Avoid the Pitfalls of Sloppy Work

If you want your work as a family historian to be taken seriously, then avoid the pitfalls of Sloppy Work (F-) 

like the plague.

I know compiling your family tree is a work in progress, however, 

you must think logically and use some of those skills you learned in school! 

Everything you do in life, whether it is employment or a hobby, 

has its own protocol and vocabulary.

"through the rules we become conscious of wrongdoing." 

~ Romans 3:20.

To begin, gather your supplies. It is GOOD (A+) to have supplies and tools to work with. Go shopping if you must. Sign up for a library card at your local library or genealogy center and obtain copies of their pre-printed charts and forms or print your own! Purchase a file box for copies of printed records and photos. It's good to have access to a basic set of an encyclopedia. As you graduate from elementary research to intermediate and expert, you can add to your tool-bag as needed. 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL =  Begin your genealogical education with a tutor or by reading everything you can lay your hands on about genealogy. Just like professional teachers take refresher courses from time to time, be sure to update your knowledge base from time to time as well. This includes watching videos.  For extra credit, join a genealogical society or attend a genealogical conference. If you don't know something, keep asking questions or google it until you get your answers. 

ARITHMETIC = It's good to use a timeline for each person's life - start with what you already know and begin with their birth-date, adding in each fact during their life-time, up until their death. Figure out their approximate age at each added date. Recording dates and calculating ages is a helpful tool for logically figuring out if that's your ancestor in an outside record. 

WRITING = It's good  to add dates and locations to all facts in each person's life-stream.

You get an A+ if you pair the names of the locations with their component part -- indicate whether it is a city, township, or county! [i.e.. Kansas City, Washington Township (Twp.), Jackson County (Co.), State of Missouri (MO.), United States of America (USA)]

It's good to add parentheses around a married woman's maiden name. [i.e. Gladys Esther (White) O'Neal]

Here's a tip = type in the source of your record when you scan your book page to upload to genealogy sites. Then you will never forget where you found it, because it will be meshed into your digital picture! 

SOCIAL STUDIES = It's good to add in additional national or regional historical event facts to their timeline that occurred during their life. I leave my ancestor's information in black and add in additional information in another color. 


It's good to remember in the New World what kind of roads (none to Indian trails) and transportation were available to our American ancestors - ships on oceans, walking, horses, boats on rivers, wagons, trains, horseless carriages, airplanes and rockets in that order. Twenty miles of travel by wagon was a good day! It took many months of twenty mile days to cross the North American continent from coast to coast. 

SCIENCE = Good traveling was mostly done between the late spring and early fall seasons. By fall, the grass had grown tall and the water sources would have been lower or dried up. 

There was safety in numbers for our pioneer ancestors. Migrating people groups had to contend with hostile natives, illnesses, lack of healthy food, clean water, thieves, and the terrain. Military forts, doctors, and trading posts were few and far between if they existed on the frontier.  It's good to find FAN's (friends, associates, and neighbors) of your relatives as their descendants may have additional information about them. 

READING = It's good to find at least three sources of data per date to prove your relative's parents, their name, birth, death and anything in between. Many of the "Documents of" type posts on this website shows the type of records I have collected and transcribed. The more I find, the better I will get to know my ancestors and their families. 

New information is good! And it is also good to remember to note that on your person's timeline at that moment! Otherwise you may forget!

SPELLING = It's good when you spell names correctly.  However, remember, that not all people spell well, so look for all possible variations when scouting for information.

It's good to know that your ancestor may have a name twin!  My husband has six in our Metro Area. Using your timeline (s), figure out if the newest record jives with what you already know about your person as far as their dates, locations, their age and so forth. If it doesn't line up, discard it or set it aside for the time being until you know more. I don't accept every leaf hint that shows up for my ancestor on Ancestry.com.  

And please, be mindful of your manners! (A +) 

Now GO And Have Fun! 

