Evidence Analysis Issues

Long ago I remember a lecture, a class or maybe somebody just told me that it was not uncommon for someone to only name there single children in a will as the married ones had already received there inheritance. I have a will dated 22 July 1850 from Canada where only the single children are listed and the oldest son is listed as one of two executors.

Are there any articles or books that might explain the reasons for this? Was this really common practice and why?

Ann Gilchrest

For my master's thesis, I am trying to reconstruct slave households and track the famlies after Emancipation. Many of the blacks enslaved by this white family, which had more than one plantation, had the same names. When I use the records created by the slaveholders, how do I determine which slave the record is talking about?

When writing a proof argument, how do all of you decide when and where to draw the line on discussing “negative” searches (that is, searches that yielded no relevant findings)? Providing extensive lists of sources checked is not practical, particularly in a work product intended for possible publication, but failing to acknowledge the examination of important sources would suggest the search was less than thorough.

What criteria do you use to decide which negative searches are worth mentioning?

Laura

I am wondering just how much straight-up technical knowledge would one require to be able to properly analyze the evidentiary value of information contained only in a URL? MJN recently publicized such a case on the APG list and there was a discussion of how to cite such a thing. I'm wondering how (or whether) a non-techie could analyze and evaluate it.

Harold