Editor's Notes, Expect the Unexpected

EDITOR'S NOTES EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED T his issue highlights several instances in which traditional research and analysis produced superficially reasonable conclusions, but in which a healthy dose of skepticism and deeper digging uncovered different-and correct-information about ancestors. Terri Bradshaw O'Neill was bothered by discrepancies in the ancestry for John 1 Moore of Philadelphia provided by early genealogies. Her article disconnects him from the traditional ancestry, provides the correct parents, identifies his first wife, and explores the connections that obtained him posts of prominence in two American colonies, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. By being quiet and listening to what the documents have to say, Priscilla Noyes Chatfield discovers that a traditional lineage isn't always correct, as was the case with the ancestry of Abner Holt of Montgomery County and the Northern Liberties. Careful historians have noted a deliberate semi-segregation of the German and Scotch-Irish populations in York County. Thus, we can expect a fair amount of ethnic consistency. But, as I discovered in researching the Wiley family, there was also a tendency to blend in. Deed books held the unexpected answer to the true ancestry of the family. Ancestors shouldn't be merely a collection of dates and places for vital events, so family historians strive to add other bits of information, such as involvement in notable events, relocations, and places of residence. By closely examining a key document, David Kendall Martin found that Daniel McMullen's residence in the Wyoming valley encompassed a significantly different time span than traditionally reported. This, in turn, permitted important conclusions about his origins. The best advice to researchers is: Expect the Unexpected! Patricia Law Hatcher, FASG Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 44 (2005) 185