* Sources and Proof Arguments

[Little.auk]

I have read posts re multiple sources, but can't find anything about "Proof Arguments".

In a lot of instances a proof argument is not required, a couple of agreeing sources is sufficient, but I have a particular example with my g-g grandmother Susannah Rollin - where the 1851 census implies that she is Susannah Farrand, daughter of William Farrand, but the 1861 census implies that her husband William Rollin is actually William Farrand's son!

Lots of people have accepted the 1851 census version and created online ancestral trees for William Rollin and Susannah Farrand, with no other evidence to support this - and lots that say they it just ain't true.

I have written a draft proof argument, in Microsoft Word, to prove my findings that -

1 - Susannah Rollin could not be the daughter William Farrand and Elizabeth Fox.
2 - That her parents were Benjamin Whitaker and Mary Rose.
3 - William Rollin could not be the son of William Rollin and Elizabeth Warren.
4 - William Rollin was the (illegitimate) son of William Farrand and Hannah Rollin.

This covers records for a total of thirteen people and uses a number of sources including parish baptism and marriage records, birth certificates, census records, and probated wills.

How can I document this in FH7 to create links to people and Sources?

[Mark1834]

I think we have to accept that there is a lot of dross in public trees. The important thing is to make sure that your own tree is robust and supported by the available evidence, so I think you are taking exactly the right approach.

The method I use is to create a Research Note, which can be linked as required. If you just write directly into the note text, you can include formatting and links to both FH records and external sites as required. More complex text may require generating an attached pdf file, which can be as simple or complex as needed, but is more difficult to include FH record links in the text, and has to be opened to view as a separate step.

[tatewise]

Peter, as well as recording the proof you may want to consider how it will appear in reports and export to other products.

A snag with Research Notes is that they don't seem to appear in any Individual, Family, or Narrative reports.
Also, they probably won't export to other products unless you use the Export Gedcom File plugin option to convert them to standard GEDCOM Note records.

A solution is to use standard GEDCOM Note records instead, which support much the same features as Research Notes.

If reports and exporting are not important to you, then Mark's suggestion sounds good to me.

[ColeValleyGirl]

I write my proof arguments in Word, convert them to PDF and attach them as a media item to the Individual (for questions of identity) or a specific assertion (Fact).

I ought to say that I only share my tree including proof statements on my own website, with a custom method of providing a link to the PDF as a popup.Example here: https://colevalleygirl.co.uk/tree/g1/p296.htm#i296 under baptism.

I don't use Notes because a long involved proof statement breaks up the flow of a report/website.

[Jean001]

I create a Source Record for mine.

[Little.auk]

Peter, as well as recording the proof you may want to consider how it will appear in reports and export to other products.

you are right, that is one reason why I posted in the forum, to get the pros and cons from others with more experience.

I have not done much within Notes other than write brief notes, so I have a lot to learn. Up until now I have not needed much in the way of proof arguments, or to create links in notes, but this is quite a complex argument.

It was easy to prove that Susannah was not William Farrand's daughter - from the birth certificate of one of her children born in 1844, where she is shown as Susannah Rollin, formerly Whitaker. Using that, and her age and birthplace from the census, I was able to find parish records for her baptism and her marriage to William Rollin.

Proving that William Rollin was William Farrand's son was a lot harder, as most of the evidence, although compelling, is circumstantial. revolving around William Farrand's will of 1870, and the three beneficiaries.

William Rollin is the main beneficiary, his mother Hannah Rollin is also a beneficiary, and there is a third beneficiary, Mrs Rhoda Parkin. I had no idea who Rhoda was, but I traced her back, via two marriages, to her baptism in 1811, as Rhoda Farrand Ancliffe - another illegitimate child, whose mother, Mary Ancliffe, had hinted at the identity of her unrecorded father with the middle name Farrand!

So I have around a dozen sources of evidence for William Rollin, which individually prove very little, but which, in combination, become powerful evidence of his true identity.

