OHCOLUMB-L Archives

From: Patsy H Weikart <>
Subject: Genealogy satire
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 08:29:48 -0800

A funny to enjoy -


>How Much Documentation Do I Need?
>
>About two years ago, following a spirited discussion of the growing
>demands placed on genealogists to document, document, document, I
>received the following message from Bob Sawyer, a fellow
>Washington-area computer-genealogist.
>
>Richard, he began, I poked the future key (Ctrl-Alt-Del-F), and found
>this letter: 27 Oct 2020
>
> Dear Cousin Lucy,
> At long last I have published my books (Volumes I and II) of ancestors
>(make that ancestor), and your copies are coming under separate cover.
>I hope you enjoy them. Over the years, the documentation standards
>have required more and more footnotes, end notes, parenthetical
>commentary, and appendices. While I have found three thousand ancestors,
>printing costs limit me to including only one, Great Grampa Henry - see
>page 37.
>
>The first 36 pages explain the books' sections and acknowledge those
>contributing assistance (See cab driver who took me to the Library of
>Congress, p. 20. You will enjoy his comments). Pages 38 to 876 tell you
>where I found the information about G-G Henry, so that you can check and
>draw your own conclusions about details of his birth, marriage, and
>death. (I have over a hundred fascinating pages about his life, but,
>alas, could not afford to include them.) You may find it interesting
>that the Massachusetts State Archives
>employee on duty at 2:31 p.m., 23 February 1990 (see pages 79, 101, and
>124-140), was our cousin once removed. (She witnessed my microfilm
>viewing that day, and you will find a copy of her credentials (p. 160),
>with the description of the film reader's make, model, serial number,
>and 5-year maintenance log. She signed the statement, verifying my use
>of the film, and the fact that I wore my glasses - see page 290).
>
>Since old Henry's birth date was not on the tombstone, I calculated the
>date from that miserable line: ...at the age of 87 years, 3 months, and
>3 days. You will find the calculation explained in Appendix M, pages
> 901 to 1467. Appendix X, in Volume II, includes summaries of
>documentation standards and annotation formats from NGS, Barzun and
>Graff, Lackey, Chicago Style Manual, Turabian, and the publishers of
>Walt Disney comics. Most citations are duplicated in each of those
>styles.
>
> Lucy, the more I think about it, with your day job at the plant, your
>night-time cab driving, and the weekend Bingo sessions, you won't have
>time to read two books. Here's the main text from page 37:
>
> Henry Harborhaven (may have been Henry Bratsmith)
> b. 4 Jan 1834, in New York or New Orleans
> m. 11 Jun 1867-73, somewhere in Nebraska
> d. Beats me. See Volume I, p. 301
>
>I won't send the books. Say hello to Jack and the kids.
>Regards,
>Cousin Bob
>
>Cousin Bob obviously had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he wrote
>that delightful piece of satire. But it is easy to see why he wrote it
>when you consider that a major portion of the thread dwelt on an article
>in a genealogical journal questioning whether - with the ability of
>computer software to easily alter scanned documents - a photocopy or
>digitized image of a primary document could be considered adequate
>documentation - or even be considered at all

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• Genealogy satire by Patsy H Weikart <>