Resolving Conflicts

Comments (13)

• I would also note in the “research” page on Legacy that two sources gave conflicting statements. You’re lucky you were able to order the death certificate which verified what you had read. Well done,

• I wouldn’t have doubted him to begin with. After all, he was there.

• Good work Michele. One more reason to find source documents and NOT rely on transcriptions. Is your hubby doing the happy dance “I told you so!”? 🙂

• I have worked in a family run cemetery in central Wisconsin for over 50 years now and have seen some very interesting obituaries over the years. Many families do not want other family members, friends, or individuals from the persons past; (old boy or girl friends neighbors) to know the real information so the obituaries reflect only what is suppose to be public record. Now most of the obituaries are digital so they are not retyped, previously funeral homes had a preset form that was filled in when arrangements were made and if it was not proof read after information from a previous funeral was left in the form making more mistakes possible. Once the paper received the information it was retyped to be printed and again more errors are possible if not checked or the previous information was not removed. Human error is often the main cause in the misprints.

• Patsy,
  Your ordeal sounds horrific! The only problem in this case that the wreck was at 8:13 AM on 03 Dec 1966 and he died 6:50 am on 04 Dec 1966 which is less than 24 hours.

• Michele Lewis,
  I can add another possibility, from a wreck I was in years ago. My liver “exploded” but they didn’t find it in the hospital (one day). A week later I was getting weak and couldn’t eat so went to doctor. After an emergency operation it was found the damage, and they took out part of my liver, but I had lost a lot of blood inside so needed transfusions.
  It is 40 years later and I owe my life to that doctor.
  So depending how much damage… his liver could be bleeding slowly and he live a week or more. To a grieving family member that could be “an extended illness” when they wrote the Obit.
  Patsy Reading

• Jim,
  You did something that is important, you explained WHY (your theories) this information was inaccurate.

• John,
  It is always good to formulate different scenarios like what you have done. You could try and find evidence that could answer that question. You then look at the totality of sources to see which of your theories you can support. For example, are the medical records still available and would you have access to them? You can also mention alternative scenarios in your narrative if there are viable theories that you haven’t been able to confirm or discount.

• Bruce,
  And that is why you always need to consider who the informant was. There are three aspects, Source, Informant, Evidence. You can categorize everything using this format and it will help you weigh your evidence. Here is some additional information I think you will find helpful:
  https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-17-evidence-analysis-process-map

• I have used findings from historic newspapers to help confirm, and/or to add detail to handed down family lore stories. I have also found information in books, news articles, or other documentation that dramatically alters some family lore stories. One story in particular, I believe, was inaccurate not because the family lore stories were substantially wrong, but because a lot of important facts and detail had been left out. I explain that it was because those recalling the stories — my aunts — were young pre-teens when the events happened, or when they heard the story, and just never knew those other details. Their versions went from point A to point B, but left out years of critical places and events in between.

• Perhaps he was sick for a long time before the car crash.

• Obituaries are almost always written by the family – and while they MAY be true – they may also be a list of falsehoods that makes the family feel better about their relative.
  An example – in the 80’s in the height of the AIDS crisis, most AIDS death will NOT be listed that way in an obituary because – after an extended illness does not have the implication about a persons sex life that “died from AIDS” does – even though it never should have implied that.
  While obituaries can be a great source for family tree information, it is not always correct either. The same being true for anything other than DEATH information on a DEATH certificate. Just because it says the parents were xyz and they were born on and in – don’t buy it at face value. If I had a dollar for every relative that shaved a year or two off their ages (or in a couple of cases ADDED years), that would be very sweet indeed. And of course, the respondent on a death certificate may not REALLY KNOW the family even …. While the death information is probably correct and trustworthy – MOST OF THE TIME – it is all subject to interpretation and reading between the lines.

• Good point and something we all need to remember.