How Errors Enter Genealogy Research

Most of us while growing up heard the family stories passed down through the generations about our ancestors. In me, the tales inspired a life long interest in genealogy and in researching where I came from. Along the journey, there was confusion, mistakes, scandals and several oddities and wonders.

My ancestry in the United States dates back to the founding of Connecticut and to New Netherlands. Other than Native Americans, few other Americans can look at the rest of you as newcomers. Over that 360 plus years, though, a lot has happened and a lot has become confused or gone missing.

My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Ferris. Her family came to this country in the early 1600's and were one of the founding families of Greenwich, Connecticut. Tracking a family of some prominence ought to be easy, you would think. But my ancestors had something to say about that.

Between 1636 and 1796 there were at least 14 men named Peter Ferris. There were 16 named Joseph and 13 named James. In the research that I have reviewed, few genealogists have not erred and assigned the wrong wives or children among men near in age with the same first name.

And, those fellows made it even more difficult. It was not uncommon at the time for a man to marry his brother's widow. In my line, there are several occasions where that occurred. First cousins were also a popular choice for marriage and I have seen at least three such. The confusion about names and relationships is understandable.

The Ferrises did not always use the same first names. Ahasureus, Apollos and Azubah are just a few of the unusual names found in colonial times among my ancestors. Three men honor the father of our country by bearing his name, George Washington Ferris.

The women in the family are just as confusing. There are 13 Deborahs, 14 Elizabeths, 17 Hannahs and 24 Marys. Women are more often noted by a nickname, Sally, Betsy and such, making sorting out who is whom even more difficult.

Add in the spelling differences such as Phebe or Phoebe and the problems multiply. Many of the records are handwritten, making errors in transcription possible. I have a dozen or more children in the database whose parents are less than eight years older than they are. Obviously, somewhere along the line a date was misread.

The Holy Grail for me is discovering who "Ren Reu Ferris" was. He was born March 4, 1860. The name appears, at first blush, to be an error but looking at some of the other names in the family tree... I just do not know.

Missing information, transcribing errors, spelling differences, similar names and nicknames are all pitfalls in genealogy. Shaking this family tree is producing a great deal of history with a dash of uncertainty. That is what makes it fun.