Part I is here. A further thought came to me on why, perhaps, I shouldn't leave my research all organized and wrapped up with a bow on it for my nieces and nephews. What if I made a mistake? The hardest thing in genealogy is to read something and then completely forget it and look at the problem anew. Wiping out all preconceived notions is terribly difficult.
So why impose my theories and notions on the next generation? It might be better and serve them better to start from scratch. In some instances, they will, no doubt, be re-inventing the wheel. However, on the other hand, they may see things, with resources not yet available, that I couldn't and put the puzzle together correctly. I've always maintained that one answer to a brick wall is that you're looking in the wrong place with the wrong information.
So, in organizing this research I always thought I would add: THIS IS MY THEORY, or UNPROVEN, in addition to all the usual genealogical weasel words as likely, probably, and possibly. On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't organize anything and as they sort it out, which first means someone is interested, they can try to piece the puzzle together themselves and will use their logical skills and not accept my theories at face value.
Of course, this is just me. It's always been about the research not the family history.
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