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National Genealogical Society
Special Topics Series

Mastering Genealogical Proof

NGS Special Publication No. 107

Paperback: ISBN No. 978-1-935815-07-5

Kindle: ISBN No. 978-1-935815-09-9
iBook: ISBN No. 978-1-935815-10-5

Paper edition printed in the United States on chlorine-free, acid-free, 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper.

Cover photos contributed by B. Darrell Jackson and Thomas W. Jones. Author’s photo courtesy of Marilyn Markham.

© Copyright 2013 by Thomas W. Jones

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

All rights reserved. Without prior permission of the publisher no portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews.

Published by

National Genealogical Society

3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22204-4304
In loving memory of Julie Kay Jones
and to our beloved son, Tommy
Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 — Genealogy’s Standard of Proof

What is genealogy?

Why a genealogical proof standard?

The Genealogical Proof Standard

Modern technologies and genealogical proof

Research and reasoning cycles

Using the GPS

Chapter 1 exercises

Chapter 2 — Concepts Fundamental to the GPS

Research questions

Sources

Categories of genealogical sources

Importance of source distinctions

Information

Informants

Categories of genealogical information

Importance of information distinctions

Relationship of sources and information

Evidence

Categories of genealogical evidence

Importance of evidence distinctions

Relationship of sources and information to evidence

Chapter 2 exercises
Chapter 3 — GPS Element 1: Thorough Research

What “reasonably exhaustive” means

Planning thorough research

Executing thorough research

Demonstrating research extent

Chapter 3 exercises

Chapter 4 — GPS Element 2: Source Citation

Citation components

Five questions that citations answer

Physical sources viewed as images

Sequencing citation elements

Kinds of citations

Reference notes

Source lists

When and how to craft a citation

Resources for citing genealogical sources

Chapter 4 exercises

Chapter 5 — GPS Element 3: Analysis and Correlation

Tests of analysis

Authored work or original or derivative record?

Primary, secondary, or indeterminable information?

Other tests of analysis

Tests of correlation

Prerequisite to correlation

Ways to correlate

When to analyze and correlate

Outcomes of analysis and correlation

Casting doubt
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 Resolve conflicts

Yield conclusions

Chapter 5 exercises

Chapter 6 — GPS Element 4: Resolving Conflicts and Assembling Evidence

How evidence conflicts

Resolving conflicting evidence

Reasoning

Explaining conflict resolutions

Unresolved conflicts

Assembling evidence to establish a conclusion

Chapter 6 exercises

Chapter 7 — GPS Element 5: The Written Conclusion

Proof statements

Proof summaries

Proof arguments

Differences between proof arguments and proof summaries

Divisions within proof arguments

Developing the argument

Clear writing

Chapter 7 exercises

Chapter 8 — Using the GPS

Chapter 8 exercises

Chapter 9 — Conclusion

Appendix A — Pritchett Article

Appendix B — McLain Article

Glossary

Reading and Source List

Answers to exercises

Chapter 1 exercise answers

Chapter 2 exercise answers

Chapter 3 exercise answers

Chapter 4 exercise answers

Chapter 5 exercise answers

Chapter 6 exercise answers

Chapter 7 exercise answers

Chapter 8 exercise answers

Notes

List of Tables

Table 1 — Suggestions for Identifying Sources to Answer Genealogical Questions

Table 2 — Selected Guides Describing American Genealogical Sources

Table 3 — Long-Form and Short-Form Reference-Note Citations to the Same Source

Table 4 — Selected Documented Examples of Errors in High-Quality Sources

Table 5 — Correlation in a Narrative and a List

Table 6 — Timeline Separating the Identities of Men Named John Geddes in the Same Irish Parish

Table 7 — A Table Correlating Sources, Information, and Evidence

Table 8 — Seven Related Proof Statements in Context

List of Figures

Figure 1 — Who-What-When-Where-Where Elements in Four Citations to Published Sources

Figure 2 — Who-What-When-Where-Where Elements in Four Citations to Unpublished Sources

Figure 3 — Who-What-When-Where-Where Elements in Citations to Published Sources Viewed in Published and

Unpublished Media
Figure 4 — Who-What-When-Where-Where Elements in Citations to Unpublished Sources Viewed in Published
and Unpublished Media

Figure 5 — Map Correlating Evidence from Ten Deeds, a Chancery Case, and a Land Grant to Help Prove a
Relationship

Figure 6 — Illustration and Analysis of an Explanation of the Resolution of Conflicting Evidence

About the Author

Preface
All of us tracing a family’s history face a paradox. We strive to reconstruct relationships and lives of people we
cannot see, but if we cannot see them, how do we know we have portrayed them accurately? Is determining ancestry
that predates living people’s memory just guesswork? Or do we blindly trust every source we examine and ignore
inconsistencies? Should we perhaps do the opposite—mistrust sources to the point that our conclusions are mostly
tentative? Can we not determine reliably which genealogical findings reflect the past? If we can make that
determination, how can we demonstrate its credibility to family members and other researchers?

