Check and Re-check You Facts
It is a carpenter's axiom to "measure twice, cut once". This means that you should check your measurements to be sure they are correct before ruining a piece of wood by cutting it to the wrong size.
As genealogists, we can learn from that statement. I always thought that my great-grandfather, James, never traveled outside of the British Isles. Boy, was I wrong.
My son didn't accept this as readily as I did. He checked the emigration lists at the Ellis Island site. He found an entry for great-grandfather and great-grandmother entering the US in 1921. This entry provided his birth place and opened a whole new area of research for us.
The moral of this story: Don't accept anything, even a negative concept, as fact until you have proven it beyond all possible doubt.
