Methodology Monday with the unexpected in OGSQ

The current issue of the Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly (Winter 2009, volume 49, no. 4) had two high points for me -- first, the wonderful cover picture of the Latta family of Monroe County, Ohio, with their musical instruments 120 years ago; and second, Kelly Holderbaum's prize-winning article, "The Life of Dollie Salicia (Littrick) Stone [1909-2000]." I won't give away the tale, which comes from Putnam County, but great-grandmother Dollie's parents were not who everyone thought or said publicly. Read the whole thing at your library, or join OGS already!

The methodological point is to pay attention to conflicting evidence. Some genealogists would have hesitated or hung back or just "forgot," when they found a record that contradicted everything the family "knew" about Dollie's parentage. Holderbaum challenged the family secret. "With my Granny," she writes in conclusion, "I have learned that you never know where your research will take you, just be open and never give up. Those puzzle pieces do fit together somewhere."