Family historians in the twentieth century adapted concepts from the field of law to address these questions and to
assess genealogical research outcomes. Recognizing the shortcomings of applying one discipline’s standards to
another, the Board for Certification of Genealogists distilled the field’s best practices for determining accuracy into
an overarching standard and labeled it “Genealogical Proof Standard,” often called “the GPS.” In 2000 the board
published the standard in its Genealogical Standards Manual and delineated fifty-six research standards supporting
it.

With the Standards Manual in print, the genealogy field took a great step forward, but family historians wanted
more. Since the Manual’s publication practitioners have sought more guidance in implementing the GPS’s five
elements, including its “reasonably exhaustive search” and “soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion.”
Similarly, increasing numbers of intermediate and advanced genealogy students have wanted more information
about the GPS. Its use also would enhance the work of the burgeoning legions of new family historians beginning to
learn about genealogical methods and standards. Every family historian—and the field as a whole—benefits when
genealogical findings meet standards of accuracy.

This book is written to help researchers, students, and new family historians understand and use the GPS. It is a
textbook on genealogical methodology and reasoning. Unlike many texts, however, it is written in the first person:
We and our refer collectively to you, the reader, and to me, the author.

The book’s arrangement resembles that of a mathematics textbook. Content is broken into digestible chunks, and the
chapters use many examples to explain sets of related concepts. Each chapter concludes with a group of exercises—
questions and problems that provide practice essential to mastering the chapter’s content. Answers are at the back of
the book.

All the exercises and nearly all the examples use real records, real research, and real issues. To the extent possible in
a textbook format, examples and exercises appear in contexts showing readers the relationships among research
activities, finished research products, and concepts of evidence and proof. The book concludes with a sixty-seven-
item glossary of the book’s technical terms, an extensive annotated bibliography and reading list, and appendixes
containing two complete articles to be used for many of the book’s sixty-two exercises.

Nearly all this book’s examples and exercises come from research on my son’s ancestry—American with British,
Germanic, and Irish roots. The principles, however, are universal. Researchers use the GPS to determine identities
and relationships beyond the United States and Western Europe. For examples, see many issues of the National
Genealogical Society Quarterly, which—like other publications—has published outstanding examples of research
applying the to families with diverse ethnicities and geographic origins.1

When I began tracing my family’s history, almost a half-century ago, I gave no thought to accuracy. Trusting what I
read and what people sent or told me, I naively shared false information with relatives and other researchers. A few
years later my research nearly ended because I mistakenly believed that my many genealogical brick walls were
permanent barriers. Decades of inefficient self-educating and eventually studying articles in the National
Genealogical Society Quarterly, attending national genealogy conferences, and having my research critiqued by
others finally taught me otherwise. I began to understand genealogical evidence and proof and to use that knowledge
to reconstruct long-forgotten lineages and biographies as accurately as I could.

I wrote this book to help other genealogists understand in a reasonable time frame what decades of trial-and-error
experiences have taught me. I hope the text and exercises will save them from the embarrassing blunders and
misconceptions I have experienced. I hope it will enable many more family historians to advance their genealogical
research goals efficiently and accurately. All of us should be able to reconstruct confidently, and portray accurately,
the lives and relationships of people we cannot see.

I thank Kay Haviland Freilich, CG, CGL; Karen Mauer Green, CG; Alison Hare, CG; Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG,
CGL, FASG, FNGS; and Patricia Walls Stamm, CG, CGL.2 They each reviewed the entire manuscript and provided
valuable corrections and suggestions. I also thank the many anonymous reviewers who critiqued all or parts of it. All
their comments were helpful, although any errors that remain are my own. I am most grateful to Elizabeth Mills,
who over the past three decades has directly and by example taught me most of the principles this book articulates,
and from whom I continue to learn. I also thank the genealogy students at Boston University and the Salt Lake
Institute of Genealogy, who helped me understand how to teach the concepts this book covers.
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Chapter 1
Genealogy’s Standard of Proof

Genealogists call acceptable conclusions “proved.”

Other disciplines use different terms to describe acceptability,
but genealogy’s standards for proof resemble those of other disciplines.

