Assumptions don't count in geneLogy. They can lead us into all kinds of wrong conclusions. They can be hints, but they cannot be the final solution by themselves.
I have family buried in a small cemetery at the base of Nuuanu Valley in Honolulu. It is called Maemae cemetery. There was once a small church on the property. Next door is Maemae School. It never occurred to me to ask where the name came from. I ASSUMED it came from the church.
In the online indexes of Maemae Cemetery there is a burial for Peter Ka'eo, cousin of Queen Emma and a member of what in the Western world would be referred to as a Royal Family. Ka'eo is the only member of his family listed at Maemae, indeed the only person of Alii rank buried here.
For several years a non-genealogist friend and I have had discussions about where Peter is actually buried. Not far fron Maemae Cemetery is the Royal Masoleum, Mauna'ala, burial place of most of Hawaii monarchs and their families. The monument for Queen Emma's family includes the name ofPeter Ka'eo.
My friend is used to a marker being placed only where a person is actually buried. Genealogy has taught me that memorial markers are not uncommon. They mark a person as part of the community or the family even if they are buried elsewhere. My husband's ashes were scattered; I placed a memorial bench in the cemetery in our little town.
Peter Ka'eo had been a leprosy patient --or had at least spent 3 years confined at Kalaupapa, the leper colony on Molokai. Perhaps he was denied burial at Mauna'ala because of this, I rationalized. I ASSUMED.
Then I found the obituary. His body was taken "to the burial place of the Chiefs, Maemae". The warning bells began to sound. There was a disconnect here, as if the obituary was describing two different places. Time for a reality check.
While at Mauna'ala I asked a friend who knows about these things. Was Mauna'ala ever referred to as Maemae? His look said it all. He pointed out that we were standing at the top of a small hill overlooking the city. "The whole top of this knoll is called Maemae," he said patiently.
Someone before me did not know that Maemae was a. place name before the church and it's graveyard were built. Someone took the obituary reference to Maemae as more important than the phrase "burial place of the chiefs". That person did not understand Hawaiian culture or know the old name for that little neighborhood. That person included Peter Ka'eo in a list of burials at Maemae Cemetery and there he has stayed --incorrectly--for too many years.
My lessons? Keep an open mind. Accep alternatives to your original hypothesis. Find the original record. Check sources. Read. Ask. Admit your mistakes. Keep learning.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Those Original Records
I've been working a lot recently in Hawaiian families, long time Hawaiian families, including some Americans and Europeans who came into the Pacific hot on the heels of British Captains James Cook and George Vancouver. That has brought to the forefront some major flaws in the indexing process.
First, Hawaii is unique in the United States. Not only are we an island state, the most isolated group of islands on our planet, but we are the ONLY state that was ever a completely independent Kingdom recognized by and interacting with major political powers around the globe. Did you know that there are three royal palaces in the United States? Yes, they are all in Hawaii.
Hawaii has been either a US protectorate, an independent republic run by transplanted Americans, a US territory or a US State since 1893 when the monarchy was overthrown -- not by native Hawaiians who honored their Queen, but by foreigners living in the Kingdom who clearly understood that their substantial income streams could be negatively impacted by monarchs to were more comfortable dealing with Europeans and Asians than Americans. You don't come to a foreign country when you come to Hawaii, nor you "go back" to the United States after visiting here. The US has claimed Hawaii as its own. While we are nearly as far from California, Oregon and Washington as those states are from Washington, DC, we are still part of the United States of America.
I can laugh at the census indexers who don't read those small print instructions at the bottom of many census pages, the small print that defines the abbreviations used in the reporting. In Hawaii we separate out the Portuguese and the Puerto Ricans (both Caucasian) because they were specifically brought to Hawaii to work in the sugar and pineapple fields. All the other Caucasian groups we lump into a category aptly titled Other Caucasian, or OC. Most indexers see OC, assume Octaroon (1/8 black) and index the individual as BLACK. A whole lot of those white folk would be appalled to find themselves -- or their direct line ancestors -- described as Black. The issue is very consistent from 1900 (the first US Census to include Hawaii) through 1940.
When Hawaii became a US territory, all her citizens became US citizens. So I was appalled to discover an entry in the 1910 US census showing a part-Hawaiian family living in the San Francisco Bay Area classified as ALIEN because they were born in Hawaii.
Recently I read through a list of Hawaiian burials from the 1880's. They were all in a rural cemetery and had a column which consistently showed "no body". What happened to the body? Then a cousin pointed out that the column was asking who was the responsible person in charge at the burial -- the undertaker, the minister or priest, for example. Small, rural cemetery. No need to call in someone else to take charge. The family could do this. Who was in charge? No body. Nobody.
The lessons for genealogists are clear. Don't settle for the index. Read the original document, especially if it is only the click of a button away. Read the small print. Understand the abbreviations used. Know your history and know your geography. The same county name may appear is several states. Is it Washington Co., NY or PA? Rutherford Co. NC or TN? Lincoln Co. KY or TN? Nevada Co. California -- or Missouri? The Azores are not islands in Scotland, as some indexers have asserted. And in Hawaii, nearly every island has a district called Kona.
First, Hawaii is unique in the United States. Not only are we an island state, the most isolated group of islands on our planet, but we are the ONLY state that was ever a completely independent Kingdom recognized by and interacting with major political powers around the globe. Did you know that there are three royal palaces in the United States? Yes, they are all in Hawaii.
Hawaii has been either a US protectorate, an independent republic run by transplanted Americans, a US territory or a US State since 1893 when the monarchy was overthrown -- not by native Hawaiians who honored their Queen, but by foreigners living in the Kingdom who clearly understood that their substantial income streams could be negatively impacted by monarchs to were more comfortable dealing with Europeans and Asians than Americans. You don't come to a foreign country when you come to Hawaii, nor you "go back" to the United States after visiting here. The US has claimed Hawaii as its own. While we are nearly as far from California, Oregon and Washington as those states are from Washington, DC, we are still part of the United States of America.
I can laugh at the census indexers who don't read those small print instructions at the bottom of many census pages, the small print that defines the abbreviations used in the reporting. In Hawaii we separate out the Portuguese and the Puerto Ricans (both Caucasian) because they were specifically brought to Hawaii to work in the sugar and pineapple fields. All the other Caucasian groups we lump into a category aptly titled Other Caucasian, or OC. Most indexers see OC, assume Octaroon (1/8 black) and index the individual as BLACK. A whole lot of those white folk would be appalled to find themselves -- or their direct line ancestors -- described as Black. The issue is very consistent from 1900 (the first US Census to include Hawaii) through 1940.
When Hawaii became a US territory, all her citizens became US citizens. So I was appalled to discover an entry in the 1910 US census showing a part-Hawaiian family living in the San Francisco Bay Area classified as ALIEN because they were born in Hawaii.
Recently I read through a list of Hawaiian burials from the 1880's. They were all in a rural cemetery and had a column which consistently showed "no body". What happened to the body? Then a cousin pointed out that the column was asking who was the responsible person in charge at the burial -- the undertaker, the minister or priest, for example. Small, rural cemetery. No need to call in someone else to take charge. The family could do this. Who was in charge? No body. Nobody.
The lessons for genealogists are clear. Don't settle for the index. Read the original document, especially if it is only the click of a button away. Read the small print. Understand the abbreviations used. Know your history and know your geography. The same county name may appear is several states. Is it Washington Co., NY or PA? Rutherford Co. NC or TN? Lincoln Co. KY or TN? Nevada Co. California -- or Missouri? The Azores are not islands in Scotland, as some indexers have asserted. And in Hawaii, nearly every island has a district called Kona.
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