A little more background

When my dad was in the Army and didn't have time for research (in the days before household internet), it would take forever (18 months according to mom) to get even a death record from the Buffalo area. Seen as how 99% of my ancestors are from the western NY, northwestern PA area, that meant that there was no way for them to do any serious family history research from thousands of miles away.

There was a nice elderly lady in the Buffalo area that agreed to work a certain number of hours each month to do this work for my parents for a small sum of money. Well, $50 isn't exactly small, especially back in the late 70's, early 80's, but there you go. She was experienced in that type of research and she compiled huge amounts of data for my parents and, by default, me.

Although we have all that compiled data, it completely lacked sources. While that didn't stop their work from being done, it leaves the work open for doubt. Did this nice old lady continuously produce names to keep her only source of income flowing? Did she find possible family lines and use them as genuine? Were all the family lines that she found actually valid?

When I "inherited" a PAF file that went back up to 28 generations (I think), it made me wonder how that was and how to prove it. I took it upon myself to "prove" the work instead of looking further. As I take that roll on, you will notice that the names I post will most likely all be in your family PAF file (if you need a copy, let me know and I will email you one), but I will list the source from which I made the connection.

Enjoy