Reunion and Cemetery Checklists

I. GENEALOGICAL TOOLS:

1. 3-ring binder notebook for forms and a hole punch. 
2. A basic spiral notebook or yellow legal pad. 
   
3. Plenty of sharpened pencils and an eraser.
4. Filing box. 
5. Print Fill-in-the blank Family Forms .  
6. List information needed. (Research Checklist).
7. List records (documents) and photos you have at home. 
8. List of courthouses, genealogical centers, genealogical groups, libraries, and websites.
9. Change for photocopy machine. 
10. A pair of white gloves for fragile documents. 
11. Magnifying glass.
12. Camera with new batteries or fully charged smart phone.
13. A computer laptop with a family history program is nice, but not necessary. 
14. An electric extension cord in your notebook bag. 
15. A wand scanner. 
16. Recording device for oral interviews.
    

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II. FAMILY CEMETERY:

1. Assorted sizes of soft nylon paint or dust brushes.
2. Bug Spray. 
3. Camera plus new batteries or fully charged smart phone.
4. Cemetery Map
5. Clipboard and Paper; extra pens/pencils
6. D/2 Gravestone cleaner (only kind of stone cleaner AGS recommends). 
7. Find-a-grave App on fully-charged cell phone or I-pad. Car charger cable.
8. Hand pruner
9. Large Spray Bottle and several bottles of water.
10. Lawn or camp chair. 
11. Leather gloves.
12. List of tombstones we want to visit and/or take photos of
13. measuring tape
14. Messenger bag to carry everything in to the cemetery
15. orange cuticle sticks (gently scrapes out dirt particles from carved areas)
16. Road map or GPS
17. Sexton's business card
18. Sturdy walking shoes.
    
19. Sun Protection = Straw Hat, sunscreen and/or umbrella hats
20. Trash bags
21. T-shirt rags
22. Unbreakable mirror or an automobile metallic windshield accordion-fold sunscreen (helpful to shine light to create shadows on the tombstone when taking photos)
    

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What to bring to your next family reunion:

III. PARK

1. A first aid kit.
2. Bug spray.
3. Business cards.
4. Camera - extra batteries and/or fully charged smart phone. Charger cord.
5. Cash to donate to help defray costs of annual family cemetery care, renting the park shelter and stationery/postage for reunion reminders.    
6. For Pool, if open to public = entry money, modest bathing suits, flip flops, beach towel, sunscreen, water bottle. Optional = nose plugs, ear plugs, swimming cap, flotation devices, and money for the snack bar.
7. For Potluck = main meal, sides, dessert, iced drinks in cooler, picnic tablecloth and table clips, disposable dinnerware, paper towels or napkins, waterproof matches, plastic trash bags.
8. Ideas = Want more ideas? Click on Pinterest board  over on the side menu for more!  
9. Lawn chairs.
10. Musical Instruments = if you can play a kazoo, pick a banjo, guitar or a fiddle or sing, by all means, bring it on!
11. Name tags.
12. New Address? = Bring a sticky address label with it for me! 
13. Record Station for Family Historians (Separate Table away from Potluck to share Records and Photos. No Food or Drinks Allowed Here). Family memorabilia - photo albums  or scrapbooks of memorial service leaflets or newspaper clippings that announce baptisms, births, deaths,  graduation, honors, marriages, sporting events, etc.
14. Samples of your handiwork, recipes, seeds or plant starts to share. 
15. Sign-up sheet on clipboard and pen.
16. Sun and Heat Protection = Caps, fans, hats, sunscreen, water bottle.
17. Toiletry items = paper towels, toilet paper, water in a jug, and wet wipes (in case the park’s johnny-on-the-spot runs out or if the water hydrants are shut off like in previous years).
18. TV Trays (if city double books the shelter by mistake again) = Food and Drink park.
19. Toys and Games = badminton rackets, balls, bats, Frisbees, Lawn Dominoes, Lawn scrabble, squirt bottles and Toss games. See Pinterest board for more ideas.
    

