[Genealogy] Constistency, My Three Cousins, and More

[Michael John Neill]

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Genealogy Update 25 January 2026

** Consistency
** Midwest Genealogy Center Trip
** Humor: My Three Cousins

** Landless Farmers Webiar

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Consistency

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It is unrealistic to expect records obtained in genealogy research to be
completely consistent. Names will be spelled a variety of ways, places of
birth will vary as to location, ages or dates of birth may suggest a
decades-long birth date. It’s human nature to occasionally be inconsistent
when providing information, especially as one ages and if the same
information is given repeatedly in a variety of documents over a series of
decades. Sometimes the variation is intentional because the person was
lying and sometimes it is unintentional because the person did not know or
did not care. The problem is compounded when informants are providing
information about people they never met or events that took place before
they were born.

And most of the time these people never dreamed that in 100 years someone
would be fretting over an age they provided in a census enumeration.

Anyone who expects complete consistency in records used for genealogy
research is going to be disappointed and frustrated. They may even wish to
pursue a new interest.

A more realistic expectation is for records to be relatively consistent.
The difficulty is that “relatively consistent” is difficult to precisely
define. Sometimes it is contextual. But a few general guidelines:

   - A person’s last name, no matter how it is spelled, should have the
   same general sound from one record to another. Knowing how the name was
   likely pronounced is key to this process.  Having a step-father, being
   adopted, getting married, etc. all can change that last name.
   - A person’s age should generally generate a ten year range of birth
   dates and usually one that is more narrow than that. Children’s ages tend
   to be more accurate than those of older adults. If the majority of records
   suggest a smaller range of years of birth, it could very well be that the
   one record suggestive of a significantly different date is simply an error.
   - A person’s place of birth should be geographically consistent and
   should also take into account changing borders and changing political
   alliances in the area where the birth took place. The probability the
   informant actually knew the information coupled with the fact that some
   people occasionally confuse “where born” with “where from” should also be
   taken into account.

Other identifying factors in the records should paint a consistent picture
as well:

   - names of parents
   - name(s) of spouse(s)
   - names of children

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Midwest Genealogy Center Trip-Deadline Extended
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We've extended the deadline to register for our genealogy research trip to
Independence, Missouri. We still have openings for this May 2026 trip and
are still accepting registrations. Details on our website
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/mid-continent-genealogy-library-october-2025-research-trip/>
.
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Humor: My Three Cousins
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For those who don’t understand how cousins are counted…it’s easy. My uncle
has three sons: the oldest one was my first cousin, the middle one was my
second cousin, and the youngest one was my third cousin.
------------------------------

Of course that’s not how first, second, and third cousins are determined.
First cousins share a set of grandparents. Second cousins share a set of
great-grandparents, and third cousins share a set of
great-great-grandparents. The pattern continues on successively. There
are charts
that attempt to show the relationship graphically for those who are visual
learners
<http://www.familytreemagazine.com/upload/images/pdf/relationship.pdf>.

Then there are the removed when the two individuals are not the same
generation of descent from the common ancestor. Your first cousin’s child
and you are first cousins once removed–because that child is one more
generation removed from the original ancestor than you are. Your cousin’s
grandchild and you would be first cousins twice removed–because that
grandchild is two generations further from the original ancestor than you.

Your child and your first cousin’s child would be second cousins. Your
child and your first cousins child share a set of great-grandparents–the
people who are you and your cousins’s grandparents.

And of course, there several nuances:

   - half cousins–would only share one grandparent or one
   great-grandparent. This could easily happen if a person had multiple spouses
   - double cousins–people who are related in more than one way. This most
   often happens when brothers marry sisters, a brother and sister marry a
   sister and a brother, etc.

Instead of stating the specific relationship between two individuals, I
prefer to clearly state the common ancestor.

Edward and Curtis Habben were both grandsons of John M. and Anke H. (Fecht)
Habben.

Cecil Neill and Edna (Rampley) Dion were second cousins, being
great-grandchildren of James and Elizabeth (Chaney) Rampley. Their son
Riley was Cecil’s grandfather and their son James was Edna’s grandfather.

Your mileage may vary.
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Farmers Without Their Own Land
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Those who worked in American agriculture but did not own their own farm are
more difficult to research than those who owned real estate. In this
presentation, we focus on farmers and farm families, but concentrate on
those who did not own farms of their own.

Tenant farmers and farm laborers comprise a significant proportion of those
involved in American agriculture. The challenge is that they tended to
leave fewer records than did landowning farmers. In this presentation we
will look at specific challenges involving these families and what records,
sources, and methods should be utilized in order to research them as
completely and effectively as possible. While there are never any
guarantees in genealogy research, there are ways that we can maximize the
chance we find as much about our non-landowning farm ancestors as possible.

The presentation will be given with the premise that the person being
researched did not own any real estate.

Concepts covered include:

   - Determining the residence as precisely as possible.
   - Documenting others with whom the ancestor interacted.
   - Documenting moves and migrations where possible.
   - Determining if the same person has been located.
   - Strategies to locate as many references to the ancestral name as
   possible.

This is not a live presentation although those who purchase the
presentation before its release are encouraged to submit questions for
possible inclusion in the presentation. This presentation focuses on
research in the United States.

Purchase includes video of presentation and handout. Immediate download for
$24
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=247703&method_id=270569>
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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day

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