08 September 2009

Correcting the Newcomb Genealogy

J.B. Newcomb published his Newcomb genealogy in 1874, and B.M. Newcomb published his revised edition in 1923.  Their work serves as the starting point for anyone doing serious research into the Newcomb/e name. A lot has happened since then.  Genealogical research has been revolutionized by the ability to use electronic databases, to share information over the Internet, and to use specialized software to organize our information. JBN and BMN didn't have access to census records or to the thousands of other sources we now take for granted. They certainly didn't have software to assist in finding duplicate and erroneous information.  Now that we have all this information and these tools available to us, we can update, improve and correct their work.

During the years that I have been working on updating and revising the Newcomb genealogy, I've found many entries that are either obviously incorrect or that raise significant questions. Periodically, I upload my gedcom file to Rootsweb/Ancestry, and it includes my notes and corrections. However, since there are over 100,000 names currently in my database, it may not always be easy to find these important changes. So, from time to time, I will be posting some of these corrections on this website, where I hope it will be easier for other researchers to locate them.

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