A Genealogists' Work is Never Done

I decided to share my family tree on Ancestry.com with fellow family genealogist, Judy, and in the process, was looking it over.  I decided to add a copy of my maternal grandparents' marriage notice from the Laurel County KY records which proves that many of us have had the wrong date in our databases (we have  26 November 1887, taken from the Family Data Collection - Individual Records from ancestry.com, and also from Elisha and Christina's oldest daughter's family story.  The record below shows it to be 5 November 1886.)   Then I decided to do a research of any other records that could be out there for Elisha Jordan Crawford (spelled Crafford on the certificate).

Of course this led to several hours of researching as I came across a comment on a message board that suggested that one of my branches on my family tree may be incorrect.  Here's the comment from the Scott Family message board:

Posted by: Pike Thomas     Date: September 03, 1999 at 21:29:40
In Reply to: Re: Daniel Scott (my 5th great grandfather), b. 1761, Surry NC by Dennis Norton     of 18150
  The infomration posted by Dennis Norton does not square with what I have at all.
  I have children of Daniel Scott I as Arthur, Daniel, Jesse, Leonard, Thomas and Mary. I also have his father as Edward Scott of New Kent and later Goochland Co VA, whose will lists said Daniel.
  My info appears in a section of a work about to be published "The Scotts of SW VA: Descendants of James & rachel Scott and Other Important Scott Lines", 3 vols., fully documented. More info on request.
Posted by: Dennis Norton     Date: September 04, 1999 at 21:48:53
In Reply to: Re: Daniel Scott, b. 1761, Surry NC by Pike Thomas     of 18150
  There were 2 Daniel Scotts during tat period of thime... One went to KY the other to NC.
  I would love to share info and "check" out the accuracy of my info.

Posted by: Melodee Clegg     Date: September 03, 1999 at 21:51:36
In Reply to: Re: Daniel Scott, b. 1761, Surry NC by Pike Thomas     of 18150
Pike,
  After not looking at the forum for 2 months, I find your message three hours after it was posted! My research also convinced me that Edward Scott, not William, was the father of Daniel I. I am very interested in the new Scott book; how can I get more information about it? Thanks-- Melodee

Oh no, not another "John Piney-wood Yeager' type dilemma. Several people with the same name in the same area of the country.  Why couldn't our ancestors think up some original names, instead of naming their children with common family names???

So you see, I have my Daniel Scott as the son of William, not Edward Scott.  So, since these posts were made in 1999, I decided to see if I could find the 'new Scott book' that Pike Thomas mentioned ( "The Scotts of SW VA: Descendants of James & rachel Scott and Other Important Scott Lines", 3 vols., fully documented).

I found it but did not find the conclusive evidence he claimed was there proving the parentage of Daniel Scott (b. 1761).  But now I'm unsure of my data and I'll be spending much more time searching and researching for that definitive bit of information that will prove or disprove my dates and relationships.