I now have the task of trying to weave all this together into a coherent story in FH7.

[tatewise]

Bear in mind that I was talking about Note Records found on the Records Window Notes tab (alongside the Research Notes tab).
They are processed with Record Links and can be linked to other records just like Research Notes.
They are not the same as the local Note boxes attached to each Fact, Citation, or Individual Record.

[t4ms]

Hi Peter,

I highly recommend having a play with Notes. I prefer to craft individual biographies using the Notes feature rather than rely on auto-generated FH7 sentences (to each their own, not a criticism!).

I have created an auto-text research source table which I attach to each profile which has my go-to sources depending on which part of the world I'm looking at. Each source has an embedded link, and I have a column for the date I view the source, and a column for notes about that source. Below the table I have a Notes sub-heading where I add notes about research on that individual which I add with a date. I have made this private by using [[ ]]. I started doing this when I couldn't remember how I found a particular individual years (and thousands of people) later.

I always add a lot of notes if I've been lead down an interesting rabbit hole. I use a combination of citations, links to individuals, and website links (if a full citation isn't required).

The only down-side to crafting notes* is that you have to create the citation first within the note record and then you can use that citation throughout the profile (source records which do not require a dedicated citation are fine). You cannot paste a citation. For example, I've custom created source templates for parish registers. When I want to add a baptism I add it to that person's Note record first and then copy it to the baptism event.

Finally, I've learned over the years to ignore the dross online. That is the path to pain. But if you wish to refute other's findings you can drop the [[ ]], publish an individual summary report, and your evidence can be easily shared in a PDF format.

*Mike (and others) please correct me if you've discovered a work-around because I'd love to know it!

[tatewise]

The only down-side to crafting notes* is that you have to create the citation first within the note record and then you can use that citation throughout the profile (source records which do not require a dedicated citation are fine). You cannot paste a citation. For example, I've custom created source templates for parish registers. When I want to add a baptism I add it to that person's Note record first and then copy it to the baptism event.
: : : : :
*Mike (and others) please correct me if you've discovered a work-around because I'd love to know it!

Sorry, but you will have to spell out the command steps that you are using as it is not clear to me where you are creating the citations and what you are pasting & copying, etc.

[Little.auk]

Finally, I've learned over the years to ignore the dross online. That is the path to pain. But if you wish to refute other's findings you can drop the [[ ]], publish an individual summary report, and your evidence can be easily shared in a PDF format.

Correcting this particular error has been a bit of a crusade over the last three or four years! I have been quite successful messaging Public Tree owners on Ancestry -- when I search for Susannah now I find eighty-nine trees correctly showing her as Susannah Whitaker and just one still showing her as Susannah Farrand!

The biggest problem is with the sites themselves - I moved away from MyHeritage because of the way their "Smart Match" facility was proliferating unverified, and often incorrect data across their site.

I am also in correspondence with Find My Past about the latest "Upgrade" to their "Hints" system - which now encourages people to "Accept" hints without even viewing and evaluating the records first.

And it's not just the dross online you have to worry about! It is amazing how many lies you can find on "Official" documents, even when there are severe penalties for not telling the truth!

[Little.auk]

Bear in mind that I was talking about Note Records found on the Records Window Notes tab (alongside the Research Notes tab).
They are processed with Record Links and can be linked to other records just like Research Notes.
They are not the same as the local Note boxes attached to each Fact, Citation, or Individual Record.

Thanks for that Mike -- my Records Window was not showing a Notes tab, as it was set to "Hide if none" in Preferences. I have set it to "Always show" and it now shows between Families and Sources can I change the tabs sequence? I can't seem to find that option in the Preferences screen.

[tatewise]

No, you cannot change the order of the Records Window tabs. Why would you want to?