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IV. REUNION SCAVENGER HUNT GAME [I provided a printed list of fifteen or so items and a sack for their treasures. I allowed individuals to hunt and encouraged older children who could read to help the littles who couldn't. When they brought their items to me for show and tell, they selected a piece of candy for participation (ring pops were very popular). I had them throw away any trash they picked up and return the natural items back to the park.]

Find:

1. An autograph of a living relative
2. A ball of mud (or dried dirt)
3. A chewed leaf
4. A feather
5. A pinecone
6. A poem (or a memorized scripture verse like John 3:16)
7. A heart-shaped rock (or a striped rock or a rock with a hole)
8. A shell
9. A song
10. A spoon (or fork, drinking straw)
11. A stick
12. A Whistle
13. Something blue (or any other color)
14. Something fuzzy (or slimy)
15. Something metal
16. Something that makes a noise
17. Something plastic
18. Something rough (or smooth)
19. Something round (or another shape)
20. Something you think is a treasure
21. Something wooden
22. Two kinds of seeds (nuts)
23.Two different types of leaves
24. Rainbow colored scavenger hunt.

The Rush, Stout and Wyckoff Allied Family Tree

STOUT 

Penelope Van Princis Kent Stout (1622-1732) + Richard Stout (1615-1705) = 10 children

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#9. David Stout (1667-1732) + Rebecca Ashton (1672-1725) = 8 children

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#4. James Stout, Sr. (1694-1727) + Catherine Simpson (1692 - 1749) = 7 children

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#2. James Stout, Jr. (1715-1754) + Jemima Howell Reeder (1719-____) = 6 children

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#1. Abel Stout (1740-1797) + Williampy Wyckoff (1750-1782) = 7 children

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#2. James Abel Stout (1770-1855) + Abigail Holloway (1777-____) = 6 children

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#2. Margaret Stout (1802-c. 1880) + Henson Rush (1794-1848) = 6 children

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1. James M. Rush (1826-1890)

2. Ephraim Henson Rush (1828-1895)*

3. John William Rush (1831-1904)

4. Joshua Rush (1832-____)

5. Amanda Jane Rush Loveall (1835-c.1880)

6. George O. Rush (1838-____)

~~ <> @ <> ~~

WYCKOFF

Pieter Claesen Wyckoff (1625-1694) + Grietje Corneli Van Ness (1627-1689) = 11 children

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#6. Cornelius Pieterse Wyckoff (1656-1746) + Geertje Charity Simonse Van Arsedalen (1659-1746) = 4 sons

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#1. John Cornelise Wyckoff (1682-1746) + (1.) Geertje Stryker (?) = ?

(2.) Neeltje Roelofse Schenck (1683-1757) = ?

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Jacobus Jan Wyckoff (1725-1800) + Catlytie (Catelyntie) Gulick (1722-1775) = 9 children

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#4. Williampy Wyckoff + Abel Stout (1740-1797) = 7 children

~~ <> @ <> ~~

More to Read:

1. Penelope Stout on Wikipedia

2. Penelope Stout's Memorial on Findagrave,  6082496
3. Stout Family History. By Captain Nathan Stout (1748-1826). Philadelphia, PA, 1823.  
          (Source received from Treva Poe.)  
4. Bill Stout's Rootsweb List of 12 Generations of Stout Descendants.
          (Source received from Treva Poe.)

5. Penelope: A Novel of New Amsterdam. By Jim McFarlane.

6. The Story of Penelope Stout: As Verified By the Events of History and Official Records.  Thomas Hale Streets, 1897 reprint.  

7.   The Stout Family of Delaware with the Story of Penelope Stout. Compiled and Published by Thomas Hale Streets, Philadelphia, PA, 1915. Internet Archive.                       

