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From: "marie sellers hollinger" <>
Subject: "Murphy's Laws Hold True for Family Research"
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 09:24:31 -0500


Hoosier Times, Sunday, October 10, 2004

"Murphy's Laws Hold True for Family Research"

FAMILY TREE LEAVES
By Mona Robinson
--------------------------------------------------
The following 12 Murphy's Laws of genealogical research came from an old
Greene family newsletter, via genealogist Don Matson. They're so true that
they may not seem all that funny.

1. The family you are looking for will be on the last page of the unindexed
(of course) census film you check. but if you begin at the end of the roll,
they will be on page 1.

2. The microfilm that you have diligently searched page-by-page will have an
index at the end.

3. All of your spouce's ancestors will be mentioned in county histories.
None of yours will be.

4. If you need just one record, the microfilm will have page numbers. If
you need three or more records, there won't be any page numbers and the
record will not be in proper order.

5. The book you need most will be out being rebound.

6. You will need item 23 on a microfilm roll that has 22 items. The rest of
the film is continued on another roll that is "missing and presumed lost."

7. Just before the entry you need, the records will end. They will begin
again two years after the date you need.

8. If one brother is left out of the genealogy of the family, guess whose
ancestor he will be?

9. If there is a family history on one branch of the family tree, it won't
be yours.

10. When you finally find the microfilmed probate records, the book will be
so tightly bound that you can only make out the first two letters of the
name of the person who may be your ancestor.

11. The researcher you hire to read original records will inform you that
only that particular probate packet is missing.

12. During the last hour of your trip to the Family History Library in Salt
Lake City, you will find everything you've hunted for all week, but you
won't have time to copy it.

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