Now that you understand the parts of proof, evidence, and citations you are ready for research. Look at your family tree. Are there any holes? Missing information such as birthdates? Relationships? Your question could even come from a DNA match. How does that person fit into your tree? It might be found in a tax list or census where you've discovered two individuals with the same name. Which one is yours? You'll probably have a lot of questions, just pick one.
As a scientist, this part of the research reminds me of lab write-ups. There is a question and objective for every experiment. You now have a question. What is your objective? When writing the objective, include all of the pertinent data you know about your subject.
For example, I've been spending weeks investigating the Virginia and North Carolina Oldhams/Odums/etc. Research has shown that there are a TON of errors in all of the Oldham lines, no documentations, no citations, just unsubstantiated "stuff". Following one line back through a DNA match, leads to a William Odeon in Norfolk, Virginia. There is only very basic data about him. Discrepancies are found about his birthdate and place of birth, which I do not want to investigate right now. He came to Norfolk, Virginia. His will was written 25 Jan 1662, and proved 16 Feb 1662. He's referred to as Captain William Odeon without any proof. I really have two questions: 1. Was William Odeon a mariner and 2. Was the William who died in 1662 in Elizabeth River, Norfolk County, Virginia the mariner William? One question at a time.
Question: Was William Odeon a mariner?
Objective: I am trying to prove that William Odeon, who immigrated to Virginia, was a mariner. His will was written 25 Jan 1662, and proved 16 Feb 1662, in Elizabeth River, Lower Norfolk County, Virginia
Now is the time to gather all the data which you have collected on the subject. Unfortunately, he was a new find so we did not have any data collected for him. Checking the online sources of Ancestry, Family Search, and Oldham Family History, I only found a couple of items with citations. REMEMBER: If there isn't correct documentation, it didn't happen. Using both Google Sheets and Google Docs for our genealogy data allows both my sister and me to have access to the data. Using Google Docs, a timeline of the data was created. A citation footnote was inserted for each fact entered.
Data collected:
1. No Date - *See image 1 below
[The following list is from a paper without date. The Capt. Hopson in it is the Capt. Hopson of the New England Histories probably]
"A List of Sea Men's Names which Capt. John Hopson one of his Maties Counce ll in Virginia desireth to be exempted from ye presse in Regard of his Present intended Voyage of Virginia in yfehte" (Isle of Wight.)
William Vpton, Mr. Richard White, Mate William Godfie William Minterne Thomas Wooden Thomas Wise Robert Carter Nicholas Sallter Nicholas Godfie John Persie William Oden John Orchard John Smith John Preston
(Drake, Samuel G.. Result of Some Researches Among the British Archives for Information Relative to the Founders of New England: Made in Years 1858, 1859, and 1860: Originally Collected for and Published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, and Now Corrected and Enlarged. United States: Office of the New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Register, 1860. p. 55.)
2. 1634 – Norfolk County, VA *See Image 1 below
William Oden arrived in Virginia. (DRAKE, SAMUEL G. Result of Some Researches Among the British Archives for Information Relative to the Founders of New England: Made in the Years 1858, 1859, and 1860.)3. 1651, April 14 – Norfolk County, VA – Elizabeth River *See note 2 below William Odeon, the mariner of London and master of a ship, bought 100 acres of land on Elizabeth River from George Heigham. (Deed Book A page 141)
4. 28 April 1651- Court at James City *See note 3 below
(177) Henry Brakes being constable for ye Little Creek doe apprehend the bodies of William Richardson and Edward Perkins and to bringe them before Capt. Sibsey and there to press boat and hands and to carry them aboard the ship called the Planter. Mr. William Odeon being the master and ye said Richardson and Perkins having deserted their service been hired by sd. Odeon…. (p. 170)
1655, June 23 - Norfolk County, VA *See Note 4 below William Odeon, commander of the good ship Planter assigns Power of Attorney to Richard Starnell to take care of his affairs while he is at sea. (Deed Book C page 167)
(Norfolk County Virginia, Deed Books A - C 1637-1656. Norfolk County Courthouse Portsmouth, Virginia. FHC microfilm number 32823, Family Group number 7676198, image 610 of 679. Deeds and Wills, V. A-C 1637-1656. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, June 19, 1950.)
Time to analyze your evidence. In gathering evidence, I found errors in both conclusions and citations from others. TIP: If possible, always try to look at the ORIGINAL references listed in the citations. Never assume that the researcher has transcribe the data correctly, made a sound conclusion about the data, or cited the reference properly. The following faults were found with some of the data.