What is genealogy?
Genealogy is a research field concerned primarily with accurately reconstructing forgotten or unknown identities
and relationships. Many of these identities and relationships existed in the past, but genealogical research also
includes living people. Genealogy emphasizes biological and marital kinships, but it also addresses adoptive,
extramarital, and other kinds of relationships within and across generations.

Genealogy is a multidisciplinary endeavor. Its knowledge base borrows from fields like anthropology, economics,
genetics, history, law, mathematics, and sociology. Genealogists use sources created for business, demographic,
governmental, journalistic, legal, medical, religious, social, and other purposes. As a research discipline, genealogy
has its own skill set and standards. Like mathematics—a technical field supporting economics, engineering, and
physics—genealogy is a problem-solving discipline in its own right and one that supports other fields, including
history, law, and medicine.

Many people pursue family for pleasure and to learn more about their family’s background. Enjoyment, of course,
does not require accuracy. Most family historians, however, consider accurate results important. They desire a way
to differentiate correct from incorrect information, to determine unspecified relationships, and to demonstrate that
their research results are credible. The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) meets this need. It also reflects this
discipline’s skill set. Applicable to family history research across geopolitical boundaries, societies, languages, and
time, the GPS helps us produce trustworthy family histories, enabling future generations to build upon our work. It
also gives genealogists and consumers of genealogical research a framework for assessing research results.

Why a genealogical proof standard?

Research establishes conclusions that advance knowledge. In this regard genealogy is no different from other
disciplines. We focus on forgotten or hidden identities, relationships, and activities of families and individuals.

Every research field has standards differentiating acceptable from unacceptable conclusions. Accommodating the
possibility that an acceptable conclusion may later be overturned, each discipline’s standards stop short of absolute
certainty.

Genealogy has a long history of using single sources as “proofs” of names, dates, places, relationships, and other
bits of genealogical data, but the practice is risky. All kinds of genealogical sources contain misinformation. The
errors may be accidents of hearing, interpreting, memory, reading, or writing. They also can be intentional. Factors
like carelessness, economic gain, social standing, and desires to bury unsavory information, to tell an interesting
story, or simply to hide ignorance cause people reporting information to omit, distort, and invent. Avowals of truth
and certifications of accuracy do not mean the information is correct. No source is trustworthy in and of itself. Like
all researchers, genealogists require a multi-faceted standard to separate acceptable information items and
conclusions from those that are unacceptable.

Genealogists call acceptable conclusions “proved.” Other disciplines use different terms to describe acceptability,
but genealogy’s standards for proof resemble those of other disciplines. All research disciplines, including
genealogy, encourage practitioners to revisit their own and other researchers’ conclusions, especially when new
findings arise. These reassessments sometimes result in rejecting and replacing previously accepted conclusions.

Proof may be more important to genealogists than other researchers because genealogical conclusions may be more
vulnerable to error:

Genealogists are not empirical scientists, who gather data by observing phenomena as they occur. Instead, we
interpret evidence items from the past that have survived to the present. This evidence, much of it fragmentary
and some of it erroneous, comes from sources that were imperfect the day they were created.
Genealogy’s knowledge base and skill set are comparable to those of disciplines with graduate-level curricula
at reputable colleges and universities. Although genealogy is beginning to acquire academic recognition, few
institutions of higher education offer it as an accredited field of study.
Several kinds of organizations offer genealogical education, but their offerings often are targeted to beginners
or offer fragmentary coverage of genealogical sources and methods. Family historians find less-basic courses
difficult to locate or access.
Many genealogical research results in print and online seem untrustworthy. Most may be correct, but their
accuracy is invisible. When genealogical compilations offer little or no documentation, biography, or
explanation, users cannot assess their accuracy or detect their errors.
Researchers in many nongenealogical fields use large data sets. Random errors in such data tend to negate each
other, and an error in one observation will not affect the overall pattern or trend under study. Genealogists,
however, focus on one person and relationship at a time, often with limited data. One error can alter a research
outcome.

A rigorous proof standard helps genealogists avoid error. Adhering to the GPS gives us results that are as reliable as
possible. When we apply a proof standard to others’ findings we minimize the risk of polluting our sound research
with their dubious conclusions. When we explain our reasoning and show our documentation, others can see that our
conclusions are reliable. A universal standard also gives us a shared framework for understanding genealogical
methods and reasoning.

