Chapter Seven Homework

Chapter 7 GPS Element 5 The Written Conclusion

 Homework:   Molly McKinley

Thomas W. Jones, Mastering Genealogical Proof (Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 2013). [Book available from the publisher at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/mastering_genealogical_proof , also available
in Kindle format through Amazon.com] Jones, Thomas W. (2013-12-04). Mastering Genealogical Proof (Kindle Locations 598-599). National Genealogical Society, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The written conclusion can be three different forms: statement, summary or argument.  The difference is in the difficulty of the proving of a conclusion.  A statement is just that, stating a fact about an ancestor, with proof and no conflict.  The summary may have a few odds and ends off that really do not disprove your conclusion.  Lastly, there may have to be a long argument to show why we concluded an opinion where clear proof may not be available.

I am using the same family group from my family history to show all three of these types.

I.             Proof Statement:

               Clara Catherine Gaffney Hames was buried in the Belleview Cemetery, Belleview, Marion, Fl.[1]

 [2]

II.           Proof Summary:

               Clara Catherine Gaffney was the granddaughter of Michael Gaffney. 

·        Michael Gaffney and Mary Smith Gaffney had nine children.  They were named, Nancy Riley, Lucinda Riley, Melinda Riley, James Madison, Henry Green, Cornelius, Joseph Gustavius, William Godolphin and Thomas Westhaven Gaffney.[3]

·        Thomas Westhaven Gaffney married Missiniah Burns and they had 11 children. Their names were; Charles Hammond, Laura Ann, Florence Lenora, Mary Ellen, William Wallace,Robert Bruce, Helen Victoria, Elizabeth Margaret, Henrietta Jane,  Clarissa Clara Catherine, and Melinda Lucinda.[4]

·        In the 1880 US Census, South Carolina, Cherokee, Limestone, she is listed as an 11 year old child in the home of Thomas Westhaven and Misiniah Gaffney.[5]

III.          Proof argument

               How many children did Thomas Westhaven and Misiniah Burns Gaffney really have? My conclusion is they had 11 children.

·        In the newspaper obituary for Misiniah Burns Gaffney they state that she was from a family of 14 children and that she bore 14 children.[6]

·       

·        There are 11 known children all found in different sources.  Find-a-Grave lists the following: Charles Hammond, Laura Ann, Florence Lenora, Mary Ellen, William Wallace, Robert Bruce, Helen Victoria, Elizabeth Margaret, Henrietta Jame, Clarissa Catherine and Melinda Lucinda Gaffney.[7]

·        There are 11 children listed in the family genealogy book by Bobby Moss mentioned above (see footnote 3).

·        Lastly, the 1900 US Federal Census, South Carolina, Cherokee, Limestone, District 0007, shows she bore 11 children and 7 of them were still alive.[8]

·        This last one was the kicker for me.  There would be no reason to lie about how many children she bore.  She was 72 years old at the time and would certainly know how many children she had.  I had to conclude the newspaper article was erroneously reported and that she only had 11 children total.

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[1] Personal knowledge of the author, Molly McKinley, [Address for private use], personal experience of visiting the cemetery and photographing the gravestone.

[2] Hames, John T and Clara C. Gaffney tombstone, Belleview Cemetery, Belleview, (Marion County), Florida, photographed by the author in 2006.

[3] Bobby G. Moss, The Journal and Genealogy of Michael Gaffney From Ireland to the Backwoods of South Carolina, (Blacksburg, South Carolina: Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2004), 1-79.

[4] Ibid

[5] Year: 1880; Census Place: Limestone Springs, Spartanburg, South Carolina; Roll: 1240; Family History Film: 1255240; Page: 257D; Enumeration District: 144

[6]   Misiniah Burns Gaffney, obit, The Gaffney Ledger, May 22, 1908, http://newspapers.com, accessed June 20, 2015.

[7] Misiniah Burns Gaffney tombstone, Providence Baptist Church Cemetery, Gaffney, (Cherokee), South Carolina, http://findagrave.com, accessed June 25, 2015.

[8] Year: 1900; Census Place: Limestone, Cherokee, South Carolina; Roll: 1522; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0007; FHL microfilm: 1241522

Chapter 6 Homework

Chapter 6: GPS Element 4: Resolving Conflicts and Assembling Evidence   

Homework: Molly McKinley

Thomas W. Jones, Mastering Genealogical Proof (Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 2013). [Book available from the publisher at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/mastering_genealogical_proof , also available
in Kindle format through Amazon.com] Jones, Thomas W. (2013-12-04). Mastering Genealogical Proof (Kindle Locations 598-599). National Genealogical Society, Inc.. Kindle Edition.


I love this quote from this chapter:

"If we cannot resolve the conflict, we have no conclusion to prove. "

(location 1484 of 3958 Kindle version)

That pretty much sums up our whole purpose of collecting evidence through all the sources we can find.  If those sources cannot prove to us who our ancestors were, they cannot be used for evidence.
In other words, all the evidence we gather must be compatible to "prove" our statements about our ancestors.  While there may be small things like spelling of last name ie. Smith vs Smyth or date differences on Census records.  Those items could be accepted without losing who our ancestors in fact were.  The use of personal spelling, and the estimated dates used in census records do no disprove the connection of a person as your ancestor.  My 3rd great grandfather Michael Gaffney's name was spelled in different records as Gafny, Gafney, Gassney and finally Gaffney.  The other information on the sources proved that it was all the same man, so the spelling of the name while it may be conflicting does not disprove the relationship.