8. As Good as Dead: The Penelope Stout Story. By Paula E. Phillips. 2006. (Treva Poe also owns this book.)

9. Descendant - David Stout's obituary on Fold3 
10.  Descendant = Zebulon Montgomery Pike

11. Abel Stout, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) genealogical records.

12. The Stout Family of Delaware. By Thomas Hale Streets. Reprint paperback, 2015.
13. Stout & Allied Families. J. D. Stout. Privately published, Chariton, IA, 1991.

14. Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie. By John Mack Faragher.

15. William Bowne, of Yorkshire, England and His Descendants. By Miller K. Reading. p. 8

16. Wyckoff House Museum, Brooklyn, New York. Genealogy CD available.

17.  Cornelius Pieterse Wyckoff, Franklin Twp., New York.

18. The First Record Book of the Society of the Daughters of Holland Dames. June, MCMVII.
19. A History of Monmouth & Ocean Counties. By Edwin Salter. 1890.

20. The Rush Report. By Gaynelle Jenkins Moore. 2003. Internet Archive. 
21. Genealogy Roadshow, Season 3, Episode 1; May 18, 2016 television series. 
22. A Stout Bible Record at the Allen County, IN Public Genealogy Library
23. The Forman Genealogy also mentions the Wyckoff family. 
24. Stout and Allied Families. By Herald F. Stout, Captain, United States Navy. The Eagle Press, Dover, OH; 1951. Vol. 1. pp. xxii, 1, 5, 16, 40, 85, 158. Internet Archive.
25. Primitive Baptist churches in New Jersey. 

26. Founders and Patriots of America Index. National Society of Founders and Patriots of America, Park Lane Bldg., #615, 2025 Eye St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20006. Mrs. Herman E. Weston, National President (1973-1976). Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1975, reprinted 1989. p. 212, 246. Home Library.

27. "Four Women In A Violent Time" by Deborah Crawford. 1970. (Treva Poe)

28. "His Family History" YouTube Playlist. 

29. Descendant = Brett Allen. Flickr family tree. 

30. The Story of Penelope Stout as Verified by the Events of History and Official Records. By Thomas Hale Streets. Press of Alfred J. Ferris, Philadelphia, PA, 1897. (Kessinger's Legacy Reprints) 

31. The Staudt-Stoudt-Stout Family of Ohio and Their Ancestors at Home and Abroad. By Herald F. Stout. 1935. Internet Archive. 

32. Stout and Allied Families. By Herald F. Stout. Eagle Press, Dover, OH; 1951. Internet Archive. 

32. Historical and Genealogical Miscellany: Early Settlers of New Jersey and their Descendants. by John E. Stillwell, MD. New York, 1916. Internet Archive. p. 357

Researched by Lori Frisch, Terry Heaps, Dorthy Mack (Lincoln; Boone Society) Gaynelle Jenkins Moore, Treva Poe, David W. Rush and Carolyn Vosburg. Typed by Dolores J. Rush. Updated: 2/28/2025. 

Cite Your Sources!

Tools = Ancestry, Family Search, Find-a-grave and other genealogical websites are only tools to help you locate sources of documents to prove your ancestors existed, however, not all documents are online. Some you have to go dig out yourself from family members,  local libraries, inter-library loan and/or on-site such as in cemeteries, courthouses, FAN's (friends, associates, neighbors), and historical/genealogical society libraries and museums. I have said that genealogy is much like a scavenger hunt and a jigsaw puzzle all rolled into one!

3 Documents 4 Each Point = According to my schoolteachers, you should have at least three documents for each point you want to discuss in detail in a report and genealogy is essentially reporting on an ancestor. So in this case, to prove not only that your ancestor lived with three documents,  you also need prove each thing that happened to them during the course of their life with three documents apiece or more. And do not disregard the citations, for these help you prove your point(s), should you ever have to do so. Membership in various groups such as Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution or the Boone Society require these. And the more documents you locate, the better you will get to know your ancestor(s) as well.

Timeline = I found it most helpful to set up a timeline for both of the current ancestors I'm researching (my 3rd great-grandparents) with a birth and a death date and filling  in between those two dates with other documents.  It's a given that all people have at least two dates in their life-time -- a birth and a death, but generally, most people have more than that.

