When It Seems Easy You May Be Making a Mistake

When I was in the early stages of family history research, my great-great-grandfather John Froman had been a source of interest for a few years.  My line to him goes through my father's father's maternal line.  There were few family records other than his name, his wife's name, and the names of some of their children.  Prior to the 1860 U.S. Census and after the 1870 U.S. Census, the trail went cold.

And then I found a passenger list!

Eureka!  Not only had I found John/Johannes, I'd also found his siblings, Maria, Anna, Elisabeth, Heinrich, Caspar, and Christiane, AND his father, Werner Frommann!  There they were all listed together on a passenger list, all coming from the same place, all headed to the same place.

What luck, on a single passenger list!  I was thrilled.

Just as I was about to enter these individuals in my genealogy program I had the sudden impression that just maybe Werner Frommann was not Johannes's father, and that maybe the other individuals were not Johannes's siblings, and possibly this might not be my John Froman.  I made a split-second decision that it would be wise to do more research on these individuals and, thereby, avoid the possibility of a sad mistake based on assumptions.

I haven't worked on this line for a number of years but when I last researched, I was unable to find any other information about Werner Frommann in the U.S. or most of the others in this group (other than John/Johannes).  When I return to the family in the future I'll search for them in U.S. records to try to document a relationship.

These days, when I find a record for an ancestor, especially if it has other family members on it and little other information, I remember this ship's passenger list and my readiness to assign family relationship where none are indicated.  I caution myself that one document is probably not be enough and that when it seems quick and easy, I may be making a mistake by assuming too much.

This post was written for Amy Johnson Crow's 2019 version of 52 Ancestors.  The post topic for the week was "Mistake."

--Nancy.

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