The title of my Germanna Seminar talk was something like "How the Errors Crept into the Record". Actually, at first, the errors did only creep into the record. There were a few serious errors early on, but, about the year 1900, the errors began galloping into the record.
My talk was confined to the general history, and did not touch on the family history errors, except to recognize they do exist. On occasion, these family history errors spill over to the general history. Klaus Wust once commented, "Eager family historians have added confusion through untenable conjectures." Though he had a specific case in mind, it does apply to many family histories.
An extreme untenable conjecture in family history occurred in the case of Ludwig Fischer. From the simple remark in his will, "...my estate in Germany", he became (in family histories) a Baron, the owner of a castle on the Rhine River, and the owner of Hanover. All of these are false, and are figments of imagination of Fischer/Fisher family history writers.
In family histories errors, aggrandizement is one of the main culprits. Certainly that was the case with the descendants of Lewis Fisher, and it illustrates how small statements and their incorrect inferences grow into giant falsehoods.
Deliberate distortions appear in family and general histories, again motivated by aggrandizement. The distortions can take many forms, including omission of any apparent negative factors. Germanna Record 7 , in quoting the description of Germanna by John Fontaine, leaves out the sentence, " The Germans live very miserably ." If one wishes a full understanding of what life at Germanna was like, this is a necessary element. (I lost some respect for the Germanna Records when I observed this to be the case there.)
Statements, in general, may be made in ignorance, when the author is unaware of the correct information. The correct action would be to say nothing, but the mass of evidence may cause a falacious inference, and so one is made, which we might say is understandable. Once made, though, it can never be erased.
Inferences are usually made when there is in insufficient evidence. We vary as to what does constitute sufficient evidence. Nearly every fact has some probability to its veracity, and so we must be careful not to convey too much certainty.
Many errors occur because of the failure to use material that was available, but in some cases it is obscure or not readily available.
On 24 Oct 1710 [four months after arriving in Virginia], Lt. Gov. Spotswood wrote to the
Board of Plantations and Trade
in London, "There is a project intended to be handed to this next Assembly for improvement of the Iron Mines lately discovered in the Country, which upon Tryal have been found to be extraordinary rich and good." Was this an error on Spotswood's part? Or, did he discover the iron ore? Or, was it a falsehood?
(28 Jul 04)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.