When using any historical record for genealogical research, it is imperative to know how individuals came to be listed in that record. It is impossible to analyze the person’s presence in the record and interpret it correctly if how the names came to be in the list is not known.
Some lists are easy to understand: real property tax lists contain names of landowners, lists of voters contain names of individuals who were eligible to vote in that time and place (find out those rules if you are unaware), list of church members contain names of individuals who were members of a specific church.
I was reminded of the importance of the list’s purpose when I encountered a list of names of church members. I wondered why the spouses of a few relatives were not listed–as I knew they sporadically attended. The list was one of baptized church members–which explained the absence.
The purpose of a list or a record matters and can explain why certain individuals may not be on that list.
No responses yet