Week 28: Mistakes. Genealogy research mistakes are wonderful learning experiences. They can be blessings when they show you how to improve your genealogy research. Which genealogy research mistake in your past has provided the most benefit to your present? How did you discover the mistake and what steps did you take to correct it? Sharing about these experiences will help others who are figuring out their own ancestral paths.
There were two articles printed in a local newspaper that suggested my great-grandmother's brother Nat had stated his grandfather had been in the Revolution - and was Ethan Allen. Nat Allen was a very old man and the time lapse didn't add up. Allen is a very common name.
I also had copies of an application for DAR that had never been mailed on this same line that indicated the Revolutionary ancestor was named Moses Allen of Dutchess County, New York - a place Ethan Allen had likely never been or certainly had never lived. Using the old application, I obtained the proof documents on the generations of this family and discovered that the application was very correct.
I also discovered that the genealogical society in the county where the newspaper articles had appeared had been mailing out to various persons who had inquired, that Ethan Allen was Nat Allen's ancestor and including copies of these newspaper articles. So I sent them an article for their newsletter and copies of my research for their local files.
I have blogged about this before and that blog can be read here:
Not Descended From Ethan Allen!