* birth records = (primary sources such as family Bibles, letters,  birth certificates, baby announcements, baptism/dedication/church/ministerial records,  census records, doctor/hospital records,   parental wills,  tax records, tombstone/cemetery records. Secondary sources such as published genealogies, county histories, magazine/newspaper articles, etc.)

* death records = (primary records such as family Bibles, letters, death certificate,  funeral leaflet, funeral home/mortician records,  tombstone/cemetery records, canceled checks,  military records, ministerial/church records, hospital/nursing home records, insurance papers, probated wills, and secondary resources such as newspaper death records or obituaries,   published genealogies, etc.)

I have set up a short general timeline of important dates in American history here. Begin with your ancestor's life dates per census records to figure out what they may have experienced during their lifetime. Be sure to figure their approximate age during these events. You may be surprised at what you discover.

Give credit where due = I cite or document my sources this way below, however there are other preferred methods too. Find the one you like and  consistently stick with that form. I'm using the one I learned in school.

* Citation form = Name of article and/or book. Author. Illustrator, if there is one. Publisher; city/state, copyright date. Volume number, if there is one. Page number. Repository location (where the material was found, so other researchers can also find it) or if retrieved from an online source, give website url/address. If shared with you from a family source, also acknowledge their contribution. 

Is it the gospel truth? = Documents can prove or disprove a family story. You begin with the family interview (memorized oral tradition) or family Bible (handwritten record), but then you go out and find other documents to go with it. Memory can sometimes be faulty or the tale may have been twisted in the telling. Remember the "Telephone" game we used to play as children?  Records can also be off  by a year or two, so take that into account. If the census taker did not have good spelling skills and if a transcriber of the records did not have much experience in reading the old script, there may be mistakes in written names, so look for all possible variations.

Be as Professional as Possible = I've been told by several genealogical/historian friends that they will dismiss a family tree as unreliable if there isn't any citations listed, so if you wish to have your claims about your ancestors to be taken seriously, you must cite all your sources as you find them.  Not everyone is endowed with photographic memory, so as you collect more and more information on your ancestor(s), you must add the sources in as you locate your material, because you won't remember them. Get OCD about it!

Good Hunting!


Update = Found a quote that goes quite well with this article:

"Unless you make notes as to the sources of your information they may not be available later for rechecking. Trust nothing to memory. Information that cannot be checked, compared or examined in the original will not bear much weight in genealogy. Be ready to back up all statements with the facts in black and white.

Thus being able to check sources of information is one means of determining the accuracy or competence of a report." ~ Harry W. Mills, Mt. Sterling, KY. Advocate 

"every fact not documented is mythology"

A Perfect Example of a Genealogy Chart

I was able to obtain this perfect example of a genealogy chart from our pastor, Rev. Eric Forgrave. He used this small video clip during one of his sermons recently. He believes it is by youthspecialities.com. It is Jesus' family tree put into a descending chart form (names found in Genesis 5; 10; 11; 12:1-5; Matthew 1). Be sure to turn on your sound and to enlarge the screen, click on the little square in the right hand corner. 

Heritage Family Photo Albums or Scrapbooking

In addition to filling in the family history charts, you may also like to portray your ancestors' life in a scrapbook. David goes strictly for the information, however, I enjoy the stories about my ancestors too – what they were like, who they were, their occupations, how they felt about things, what the world like at that time they lived, and so forth. I also like timelines. 

I picked up a chart at a scrapbook convention some time ago by C. K. Clips which is for our son's scrapbook. In the center I will place a birth photo above his birth year. Around the perimeter of the page are the events pertinent to the year he was born such as the popular songs and television shows, films, newsworthy events, the President and Vice-President serving the year he was born, record-breaking sporting events, cost of living, and other stuff. There are websites online that cater to lists of events that happen each year. Scrapbooks are also a great place to store copies of birth certificates in pocket pages, a time-line of their life, favorite poetry, school memories, marriage photos, a mini copy of their wedding certificate, their children's photos, shots of their homes and cars, a copy of a completed family tree or chart and perhaps a photo of their gravestone. Be sure to use acid-free, lignin-free paper, pens/markers, and plastic sleeves to keep your information bright and readable for many years to come. DO NOT use those cheap magnet photo albums as your photos will deteriorate/fade over time. 

