I'm starting to wonder, myself...

[Montauk6]

Did Our Ancestors Really Care?

Family historians frequently "fuss" over the details in our ancestors' lives. Misspelled names, varying middle initials, birthplaces all over the map, and birth dates all over the calendar—all result in much frustration. A great deal of time is spent trying to either integrate inconsistent details or to determine which pieces of information are incorrect and can be ignored.


Our ancestors most likely cared less about the differing details than we do.

I recently re-read the preface to a 1983 history of one of my own families. The surname was originally Janssen, which frequently was Anglicized to Johnson. The author quipped that when her husband was called to dinner he didn't much care whether it was Janssen or Johnson. The end result was still the same and dinner was still ready.


Of course name Anglicization and "age shaving" can complicate the life of the genealogist, creating inconsistencies where perhaps none really exist.

The difficulty is that we can't travel back in time to actually see the John Johnson who married in 1883. Perhaps he really was our Jans Janssen, who for a time Anglicized his name. If I could just see the John Johnson of 1883, I might easily see that he's not the same guy that appears in the wedding portrait dated 1883 that I have of my Jans Janssen. That ancestor whose age in the census appears a few years off may still be ours, despite the apparent difference.

MORE: http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=3568