Sometimes we need to lay out the facts in charts, bulleted points, Excel spread sheets or some other means to get a better picture of the story.  As we learned in previous chapters, we must work on one question at a time to get a clearer picture.  At most three questions, example; birth, death and place of each.  Those are the basic facts to start a deeper understanding of our ancestors.  Working on one or two of these at a time, makes it a lot easier to research and fill in the blanks of our ancestor's life.
Along the research path, we may encounter other bits of information, for instance the names of siblings or grandparents.  While working on the original information search, we try not to get side tracked by the new "shiny object" just found.  I personally have a Word document opened and when a new piece of other family information pops up, I place it on that document-make a quick note, then get back to the original search.  That way, I don't lose the new information, yet am not side tracked from the current search.  What ever works for each of us gather information is fine, we just need to try to focus and go forward to keep the vision clear and concise.


For part of my homework I am sharing the thought process behind my recent Abbot discovery.  I had Ephraim Abbot in my file for several years.  Recently while looking at Essex Massachusetts probates I realized the Ephraim I had in my file had totally wrong information.  The wife and children were correct, but the death date could not be correct as he had children born for 20 years after his death.
I finally found the right Ephraim and matched up the wrong one to the correct part of the family.

The Ephraim Abbots of Andover, Massachusetts

Ephraim (1)    Born 1710 in Andover	Ephraim (2) Born 8-1-1718 in Andover
Father was Stephen Abott son of John Abbot	Father was an Ephraim Abbot, son of John Abbot
Married Hannah Phelps in 1734	Married Hannah Kneeland in 1745
Had seven children from 1735 to 1745	Had 7 children from 1745 to 1762
Died in 1745 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts	Died in 1777 in Amherst, Hillsborough, New Hampshire
Had no will but probate package #40 shows his estate bills and inventory.  The administer to his will was his brother Stephen.[i]	Have found no will or probate as yet, but he did not have a brother named Stephen.
I found a family genealogy book written in 1847 with the families broken down by parenthood, marriage and death.  It was here I found the correct Ephraim to match the probate record above. They had listed Stephen and Ephraim in the same household as brothers. [ii]	This one is my ancestor.

Below is one of the pages from the probate record, stating Stephen was the brother of Ephraim.

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[i] Ephraim Abbot estate, Essex County, Massachusetts Probate file 40, Probate file papers, 1638-1881, Essex County Archives, American Ancestor website (http://www.americanancestors.org/index.aspx)

[ii] Abbot, Abiel D.D., Genealogical Register of the Descendents of George Abbot, George Abbot, Thomas Abbot, Arthur Abbot, Robert Abbot and George Abbot, James Munroe and Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1847, pp 1-17

Chapter 5 Homework

Chapter 5 GPS Element 3:  Analysis and Correlation    Homework:  Molly McKinley


Thomas W. Jones, Mastering Genealogical Proof (Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 2013). [Book available from the publisher at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/mastering_genealogical_proof , also available
in Kindle format through Amazon.com] Jones, Thomas W. (2013-12-04). Mastering Genealogical Proof (Kindle Locations 598-599). National Genealogical Society, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

GPS Element 3: Analysis and Correlation answers:

To keep from infringing on Dr. Jones’ copyright I will answer the questions using one of my own record citations.

This is the marriage license of my great uncle Thomas Lafayette Hames:

("Florida Marriages, 1830-1993," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23CN-R1L : accessed 3 June 2015), Thomas L Hames and Katharine L Feuchter, 16 May 1942; citing Marion, Florida, United States, county courthouses, Florida; FHL microfilm 1,872,211.)  

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23CN-R1L

Questions	Answers	Explanation
Is the source authored work, original record or derivative record?	Original (digital image)	Marriage certificate produced by the state of Florida
Who is the informant?	Thomas L Hames, Katharine Feuchter and Judge D.R. Smith	The judge stated his actions, the other two would have given their own name, etc.
Is it primary, secondary of indeterminable?	Primary	It is an  image of the original document
Does it provide direct, indirect or negative evidence?	Direct
Why was this source created?	To certify the marriage of Thomas Hames and Katharine Feutcher took place legally in the state of Florida
Was there a time lapse between the date of the event and the source’s creation?	No
Was the record keeper careful?	Yes
Was the source open to challenge, verification or correction?	No
Was the source protected from bias, fraud or tampering?	Yes
Was the informant reliable as both observer and reporter, or did they show potential for bias or other factors that would affect reliability?	Yes
After answering the questions above, how useful is this source to provide evidence?	Yes	The information provided is a legal document, used to prove a marriage in the state of Florida
[questions are based faithfully from the questions on location 1442/3958 of the Kindle version of the book, so that the answers would be true to the book’s quest]