You don't have to create Note Records via the Records Window Notes tab any more than you have to create Research Notes via the Records Window.
Every type of Property Box (for Individuals, Families, Sources, Repositories, Media, etc) has a Notes tab that allows you to use Add Note > Shared Note Record... to link an existing Note Record or create a New one.

[ColeValleyGirl]

No, you cannot change the order of the Records Window tabs. Why would you want to?

When I intend to create a Shared Note that links to several Individuals etc. I create the Note in the Record Window Notes tab (or the Research Notes tab, as appropriate) and then add the links. It's quicker and easier IMO to do it that way, but we all work differently.

[tatewise]

Helen, I was answering Peter's question and suggesting optional methods, not saying whether they were more or less efficient.

[ColeValleyGirl]

Sorry, Mike, I meant to respond to this bit, and explain why I add Notes via the Re3cords window rather than as you suggest:

You don't have to create Note Records via the Records Window Notes tab any more than you have to create Research Notes via the Records Window.
Every type of Property Box (for Individuals, Families, Sources, Repositories, Media, etc) has a Notes tab that allows you to use Add Note > Shared Note Record... to link an existing Note Record or create a New one.

[Little.auk]

No, you cannot change the order of the Records Window tabs. Why would you want to?

I don't particularly want to, but you said in your post that the Notes tab was next to the Research Notes tab, but on my Records Window, once I had set the Notes tab to show, they were separated by the Sources, Media and Places tabs. I assumed that you had re-ordered them, but you clearly don't have any of the intervening tabs set to show.

[tatewise]

I actually said "alongside the Research Notes tab" by which I meant it was among all the Records Window tabs.
Sorry to have misled you.

[Little.auk]

Just posting to say Notes are doing the job nicely, especially since I can add links to sources quoted.

I do have one question, I am using the first line of the note as a title, as can be seen in the image below both the top row (alongside the yellow folder image) and the "Text" row show the whole of the note text, is there any way of having the top row show just the first line of the note as a title, or of assigning it a note title?

image.png (17.42 KiB) Viewed 250 times

[LornaCraig]

In the absence of a Title filed for Note Records I add a custom ID to each Note record. I have this field displayed on the Main tab of the Property Box, and enter a title there. In the Records window, Notes tab, I have added a column to show the Custom ID and moved it to second place. (I use the column heading 'Custom Id' but you could use 'Title' as the column heading.) The column can then be moved to the left to cover the line of text which shows by default. It looks like a title.

Note record columns.JPG (14.9 KiB) Viewed 242 times

To add the field to the Main tab of the Property box, click the cog wheel icon at the top of the Property box then choose Customise Property Box. Select <Custom Item> from the left hand side. For the Label enter 'Custom ID' and for the Data Reference use NOTE.REFN.

[tatewise]

Lorna's solution is quite neat.

The only other option is to insert a line of multiple space characters immediately below the 'Title' line.

[Little.auk]

Lorna's solution is quite neat.

I think so too!

Thanks both

Quick update - I found there was already a Custom Id - so I changed the label to Title for both Property Box and Records Window and it works like a dream!
It means I don't need to include a title inside the note and such a neat trick to squeeze the Note Records column header.

Thanks again

[t4ms]

I'm not sure if they've fixed this in one of the updates but I've been using Mike's "Note Records with Options" plugin since I discovered a problem with how Notes print if you are creating a book. Mike kindly created a plugin.

Since you've started using Notes and, if you wish to create a publication at some point, you might want to check it out.

Happy debunking

[tatewise]

FYI: Note Records with Options is a Report Plugin in the Plugin Store to overcome several deficiencies in the FH standard report Publish > Miscellaneous Reports > Note Records especially when used in a Book.

[LornaCraig]

I changed the label to Title for both Property Box and Records Window and it works like a dream!

I think the reason I decided to leave the label as 'Custom Id' was to remind myself that this is not actually a standard Title field like the ones in a Source record or a Media record. (If I forgot I might cause confusion by referring to the title of a Note record, because other users would say there isn't a title!)