<div dir="ltr"><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Need to unsubscribe?</span><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/mailman/listinfo/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com" target="_blank" style="font-family:georgia,serif"> Manage here</a><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">. </span><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"></font></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><br></span></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">Genealogy Update 31 August 2026</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">** Bourbon County, New York?</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">** 5-Week Class on Using FamilySearch's Full-Text Search</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">** </font><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">Becoming Independent from an Exhaustive Search</span></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">------------------------------</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">Bourbon County, New York</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">------------------------------</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif" size="4"><img src="cid:ii_mth8otf40" alt="image.png" width="543" height="141"><br></font></div><div><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">A declaration for pension made out by David A. Newman on 22 May 1912 in Linn County, Iowa, stated that he was born on 12 April 1830 in Bourbon County, New York.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">The writing is clear and that\u2019s how I\u2019m going to transcribe it because that is what it says: Bourbon County, New York.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">However it\u2019s wrong. Of course it\u2019s not wrong simply because I said so. Far from it. After all, it\u2019s not a date of which I have any first hand knowledge.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">On virtually every other record where David provided a place of birth, he gave the state of Kentucky. If a county was given, it was usually Bourbon. David\u2019s parents lived in Kentucky from their 1815 marriage in Bourbon County, Kentucky, through at least the 1830 census. At some point they moved to Indiana and lived in at least two counties in that state. There\u2019s nothing indicating they ever lived in New York. And while it\u2019s possible, it doesn\u2019t seem likely since every other record on David and this family indicated they were in Kentucky from 1815 through sometime in the 1830s. I don\u2019t <em style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;max-width:100%">know </em>why this record says New York. There\u2019s nothing on the document to indicate where the place of birth came from and I certainly was not there to witness the creation of the declaration.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">Seeing the New York reference did cause me to go back and review what I had on this family during the time period David Newman was born to Augusta and Melinda (Sledd) Newman. Nothing suggested they were elsewhere. Of course, it is always possible. It\u2019s just not too probable.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">And it\u2019s not too probable that every other document is wrong and this one is correct. It certain is possible. But it is highly unlikely.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">What\u2019s more likely is that the reference to New York is a mistake.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">I\u2019ve seen a reverse problem in another family. In that case the relative was born in New York, but is listed in one census when his daughter indicated her father was born in Kentucky. In that case, an examination of census entries indicated that the enumerator used two letter abbreviations for many locations and had somewhat sloppy handwriting and apparently confused \u201cNy\u201d with \u201cKy.\u201d Their \u201cN\u201d and \u201cK\u201d letters were different but similar.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">Is that what happened here? Don\u2019t know.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">It could be that David orally provided the information for the declaration. It could be that he brought his discharge paper, family bible, and perhaps other documents with him to have the declaration filled out and some of those handwritten documents might not have been too easy to read by the individual filling out the form.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">David died two years after this declaration was made out. How aware was he of what information it contained? The witnesses are not close family members and would have been less likely than a son or daughter to have noticed an error. And it\u2019s worth remembering that witnesses are testifying that David signed the document and that they knew who he was, not that any of the information contained in the statement is correct.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">My transcription of the document is true to the original. I may add <em style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;max-width:100%">sic</em> after the birth place in New York to remind myself later that it does give that state. My discussion of the reason why is best left to what I really know and that discussion needs to be clearly made separately from my transcription.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">I\u2019m fortunate that I have enough records on David that I know not to look for him in New York State.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" style="" size="4">Sometimes we are not so lucky.</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" style="" size="4">-------------------------------</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" style="" size="4">5-Week Class on Using Full-Text Search</font></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" style="" size="4">-------------------------------</font></p><div><span id="m_-453526851107018526gmail-docs-internal-guid-6dc966b1-7fff-5a7e-5462-4e7c16f2e83a"><font face="georgia, serif"><p dir="ltr" style="text-align:center;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font size="6"><b>5-week class on Using FamilySearch\u2019s Full-Text Search</b></font></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">With Michael John Neill</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Are you getting the most from FamilySearch\u2019s Full-Text Search? Our five session class on FamilySearch\u2019s full-text search will help you to get the very most from this truly paradigm-shift way of searching. Presentation and discussion is practical and down-to-earth. Students will receive practical and easy-to-implement search strategies and will be encouraged to share successes and failures with other class members via an online group and discussion sessions. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Week 1</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Overview of FamilySearch full-text search.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This session will provide an overview of full-text search methodology, discuss how full-text search is different from typical searches, discuss workarounds for transcription errors, searching specific sets of images, and search organization.