When entering information into your genealogical database, always cite exactly what you used–not where that reference got the information. We cite what we saw–not what someone else say. If an index says that Thomas Smith married Joan Brown in 1820 in Bourbon County, Kentucky, then we cite that index for that marriage. It does not matter that the index claims that the county records were used–if we did not see them, then we do not indicate that we did. If all I used was the index–then I cite is the index. That way someone later (particularly ME) knows that I only used the index–and not the original. The original may indicate the actual date is in 1828 or in 1830. I should later try and locate the […]
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