Census chains
Research method
Used to connect households across decades when names, ages, places, neighbors, and family members align.
Source Library
Sources should make claims clearer, not louder
Public source notes give members a shared language for records, working theories, family tradition, and mythic material.
Starter source notes
Probate and land records
Research method
Often the best way to prove parent-child, spouse, and migration links in early American Thomas lines.
Public member trees
Caution
Useful clues, but Thomas Planet should not treat copied trees as proof without underlying records.
Family tradition
Memory
Worth preserving, especially when it points to places or relationships that can be checked later.
Practical workflow
How the source section becomes useful
Sources are not just a reading list. They are the intake and review path for every public claim, branch page, newsletter item, and archive exhibit.
Capture the clue
Start with the exact name, birth or death date, place, source URL, file, or family story as given.
Label the claim
Mark it as record-proven, strongly supported, working theory, family tradition, mythic, disputed, private, or needs source.
Attach the source
Use citations, archive files, FamilySearch or Geni profile IDs, cemetery pages, newspapers, county books, or private family records.
Route the privacy
Public pages get safe summaries. Living people, minors, exact locations, private trees, and conflict stay verified-only or admin-only.
Promote carefully
Only move a clue onto a branch page, newsletter item, or public exhibit after review gives it the right proof label.
Archive-finding checklist
- County probate, deed, tax, and court records
- Census chains and neighbor clusters
- Church, cemetery, obituary, and funeral home records
- Military pensions, draft cards, and service files
- Family Bible pages, letters, reunion booklets, and photo backs
- FamilySearch, Geni, WikiTree, Ancestry, newspapers, and local archive links
External search rule
FamilySearch, Geni, WikiTree, Ancestry, newspaper sites, and local archives should be treated as source leads. Thomas Planet should store the citation, URL, date range, place, and proof label before presenting a claim.