Question marks

They are an integral part of genealogy, and part of its charm.

Up to now, my work has centered on copying mostly secundary data into my (provisional) model. Speed sometimes was more important than accuracy, and that is a terrible confession for a genealogist to make ! Fortunately, reporting in this blog forces me time and again to look at my data with a severe critical frown on my face (ahum).

Today I started to write a post on the death of a seventeenth century ancestor Petrus De Vidts, born in Pamel ca 1618. But I stopped in full stride. I first looked at the date of death according to my model : apparently I had typed in April 5 1668. That's why he came up for reporting today. For an number of reasons (or rather indications) that didn't seem to fit.

So I started looking and found two other sources in my notes : one stating October 6 1687 as the date of death ; the other one giving the same date with a question mark. According to my model, my ancestor had eleven children with one wife, called sometimes Josina Van Nieuwenhove and sometimes Josina Van Oudenhove, but according to another (generally very reliable) source, he married three times.

Maybe there has been a confusion between different Petrus De Vidts. I don't think that is likely, but - given de number of Petrus De Vidts who walked the Pamel dirt over the centuries - not entirely impossible.

Fortunately the "Gezinsreconstructies voor Pamel" for the period before the French revolution are due to be published very soon. I can't wait to check my data against that source !