I’m sure you have all come across at least one record somewhere in your research that you are just unsure that the information is relevant to the person you are researching. There are two types of records that make up a family tree. Those are the primary sources which is the birth, marriage and death records. And the secondary sources which are the census records, voter registration and pension records because most of the time these records are ones that are written down by some random person who could have misspelled a name or location wrong or could have even guessed at an age at the time the census was taken. For example several years ago I came across a record in my research that had a couple having a child that the birth year was even before the father was old enough to have a child. It had the father born in 1902, listed him getting married in 1922 and their first child born in 1908. Well we all know that is not a relevant record at all. So then you trace that back to where the original record came from. Is it a primary or secondary resource. If it is primary then you need to keep digging to find out where the mistake comes in. But if it is secondary information then you should try to find a primary record for this child at least to make sure you get the correct dates. When you are interviewing a family member for your research, the information that they tell you without showing you proof would be secondary information also. Just make sure that the information is accurate from the very start, because if in the future you get someone looking thru your research or if you have your information on ancestry or family search where others can see it. If they look at it and you have information incorrect it would not look good on your behalf.