The Genealogical Proof Standard

Genealogy’s standards for proof evolved throughout the twentieth century.1 In 1997–2000 the Board for
Certification of Genealogists codified them into the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS).2 The standard has five
components:

1. Thorough (“reasonably exhaustive”) searches in sources that might help answer a research question
2. Informative (“complete, accurate”) citations to the sources of every information item contributing to the
research question’s answer
3. Analysis and comparison (“correlation”) of the relevant sources and information to assess their usefulness as
evidence of the research question’s answer
4. Resolution of any conflicts between evidence and the proposed answer to a research question
5. A written statement, list, or narrative supporting the answer

The standard’s five parts are interdependent. For example, source citations (element 2) reflect research scope
(element 1) and analysis (element 3). Similarly, the written explanation (element 5) incorporates the other four
elements. Consequently, genealogical proof cannot be partial—a conclusion failing to demonstrate any GPS element
is unproved.

The GPS’s five elements can make our genealogical work both trustworthy and longstanding:
 Thorough research reduces the probability that newfound evidence will overturn a proved conclusion. If new
evidence arises, it more likely will support or augment that conclusion than to call it into question.
Citations describe sources supporting the conclusion and show those sources’ qualities as providers of
evidence. By showing the basis on which a conclusion rests, citations enable research consumers to see how
trustworthy it is.
Analysis and correlation test genealogical evidence. Analysis shows that the conclusion rests on the most-likely
accurate sources available. Correlation shows that the proof reflects what combined relevant evidence shows.
Together, analysis and correlation show that a conclusion is unbiased.
Resolution of conflicting evidence ensures that all relevant evidence, not just part of it, supports the conclusion.
A written conclusion makes the proof transparent to others. It consequently lays a foundation for future
researchers to extend a family’s history.

Modern technologies and genealogical proof

Twenty-first-century technology advancements have facilitated genealogical research in many ways. They have not,
however, reduced our need for a standard for acceptable conclusions. Today we need the GPS even more than we
did in the 1990s.

The Internet, databases, massive indexing projects, and sophisticated search tools have added new dimensions to
how we locate and examine much genealogical source material. These advances have not changed how we interpret
and use sources, whether digitized or not. Explaining how to use and interpret the myriad kinds of genealogical
sources is beyond this book’s scope, but chapter 4 provides a brief listing of printed and online resources for
acquiring source-specific knowledge and skill.

Personal genealogy computer programs and online sharing of computer-generated genealogical reports bring
countless newly compiled genealogies to our desktops, but their accuracy is mixed. The GPS helps us identify their
useful data.

DNA testing gives family historians access to biological data via DNA records and reports. We must interpret these
documents in the same way we interpret other kinds of complex sources (land records, for example). DNA samples
that do—or do not—match are genealogically significant, but without documentary data DNA reports cannot help
support or disprove any conclusion of relationship or nonrelationship. The GPS is as important in contexts using
DNA results as it is in contexts without them.4

Research and reasoning cycles

Genealogists who systematically aim for proof use five-stage research and reasoning cycles to achieve that goal:

1. Question. We begin with questions about a documented person’s unknown relationships or other information
we want to learn about that person. Chapter 2 describes this process.
2. Gather evidence. We examine sources that seem relevant to our research questions and note tentative answers
—evidence—that information items suggest. Chapter 3 describes this process.
3. Test hypotheses. We determine the accuracy of evidence items by subjecting them to tests of analysis and
correlation. Chapter 5 explains these tests and how to use them.
4. Establish conclusions. Hypotheses passing tests of accuracy become conclusions, if no evidence conflicts with
the conclusion. If a conflict does exist, we must resolve it before we can assemble the evidence to establish a
conclusion. Chapter 6 describes these processes.
5. Prove. When we explain our conclusions in writing in a way that meets the GPS’s five elements our
conclusions become proved. Chapter 7 explains ways to write proved genealogical conclusions.

Using the GPS

Our goal is to prove our conclusions. While we are researching, proof is just a target. By searching thoroughly and
keeping track of our sources, we aim for that target. Proof is the outcome of research, not part of it. We do not
achieve proof—we do not hit the target—until we complete the research, evaluate and assemble the evidence,
resolve any conflicts, explain our conclusion in writing, and share it with others. Only then can we and readers of
our family histories and reports assess and understand our results’ accuracy.

We apply the same standard to others’ genealogical research. Examining a family history in print or online, we look
at the compiler’s source citations to assess the research extent and likely accuracy of the sources supporting the
author’s conclusions. We look in the compiler’s narrative for explanations of the evidence and reasoning behind the
conclusions. If we find them convincing, we accept the compiler’s findings as credible.
Chapter 1 exercises

1. What is genealogy?
2. What are the GPS’s five elements?
3. You have shared your family history with someone who wants you to omit all the proof statements, proof
summaries, and proof arguments, including explanations of reasoning and documentation. How do you reply?
4. Why can’t a genealogical conclusion be partially proved?
5. What is the first step in genealogical research?

Check your answers at the back of the book.

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