[Genealogy] How Precise Can You Be and A New Four Week Clss
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Wed Aug 12 07:29:21 CDT 2026
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Genealogy Update
12 August 2026
** How Precise Can You Be?
** Notebook for Genealogy--A Four Week Class
---------------------------------
How Precise Can You Be?
---------------------------------
I am thinking out loud here.
I’m typing up my ahnentafel chart for presentation on my website. One of
the issues I have is the precision of the location of an event.
Many of my families are clustered in several rural areas, locations are not
always overly specific. Genealogists like specifics, but sometimes we have
to make do with ranges and not precise points.
As I put the entries on my ahnentafel chart, I realized I was repeating
myself without repeating myself. All those references to Walker Township,
Hancock County, were *not really* to the same place. To look at my
ahnentafel chart, I have the following individuals who were either born,
married, or died in Hancock County’s Walker Township:
- Charles and Fannie (Rampley) Neill were married there in 1903
- Fannie Rampley was born there in 1883
- George Trautvetter was born there in 1869
- George and Ida (Sargent) Trautvetter were married there in 1898
- Riley and Nancy (Newman) Rampley, married there in 1867
- John and Franciska (Bieger) Trautvetter, married there in 1868
- Franciska Trautvetter died there in 1888
- Sophia Trautvetter died there in 1877
- James Rampley died there in 1884
- Elizabeth Rampley died there in 1883
And that’s just the vital events for my direct-line ancestors.
I want my records to reflect the accuracy of the documents, but I also want
my records to reflect the reality of the situation as well. For the 1903
and 1867 marriages, I have sources providing locations more specific than
the township.
But for the other events I do not.
*How Precise?*
If I list them all as taking place in Walker Township, it seems to indicate
all these events took place in the same place On one level they did. I
could solve the problem and just indicate that every event took place on
planet Earth–that’s correct, but a little too broad.
Walker Township is a fairly large place–thirty-six square miles. I’m not
yet entirely certain how I’m going to handle the vague nature of the
location listed for these events. And while a township is not that large of
a location, I prefer to narrow down the location as much as possible.
And it is one reason that I am not always fond of genealogical software:
many times genealogical conclusions are not precise. They are not clean.
And, they often come with conditions.
In the events listed above there are basically two families: the Rampleys
and the Trauvetters. They lived in different parts of the township and most
likely were not in the same circles during the time period referenced by
the events listed above. The Rampleys lived in the eastern part of Walker
Township and the Trautvetters lived in the southwestern part. Knowledge of
this is based upon where the families’ farms were located and the
assumption that they lived on their farms and that ,for the most part,
those farms are where births and deaths took place–or relatively near to
those farms.
*Narrowing the Trautvetters*
For the Trautvetters, I would be reasonably safe (I’m hoping) in narrowing
their places of birth or death as “probably near Tioga in Walker Township,
Hancock County, Illinois.” My “place of birth” for George Trautvetter is
not just Walker Township–that’s too large and I’m not comfortable with that
size of a location if there is anyway that I can pinpoint it more
precisely. Precision does not imply that I have an exact “spot, but
refining the location beyond the township is possible in this case. George
was very likely born on his father’s farm, which is known to have been a
short distance from the village of Tioga. Of course, it is always possible
that George was born somewhere else than his father’s farm but still within
the confines of the Township. However, I would be comfortable saying that
George was born in Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois, probably near
the village of Tioga. My evidence for that statement would be George’s
christening record, other materials which indicate his place of birth and
land, census and other records that imply George’s father was living in
Walker Township in 1869. I realize that the father does not have to be
present at the birth for that birth to take place.
*Near?*
One problem is that I have not defined “near.” At this point, I’m not going
to. Given the imprecise nature of the location within the township, I’ll
leave “near” somewhat vague. Genealogical conclusions are like
that–sometimes not everything can be pinpointed.
My statement regarding George’s place of birth should include all this
analysis and discussion along with sources, adequately cited.
That’s a tall order for most genealogical software packages and why I
prefer to perform most analysis using text, along with some images and
transcriptions.
-----------------------------------
NoteBook for Genealogy--A Four Week Class
----------------------------------
*Announcing!*
Due to several requests, we've developed this class on using Notebook for
Genealogy.
Notebook for Genealogy–A Four Session Pick Your Own Problem Course
With Michael John Neill
Our focus is on being practical, exhibiting sound genealogy methodology,
and demonstrating responsible use of Notebook (Google’s suite of AI tools)
in genealogy research. This course is for those who would like guidance and
suggestions in how to use Notebook and have a place to get feedback and
additional direction.
Course Prerequisites & Required Materials You should have digital records
for one ancestor or a father-mother-children family, including every extant
record available.
-
Format: PDF or JPG for images; PDF, Word, or raw text for transcriptions.
-
Preparation: Be familiar with the specific ancestral research problem
you plan to work on to get the most from Notebook LM and AI concepts.
Gather all materials between registration and the start of class.
Course Format & Zoom Sessions
-
Pre-Recorded Lectures: Students will view two hours of presentations
before group sessions begin.
-
Live Zoom Sessions: Held on Sunday nights (and recorded for later
viewing). Sessions combine live demonstrations by Michael working through a
set of family records alongside group discussions where students share
prompts, results, challenges, and questions.
Class Focus & Weekly Assignments
-
Weekly Assignments: One assignment per week focused on Notebook's media
outputs using your own research problem.
-
Scope: The course focuses on mastering the tools and capabilities of
Notebook rather than providing individual research advice, making it
accessible to participants working on problems from any region.
Community Discussion & Communication
-
Private Google Group: Used for asynchronous discussion, peer
interaction, Q&A, and prompt sharing outside of live sessions.
-
Email Requirement: A Gmail account is strongly recommended. Accounts
with AOL, Yahoo, or Hotmail frequently experience delivery issues with
group emails.
Important Dates
-
1 September: Pre-recorded lectures become available for download, and
the private Google Group opens.
-
Live Zoom Discussions (Sunday Nights): 13 September, 20 September, 27
September, and 11 October.
Registration & Tuition
-
Fee: $70–register now to save your spot
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EAYH3Z2FWUR9S>
.
-
Availability: Registration is limited.
Develop your AI skills today!
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EAYH3Z2FWUR9S>
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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17
Henderson, IL 61439
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------------------------------------
Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com
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