Normally an ancestor has to be dead to have an estate settlement, has to be born to have a birth certificate, etc. Think about what really HAS to be when you research your ancestor. He didn’t have to get married to reproduce. He didn’t have to name his oldest son after his father. He didn’t have to get married near where his first child was born. He didn’t have to have a relative witness every document wrote. He didn’t have to be buried in the same cemetery as his wife. She didn’t have to live with her parents as a child. There are few “have tos” in genealogy. Make certain you aren’t using “have tos” to make brick walls for yourself.
Don’t expect greater accuracy from records than you are capable of yourself. Your ancestors were just as human as you are and the information they gave is subject to the same memory challenges that you may have.
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