Primary documents say what they say. What later litigants, descendants, and advocates argue they meant is a separate question. A four-step method for distinguishing primary text from advocacy interpretation.
Genealogy Gems
Reading the Estate Notice: Reconstructing Enslaved Families in St. Landry Parish, 1856
The Opelousas Patriot ran a June 1856 estate sale notice for thirty-three enslaved individuals in St. Landry Parish. Buried in the legal inventory are seven maternal family groupings. The record was created to transfer property. The work is to read it forward.
When You Are Not the First Researcher in the Room: Working from Compiled Records Without Inheriting Their Conclusions
Compiled records, published articles, and family historian notebooks are research maps, not source documents. A four-step method for using another researcher’s work without adopting their conclusions.