This button from the Midwest Old Settlers and Threshers Association 1974 reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, was found among my parents’ things.

Does it mean one of them went to the “old tractor show” in 1974? Does it guarantee one of them attended? I know my parents went to Mt. Pleasant event a few times. I remember going at least one time with them myself and my brother. My Dad might have gone at least once by himself.

Chances are that 1974 was, at the very least, the year that someone in our family went as my parents were not in the habit of collecting buttons just for the sake of collecting them. “Event buttons” usually meant they had been to the event.

Or that one of them had been to the event.

Think about any piece of genealogical evidence and what it really means versus what you think it could mean. There’s a difference. And if you are uncertain, then ask someone who has more experience.

Assuming is one of the biggest causes of genealogical confusion.

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