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Week 2</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Sourcing and Determining what has been found with FamilySearch full-text search.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This session will discuss determining what has actually been located, downloading all information and images for a complete source citation, and creating a completion citation. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Week 3</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Common Name Searching at FamilySearch full-text search.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This session will discuss some specific strategies for searching for common names in full-text search. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Week 4</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Problem-Solving with FamilySearch full-text search.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This session will discuss search formulation, tracking, and problem-solving when specific items have not been located. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Week 5</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Wrap up</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Structure</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Lectures will be available for downloading the week before the discussion session. Students will view presentation and do optional homework the week before the discussion. Each week\u2019s discussion will review the lecture, discuss homework assignment, and have time for student questions and group discussion. Homework is optional, but will help students to understand concepts and get more from discussion sessions. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Discussion sessions will be held:</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">15, 22, 29 September and 6 and 13 October at 7:30 pm central time. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Class meetings will be via Zoom. Class communication will be via a Google group. </span><a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BKU7EFP9P55C4" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Registration for class is $70</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. Purchasers of one of Michael\u2019s previous FamilySearch\u2019s full-text webinars can order class for $20 less\u2013contact Michael to request special discount registration link. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Registration is limited and can be </span><a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BKU7EFP9P55C4" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">processed here</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. Confirmation of registration will be made within 24 hours of receipt. Contact Michael at </span><a href="mailto:mjnrootdig@gmail.comm" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">mjnrootdig@gmail.com</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> with questions. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">-----------------------------------------</span></p><p style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Becoming Independent from an Exhaustive Search</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">-----------------------------------------</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:"Open Sans";font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">One of the key components of the \u201cReasonably Exhaustive Search\u201d (which is one of the foundations of modern genealogy methodology) is that \u201cat least two sources of <em style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;outline:0px;text-align:initial;font-family:inherit;max-width:100%">independent information</em> items agreeing directly or indirectly\u201d be used in reaching a conclusion.</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:"Open Sans";font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">Independent information items have unrelated origins. </p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:"Open Sans";font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">Like most theory, it looks simple and elegant on the printed page and is often not so simple or clear in real life.</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:"Open Sans";font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">While this is a worthy goal, it can be difficult determining that two sources are truly independent of each other in regards to a specific piece of information.</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:"Open Sans";font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">Would a birth certificate and a baptismal record from Illinois in 1890 that contained the names of the father and mother be independent for the names of the parents? After all, they likely had the same informant. Would the parents\u2019 knowledge of their relationship to the child be \u201cunrelated?\u201d</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:"Open Sans";font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">Would a parent-child relationship stated in a family bible\u2019s entry for the birth in 1850 and the statement of that relationship in a 1930-era intestate probate case really be independent? I\u2019m not certain. It would depend or maybe it wouldn\u2019t.</p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:"Open Sans";font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">I know what independence means in theory. It's sometimes in the real world situation where the reality is a little murky. This is largely because we don't know all the details of how every record was created--we simply can't. </p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;font-family:"Open Sans";font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%">What I am certain of is that thinking about your sources of information and how that information probably came to be in the record is good for your genealogical research. It is also good to think about how pieces of information from different records in different times and different places may actually have the same origin.</p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size:large;line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">
</span></p></font></span><br></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><b><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">Need to unsubscribe? Do so at:</font></b></div><div><b><a href="https://genealogytipoftheday.com/mailman/listinfo/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com" target="_blank"><font face="georgia, serif" size="4">https://genealogytipoftheday.com/mailman/listinfo/genealogy_genealogytipoftheday.com</font></a></b></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888"><font color="#888888" face="georgia, serif" size="4"><div><br></div><div>Michael John Neill</div><div>Genealogy Tip of the Day</div><div>PO Box 17</div><div>Henderson, IL 61439</div></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px 0px 16px;padding:0px;outline:0px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(37,41,42);text-align:initial;max-width:100%"><font face="georgia, serif" style="" size="4"><br></font></p></div></div>