so I can check which I have and which I haven't seen before by comparing with my tree.

PS: Yes, my neighbor knows about the Crandall Family Association. She's actually done a ton of research. We were spot-checking dates and spelling by looking at sources connected with other people's trees.

PPS: Above, from a tree that will be nameless (to protect the guilty), one reason why I distrust trees without sources. Jean must have had quite a wedding in 1805, considering she's listed as dead by 1790.