My apologies for this post in advance. It is sort of a recap of a frustrating week of online research. I'm hoping to have the Keeling-Thorowgood families wrapped up in a day or two and the results posted. I also hope to get to the Indiana State Library next week to access the repository's Virginia resources.
[1] Document your work!
[2] If you do use evidence, make sure it applies to the person you are researching, not a cousin or person of the same name.
[3] Use common sense when matching children to parents. If mama is pushing the limits of childbearing years, there is a fair to middling chance she is the wrong mama.
[4] If a couple has three or four children born before they get married, that's a red flag! The marriage date is off, the birthdates are in error, or the kids aren't theirs. [We're not talking about the last 30 years or so; that's a whole other story!]
[5] Realize that typos or poor eyesight may play a role. 3 vs. 8, 5 vs. 6, 3 vs. 9. Numbers can be transposed, misread, miswritten or mistyped. Also, the folks copying headstone inscriptions may make errors as well.
[6] Evaluate the information you have gathered and formulate a reasonably sound hypothesis based on that information. Don't be afraid to disagree with the 25-30 folks who have posted trees, they all may have followed one person's tree - accurate, or not.
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