Image 1 - There are comments to be made on this image:
1. The original source for this evidence was cited as:
Reference: Passengers to America by Michael Tepper , page 55, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1978
When I looked up the source, it was discovered that Michael Tepper was the editor of the reprinted work by Samuel Drake. It cannot be stressed enough, it is important to go back to the original source. Give credit where credit is due.
2. This image was copied and pasted, by me, from the original source written by Samuel G. Drake. He notes that there was not a date on the paper he found. He does not say where the paper came from, or who may have written it. It looks as if more research needs to be done on Capitan John Hobson to see if this list could be from the right time period.
3. Look at how the passage was not transcribe properly in the source I copied and pasted it from. It should read:
"A List of Sea Men's Names which Capt. John Hopson one of his Maties Councell in Virgenia desireth to be exempted from ye presse in Regard of his Present intended Voyage of Virginia in ye good ship called ye Unity of ye Isle of Wyght" -- bolded words omitted. Another reason to check the evidence yourself.
4. For evidence 2, I copied and pasted the information as it was posted. The citation states that information came from Drake. Look at the image. Drake does not say that the list was from 1634. It is my belief that the original researcher saw the date of 1634 in Image 1 and assumed the list was from that date. Turning to the next page in the book, William Odean is not listed as a passenger on the Mary and John. This is a perfect example of why it is important to check the original source yourself. After going through a lot of different reference materials, I have not found any proof that William Odean arrived in Virginia in1634.
For now I'm going to discount both evidence 1 and 2. Number 2 is totally incorrect as seen in the source used as a citation, so it will be deleted. After more research, 1 might be used again.
Note 2: A piece of data I copied and pasted from an online source.
This would be a great resource, since it says "mariner of London". However, the citation is incomplete. Remember, my rule is to always look at the original data. What is the correct title for the deed book? I've assumed the researcher means Norfolk County, Virginia Deed Book A. The year given for the data is 1651. That cannot be correct since Deed Book A covers 1637- 1646. A simple search online gives that data. One of my favorite resource sites is JSTOR. They have a journal article titled: The Colonial Court Records of Lower Norfolk and Norfolk Counties. This is an excellent source of material available for research. Luckily, Family Search has the microfilm online so it can be searched. Deed Book A does, in fact, only go up to year 1646. A search in Deed Book B was then conducted. Due to the poor quality of some of the pages, I was unable to find the recording of the deed. Was the original citation made long ago when the book was in better shape? Impossible to answer.
Note 3: Discovered in my research
This item demonstrates a technique I like to use. Alice Granbery Walter's source had an index. Whenever possible go to the original source to avoid incomplete or wrong transcriptions. The index in her book did not have an Odeans listed in Deed Book A. Just as I had found. In Deed Book B index, I found William Odean listed. I was able to get the item number from the index, the pages are not numbered in the deed books. It was an easy search on the microfilm to find the information. TIP: Always take a screen shot of the original data so it can be added to the fact and citation in your tree.
Note 4: Copied and pasted from a website online.
Again, the citation is not substantial enough. However, after becoming well acquainted with Norfolk County Virginia, Deed Books A - C 1637-1656 microfilms, this was an easy find. My habit is to transpose the evidence directly from the original data. Unfortunately, this source is badly darkened. The information cannot be downloaded from the microfilm. I did take four screen shots which need to be lighten in photo software so I can make an entire transcription of the text, and not just an abstract. I have found that abstracts can leave important information out.
There is other evidence I gathered about William Odeon, which helps prove he was a mariner. This evidence will be presented in the next post to answer my second question: Was the William who died in 1662 in Elizabeth River, Norfolk County, Virginia the mariner William?
Tentative Conclusion: William Odean was a mariner. He was the captain of his own ship, the Planter. (I need to apply the Genealogy Proof Standard before I make a final conclusion.)
Remember: Citations need to be clearly written so anyone can easily find the source and evidence. Too much information is better than too little. A citation for a microfilm should stack information. The top has the information from the original, the bottom is the information about the microfilm. Notice that I included the image number to make it even easier to find the evidence.
Example:
Norfolk County Virginia, Deed Books A - C 1637-1656. Subtitles of sections: Deed Book A - 1637-1646, Deed Book B - 1646-1651, Deed Book C - 1651 - 1656. FHC microfilm number 32823, Family Group number 7676198, image 610 of 679. Deeds and Wills, V. A-C 1637-1656. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Norfolk County Courthouse Portsmouth, Virginia. June 19, 1950.
Happy Hunting -- until next time.
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