What is Proof?
Do we as genealogists ever really prove anything? If I were asked, ‘Who are your parents,’ I could answer this without even thinking. But if I was then asked to prove it, what would my answer be?
If any of us were put in that position, our first thoughts would be of our birth certificate, but does this really prove anything? I have seen countless vital records with errors and even heard of cases in which records were forged. Is a birth certificate really proof of parentage? How do we know that mother didn’t have an affair and someone else is the father? At this point in the questioning, most of us would become flustered and end the discussion with “I just know it is true… I know so in my heart.”
That I know truly in my heart who my parents are, is enough for me, as it should be for all of us. But if I can cast doubt today with our laws and records as they are, do we as genealogists really ever prove anything? I submit the question, “What is proof?”
I know that today we have DNA as a tool, but the vast majority of what we do does not rely on this most modern of technology. We deal with family bibles filled in by individuals who had an interest in exactly what information would be passed on. Often these bibles are filled in with many generations past from other bibles or even just plain memory. Church records are probably better since they were usually recorded by a disinterested third party, but often they only had the word of the family member reporting the information. I have many times come across the baptisms or births of several children recorded at one time. How do we know that they were all truly children of this family? Could the oldest have been homeless and unofficially adopted? Could you see them hiding this fact from everyone, even the child itself? Again I ask, “What is proof?”
I don’t think genealogists prove anything, and maybe we need to remind ourselves of this fact. We gather all of the evidence available and then we give our opinion based on it. Most often, we find few if any who would argue with our findings, and we usually consider something proven at this point. But when new evidence comes to light showing that something different probably occurred, we often refuse to believe it. We ignore it because the subject has already been settled and proved differently. How could this new view be true?
We need to remind ourselves that the first finding was an opinion based on the evidence available at the time. It was an opinion, not a fact. If new evidence has surfaced, maybe we need to change our original opinion.
Again I ask, “What is proof?”
If any of us were put in that position, our first thoughts would be of our birth certificate, but does this really prove anything? I have seen countless vital records with errors and even heard of cases in which records were forged. Is a birth certificate really proof of parentage? How do we know that mother didn’t have an affair and someone else is the father? At this point in the questioning, most of us would become flustered and end the discussion with “I just know it is true… I know so in my heart.”
That I know truly in my heart who my parents are, is enough for me, as it should be for all of us. But if I can cast doubt today with our laws and records as they are, do we as genealogists really ever prove anything? I submit the question, “What is proof?”
I know that today we have DNA as a tool, but the vast majority of what we do does not rely on this most modern of technology. We deal with family bibles filled in by individuals who had an interest in exactly what information would be passed on. Often these bibles are filled in with many generations past from other bibles or even just plain memory. Church records are probably better since they were usually recorded by a disinterested third party, but often they only had the word of the family member reporting the information. I have many times come across the baptisms or births of several children recorded at one time. How do we know that they were all truly children of this family? Could the oldest have been homeless and unofficially adopted? Could you see them hiding this fact from everyone, even the child itself? Again I ask, “What is proof?”
I don’t think genealogists prove anything, and maybe we need to remind ourselves of this fact. We gather all of the evidence available and then we give our opinion based on it. Most often, we find few if any who would argue with our findings, and we usually consider something proven at this point. But when new evidence comes to light showing that something different probably occurred, we often refuse to believe it. We ignore it because the subject has already been settled and proved differently. How could this new view be true?
We need to remind ourselves that the first finding was an opinion based on the evidence available at the time. It was an opinion, not a fact. If new evidence has surfaced, maybe we need to change our original opinion.
Again I ask, “What is proof?”
posted by Bill | 12:14 PM
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