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January 18, 2020

Why You Should Check Your Sources Carefully

This email came to Olive Tree Genealogy from Sam:

Hi my name is Sam .. I have a eill [sic] from 1856 for John Calvert... a family chart with that has Obed Calvert 1743-1809 as Father. also refered to as Francis ( Obed ) Calvert. Also Ino Calvert as Obed's father.. I faxed to a Calvert genealogist who told me he had never seen the names Ino or Obed in U.S. Calvert circles. here.. do you see these names over there? I live in Oceanside Ca., near San Diego Ca.
Hi Sam-

I'm guessing that you meant "will" not "eill". Your reference to "Ino" Calvert is almost certainly a misreading of the abbreviation "Jno.". Jno. was often used in place of the first name Jonathan (although some genealogists will argue it stood for the name "John") So the man you are searching is John or Jonathan Calvert, not Ino.

Remember too that Obed could be a shortened version of Obediah. If you are positive the reference to Francis is for the same man, perhaps he used his first and middle names indiscriminately. However they could be different men. Without knowing your sources I cannot comment.  As well, the word "ibid" means the same as "ditto" and I have to wonder if there is confusion there as well. I suggest you study your sources carefully - go over them again and again to make sure you have not missed a clue or misunderstood something. See my article Everyone Makes Mistakes: Why You Should Review YourResearch Notes

Your last question as to whether I have seen the names "over there" is confusing as I live in Canada and I wouldn't call that "over there" from California! In any case your best bet is to continue your search by looking for documents for the men whose names you know to be correct. That will be the best way to find out where the family originated and who the immigrant ancestor was.


2 comments:

  1. Be sure to also double check official sources as they're only as good as the person(s) providing the information. Just now I came across the official death record for my great grandmother, who died in 1940. (Way before my time.) It was her son, my great uncle, who supplied the information. He got his grandparents, whom he never knew, mixed up. He referred to his great grandmother as Susan (He name was Jane.), but did get her family name correct. He stated that both his great grandparents were born in Pennsylvania. I have proof they were born in Ontario.

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  2. Sam should be referred to " CALVERT GENEALOGY " Facebook group. Obed is most certainly a common given name for the Calvert families claiming descent for George, 1st Lord. Obed Calvert(John Obed), Obed himself and others are important figures in the tracing of the various Calverts to Stafford and PW County VA in the very earliest era of Colonial Virginia.

    We are still working to prove that George Calvert c 1668 was the son of William Calvert, Principal Secty of MD.

    I Assist with this group as a moderator and functionally am Admin for the DNA Project at Familytreedna.com.

    Please refer Sam to our page. It has existed on Facebook since 2013. Before that it was a Yahoo group - "Calvert_genealogy. That site has 18000 updates in the conversation(Messages). Much viable material that is searchable. Beyond that, collected family descents, photographs and documents are available for the researchers.

    Various researchers are family members who begin with family documents and family lore. We can assist with this for most people who are researching the Calverts of the varied ancestries. Myself? My mother was a Calvert and the family lore believed that they were descended from the Lords Baltimore. That was untrue but that is where I started researching in 2000 when my father passed and my mother did not wish to work on genealogy further. What has occurred with me is finding the family oldest known ancestor to be John of Moorsholm near Gisbrough in Yorkshire who removed to County Armagh Ireland. His son Thomas b 1617 at Armagh was in Quaker records. That ancestry used both primary source records and DNA for several family lines descended from this John to the descendants who came to the Colonies and Canada.

    Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/245867225497516/

    You must be a member to update or post so have Sam request to join.

    He can, if he chooses, go to https://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/calvert_genealogy at yahoo groups and peruse the message log.

    Cordially,
    David Bell - Admin for Calvert Genealogy and the surname project at Familytreedna.com

    ReplyDelete