The Family Tree By Terence L. Day Terence L. Day, genealogist and journalist, is on the Washington State University faculty. Every good genealogist has a connection to Missouri, the Show Me State. The connection may not be genetic, but the attitude definitely is from Missouri.
Good genealogists demand proof.
You say Aunt Nellie was three years younger than Uncle Rochester. Well, they're hopefully a bit more diplomatic than that, but the truth is Aunt Nell may have been a bit unreliable where certain dates were concerned. Good genealogists check the written record, documenting who their ancestors were and their place in the family. Evaluating documents is tricky business. Sometimes it requires a bit of backbone on the part of genealogists who must question the work of others, often a beloved aunt or uncle.