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Archiver > MAESSEX > 2002-02 > 1012611843


From: Bruce Remick <>
Subject: Re: [MAESSEX] VR inaccuracies
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 20:05:30 -0500
References: <a0.2187af71.298c5cee@aol.com>


wrote:
>
> In a message dated 2/1/02 1:33:32 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> writes:
>
> > >As I said in the beginning, those dates did not have the importance back
> > >then as they do now.
> > >I don't have a birth date for my Great Grandfather, but I have his
> obituary,
> >
> > >and that is much more important than another date to record.
> >
> > Richard---RIGHT ON!!!!
>
> Doesn't that depend on the extent one are interested in
> "family color" vs the extent one is interested in
> "family facts".
> If you are not interested in genealogical information then
> what is left is certainly better obtained in an Obit
> I do think "color" comes best from an Obit
> Maybe I misread your earlier post, but ...
> To paraphrase what I said earlier:
> "family color" probably comes best from an Obit;
> though typically limited in scope, it may provide
> a great deal of info (not "data") about the subject
> And some family "facts" are reliable in an Obit,
> other (and I think, most) family "facts" come
> most reliably from civil or clerical records.

I think what Richard was saying here was that some people will go to
great lengths to determin whether their great-grandfather was born on 23
Feb 1947 or 26 Feb 1847. The important thing being not the exact date,
but the fact that one has documented the relationship to their great
grandfather. His exact date of birth is great to know, but lacking it
doesn't lessen the significance of the ancestral connection. Exact
dates are trivia to some, an obsession to others. I tend to agree with
Richard's view but I admire the dedication of those who dig endlessly
for details.

Bruce

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