Are you my Cousin?

As a regular subscriber to 'The French Genealogy Blog' (written in English by the American Genealogist Ann Morddel) I was particularly drawn to her latest blog (dated 15 Feb 2014) criticising an article ‘Are you my Cousin?’ published in the New York Times. After reading both the Blog and the article I can but wholeheartedly agree with every word of her Blog. I thought I would draw attention to both in the Forum to see what others think.

You will find the online version of Ann’s blog here AnnsBlog (make sure you read the one immediately below a picture of Joan of Arc) and then -after reading the blog - scroll up and click on the link to the article entitled 'little Op-Ed piece'. Then read the article and see and hopefully say what you think!

I won’t go into more detail as both the Blog and the article say it all.

 

I pretty much agree with the blog and you, Bob. I think all of us who have got as far as being members of this forum have only too many experiences of finding the fuzzy thinking of 'same name =same person' which is what the original writer (not the blogger) seems to welcome.
My grandfather's name was Cubitt, which is fairly unusual in the world scale, but not that rare in and around Norfolk. A couple of distinguished bearers of the name made it big as engineers and architects. As a result, if I ever look at an 'Ancestry'tree I can see some people have assumed that every William Cubitt or Thomas Cubitt is the famous one. I find my line tagged on, even when it means my ancestor was born 12 years before his famous 'father' (who has his portrait on the tree, as if to give validation). Heaven help us if this becomes acceptable, let alone encouraged. Give me rigour every time!

 

Glad you agree with the Blog and I think her summary that the original article was 'drivel' is bang on target. Your Cubitt story reminds of the time I thought I had discovered a famous ancestor - Captain Mathew Webb (the first man to swim the English channel) and brother to the Thomas Webb I was seeking. The dates and the village in Shopshire tallied but the penny dropped when I discovered all my Webbs' were miners, whilst the brother of Mathew was a Doctor, as was his father. Of course this did not stop others researching the mining Webbs' latching on to the Thomas with the famous brother. They too hosted photos of Mathew, clearly relegating Thomas to the sidelines. I remember writing to one Researcher to point out the occupation discrepancy, but received no reply. As you say same name= same person, why look further afield?

 

Bob, you might be interested in this article, which is on topic

 

Thanks Liberty, yes truly on topic

 

Ann Morddel (The French Genealogy Blog) in her latest Blog -which is a follow up to the one below the picture of Joan of Arc (see my first post on this subject) - passes on an interesting comment on 'DNA Standards' . She draws attention to something published in the (American) National Genealogical Society Quarterly Magazine with which she disagrees. You can read her current Blog here Morddel Blog (this time the one below a picture of bird beaks in a museum case and entitled 'Identify versus Genealogy versus Privacy') but if you prefer to just read the paragraph about DNA Standards you will find it below. (I have omitted her links but you can get to them via her Blog)

"The December, 2013 issue of the Nation Genealogical Society Quarterly (vol. 101, no. 4) opens with an editorial entitled "DNA Standards" that is signed jointly by the editors, the much respected Melinde Lutz Byrne and Thomas W Jones. Its conclusion is, frankly, shameful. After admitting that professional genealogists should have been more involved in establishing standards for the ethical use of DNA test results for "acceptable linkages to individuals", the authors conclude that, for genealogists, "Anticipating and circumventing laws that would prevent responsible researchers' access to DNA data should be a priority." It most certainly should not. Responsible citizens do not seek ways to circumvent the law and responsible professional organizations do not urge their members to do so. "

Once again I can but agree with her but to get the full gist of what she is trying to get across I suggest you read the full Blog and while you are at it check out the follow up responses she receives.