To purchase a decent photo album, you may check your local craft store for supplies such as Hobby Lobby, Joann's, Michael's, etc. I began with Creative Memories as that is what my sister sold at the time I learned to scrapbook but now I've purchased templates from Kiwi Lane Scrapbooking Co.. There is no right way to decorate a photo album/scrapbook page, except to use acid-free materials. One may spend as little or a lot for decorations such as scrapbook paper, punches, stamps or stickers. The sales clerk can show you the things you'll need to purchase at first and some shops even have how-to classes if you feel you need extra help. Kiwi Lane has tutorials on YouTube. There are a wealth of decorating ideas out there in magazines, books (craft stores, scrapbook stores, regular bookstores, library) and online.

Written by Dolores J. Rush, updated 4 May 2023.

Family History Charts

You'll find charts that one needs to begin family research with at this website Midwest Genealogy Research Center .

The first is a RESEARCH CHECKLIST with the types records that one can check X as you find information on your ancestors.

Begin at the beginning with your ancestor's name. Then document where they were born, married, and died and the locations for each – gleaned from family Bibles, family interviews, birth certificates, birth announcements, doctor or hospital records, church baptism/christening records, adoption papers, scrapbooks/diaries/journals/logs, saved letters, marriage license/certificates, church district or ministerial records, divorce decrees, county records, county historical society books, death certificates, funeral home records, newspaper announcements/obituaries clippings, cemetery/gravestone records, wills, etc.

Next check the US CENSUS RECORDS. Each state has census records county by county. If you know approximately where they may have lived, check the census & copy those records. Other documentation may be found in family Christmas card address books, church membership records & service bulletins, club membership records, land records, military records, photo albums, probate records, tax lists, telephone directories, voting records, etc. If they emigrated from overseas, you may be able to locate passenger lists. Historical societies/museums might have exhibits showcasing your ancestor(s) in the area (s)he lived. Information can be found off-line at research libraries/archives and on the internet too. As for the internet, make sure they cite sources as you are doing.  List title, author, date of publication and page number. If it's reference material found only at a certain location, note that also.

Next chart is the FAMILY UNIT CHART. This is a fill-in-the-blank chart for the information you found for your ancestor. You will need one for each family unit with descendants. Be sure to fill the chart in pencil as you might need to change information as you find it. If you don't have a computer program, it is handy to organize your family charts in a file folder or a 3-ring binder notebook. A good supply of pencils, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, a filing system, small spiral notebook, tote bag, change purse (photocopies), a camera, water bottle, white cotton gloves, and a hole punch comes in handy when out doing family research field trips. A county cemetery map, walking shoes, bug spray, camera, scissors or hand gardening snips & soft bristle brush are great to have along when visiting cemeteries. A recording device is also helpful during family interviews. David finds much of his information at family reunions and later fills in the blanks with records not available at the reunion. Many bring extra copies of old photos to swap and show and tell their family scrapbooks. I have written many snail-mail letters/emails to family members that I cannot visit in person, sometimes enclosing a photocopy of the family unit chart to indicate the information I want or to check to see what I have is correct. DO NOT send your original copies—you may never get them back.

Third is the SIX GENERATION CHART. Let's see how far back you can go. Start with yourself at the far left hand side, fill in your information, your father and mother, and your grandparents, great-grandparents and so forth towards the right side. On our computer program we have such a chart, but with an addition -- cropped head/bust photos can be inserted along with information which can be printed out.

For those who enjoy puzzles, this is a giant one! =0)

Enjoy and happy hunting!