My Blunder
Well, I had a really great story I wanted to share with you all of you, that was sent to me last year. But, alas I must wait for someone to get back to me. It was a great fictional saga of the David's. So, I will share a true story with you, about the mistake I made on my tree, for I did not check my references, when I first received the information.
I was working on my maternal side of the family, my Frost line, when a hand drawn picture of a family tree was emailed to me. It was a great drawing, and I assume all the facts were correct. In most ways they were. When I got to my GGGGG-Grandparents names, I assume this was correct. So I went with it, did some research, email other people, and behold, I was related to ROYALTY, to many Knights,Lords,Earls,Dukes and to Kings, including most of the Kings of Scotland, from way back when. I was thrill, close people that were researching along with me were so happy, that I came across this find. The dates work, everything fit, things were moving along. Many emails were sent, data was gather. Books were recommended to me. It was a whirl wind ride. But......I had a nagging doubts for months. It was too easy, there was something missing. Finally I found most of the truth.
A dear relative sent me to Heritage Online, let me borrow a user name and password. I started in on the census records. I was confused at one point. My GGGGG-Grandparents that I thought were related to royalty was listed in a 1850 census in Georgia, but that cannot be right, for my GGGGG-Grandparents were living with their son and daughter-in-law in Mississippi in a 1850 census. You can see where I am going with this? Don't you? I made a blunder, a HUGE blunder. I emailed close relatives that were also chasing these GGGGG-Grandparents, they said wait, maybe they moved during the census??? I say not likely.
I really should have know better, I was sent an email and something did not seem right, at the time, I ignored it, because I wanted to be right. I spent countless hours on my Frost line. I loved my families and wanted to prove that our families came from somewhere great. I thought that I had and they were thrilled. They loved the names of people I came across that were suppose to be related to our family. I did not want to disappoint. I still do not know where John and Rebecca Frost came from. They were both born in South Carolina, but that is where it ends. I have no dates on when they were married. There are five to six other couples named John and Rebecca Frost. So far none match up to mine.
Validate your facts, no matter where they come from. Census records are a great place to start. Birth records, Death records, any kind of records that can prove your facts is a wonderful thing to have. So there is never any doubt where you came from.
Now back to the hand-drawn tree that was emailed to me, it was originally drawn by another researcher, who I am told has passed away years ago. I have sent a letter to a relative of the person that did the original research back in the 70's and hope to hear something. I have kept the line up for the Kings and such for other researchers, if they so desire to check it out. Family members have ask me to keep it up, just in case I found some new evidence.