Is There One More?

I need to have a post-it note above my desk with this phrase on it.

There were two men named Charles H. Shipe who lived in southwestern Hancock County, Illinois, and adjacent northwestern Adams County, Illinois, in the late 19th century and well into the 20th century. One was born in 1872 and the other was born in 1867. They had different fathers (one was the son of Samuel Martin Shipe and the other was the son of a Cornelius Shipe). The one born in 1872 was my uncle by marriage. The other one was probably his cousin.

When I began researching my uncle, I was initially confused at first because certain details were inconsistent. Once I realized there were two Charles Shipes (the census made this realization fairly clear), things made a great deal of sense. But I have to keep in mind there were two when finding references to Charles Shipe that I don’t assume the one I found was mine. This can be especially difficult to do with some newspaper references, where little in the way of identifying information is given other than a name.

I have records for the older Charles, the younger Charles, and ones where I cannot tell to whom the reference is making. In a sense, I have three Charleses–the older, the younger, and the can’t-tell-which one.