1st If you see a MitSAKE NOTIFY RIGHT AWAY! A small error in an earlier generation means a BIG error in future generations. A simple error, such as a math error, can cause a year date to be wrong and “evidence” mis identified as within the parameters. I don’t have an editor checking my work, suggestions and comments to improve clarity and understanding are always welcome.
I’m a retired cop so evidence is broken down on my genealogy research based on those categories of knowledge. Theory (0 evidence), Suspicion (scant circumstantial evidence), Reasonable Cause To Believe (RCTB-some direct evidence), Preponderance (of evidence 51%+), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (no other logical conclusion can be drawn based upon given evidence), Fact (100% true). ALL theories must make sense and so you need to remove all other possible options and when you disprove all other options (alibi) the remaining option must be true. Evidence is either proven to be true, proven to be false, or we don’t know either way.
I see 2 mistakes in most of the genealogy research I have reviewed. The first is that the finding doesn’t make sense when looked at in the totality of the evidence as all other options aren’t disproven and secondly is that not enough circumstantial and direct evidence is gathered to make and form a reasonable cause to believe that a option is fact. In other words there are a lot of mistakes.
There are also mistakes on the records themselves. The older they get the harder they are to determine accurate with spelling and grammar all over the place. Many people couldn’t read or write and especially spell. Grammar and consistency didn’t start until the 1900’s (the Kings English and modern english usage) and even today the spelling of “Hays” is a good example as I spell it “H-A-Y-S” for people and they put the “E” in it anyway.
If you review my Ancestry.com family tree I note that I imported a lot of information from other trees and as such much of that is incorrect. That is my “theory” and “suspicion” page. By listing possibles I can then EXCLUDE false leads. The stuff on this site is generally beyond a reasonable doubt as to being true and if otherwise will be so stated. I started this site in August 2018 as a draft (although published, not advertised) and the original information is partial and being worked on, later updates are more reliable then earlier ones.
We don’t know what we don’t know. The last monkey wrench in my conclusions posted here is I don’t know what I don’t know. The conclusions are based upon best available information at that time. As more stuff gets digitalized and is available, and more people get DNA tested, information is bound to come to light which will change a conclusion. Such is the way of a social science investigation such as genealogy research.
Additionally, I am as much interested in the history of the peoples as proving my relation to someone famous, or infamous, and will do my best to be historically accurate and factual. The diaspora and stories of the Hays as we all landed in, and then built, and fought to defend America is fascinating to me. I find the story of the “common” man usually not so common given the circumstances and hardships they faced. Hopefully this site tells the story of the Hays, each an American Man.