Originally Posted by Charlee
You DO need to be careful, and consider it to NOT be true until YOU prove it is through records. However, those family trees that others post are a valuable resource. They can give you a place to look for the records, and give you connections to other family members that are looking for the same ancestors that you are. I've gained TONS of knowledge, and documents that I don't think I'd have ever gotten without connecting with someone else thru their tree!
YAY!! KUDOS to Charlee!!!! This is so absolutely true that I cannot emphasize it enough. Just because it is posted on Rootsweb and/or Ancestry or Family Search, DOES NOT MAKE IT TRUE. There are three main rules to doing genealogical research:
1. Document
2. Document
3. DOCUMENT!!!
If it is not documented, it isn't true. You must have step by step, person by person documentation that physically connects each person in the lineage. For those of you who said you hated looking at film and microfiche, well, there's not a whole lot of alternatives. While more and more documents are being digitized and put online, it is still a very miniscule amount. Let me say this clearly: It is impossible to do correct genealogical research solely from the internet. And even if you find a record for your ancestor "John Bevington" married to "Mary", you have to prove that this person is the correct "John Bevington", because there is almost always more than one person with the same name.
And another caution: it is NOT, let me repeat NOT possible to trace ancestry back to Adam and Eve, despite what some people claim. In the world of serious genealogical research, that is a joke. Even the head of the LDS Family History Centers has published papers which acknowledge this. Also, it is almost impossible to trace anyone except royalty prior to the 1500's, which was when paper first began to be mass produced.
Aside from all this, it is THE most fun hobby!!!