What is Negative Evidence in Genealogy and Family History

What do you do when you don’t find the record you expect to find? You have looked high and low and can’t find the records. Do you note the fact that you could not find the record in your research notes? Is this negative evidence or negative findings?

❤️ JOIN the GENEALOGY TV ACADEMY

📝📝📝THREE DIFFERENT WAYS to find the HANDOUTS!

❤️ BECOME A GENEALOGY TV CHANNEL MEMBER and help support Genealogy TV - see perks!

✅ Genealogy TV WEBSITE

✅ GTV on FACEBOOK

✅ SIGN UP For GTV’s NEWSLETTER

👉 Subscribe to Genealogy TV (Free)

*** GTV Affiliate Partners ***
🛍️ Genealogy TV’s AMAZON STORE full of Connie’s favorites.

SIMILAR VIDEOS
🔴 FamilySearch Hidden Records: Full Text Search: 2024

🔴 Ancestry Announcements at RootsTech 2024 - Crista Cowan

🔴 Secret Gems on Ancestry

🔴 Courthouse Records Online

TIMING
0:00 Intro
0:15 What do you do when you can’t find any records?
1:02 What do you do with negative evidence?
1:30 Where to find the handouts?
3:40 What is negative evidence?
5:27 What is reasonably exhaustive research?
6:13 Direct, indirect and negative evidence
8:35 Negative evidence or negative findings?
9:24 Strategies for reasonably exhaustive research
11:24 Do you add this to your research notes?
13:00 Using a research log
13:45 Why am I not finding my ancestor?
15:18 Conclusion

Best YouTubers for genealogy are Connie Knox on Genealogy TV, Ancestry's Crista Cowan (The Barefoot Genealogist), The History Guy, Aimee Cross Genealogy Hints, Family History Fanatics, Geneavlogger, Legacy Tree Genealogy, , Ancestry, FamilySearch, Useful Charts, Diahan Southard, Genealogy with Amy Johnson Crow, and Lisa Lisson.

#Genealogy #GenealogyTV #FamilyHistory

[melissabarker]

Great advice! Also remember, archives are constantly getting records donated. While they may not get processed and ready for researchers very fast, genealogists should be asking about archives "unprocessed collections". This is from The Archive Lady!

[ladytessca]

Very helpful video...thanks so much!!! I had a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of negative evidence - it's clearer now.

[nancyvonseggern]

I'm just beginning, and I feel like I've found a wonderful resource in your videos! Today, I hope to find something to indicate what happened to my paternal grandmother's first husband that no one in the family knew about until I found their marriage certificate. 😮 Thank you for guiding me through this.

[lonniecurl]

Searching more than one platform is good advice! I've broken a few walls on family tree alone. And human error in records should always be on your mind when searching. Scotland records has my great grandfathers birth as April 21 1882. And after exhaustive research I found his death cert, parents are the same, location is the same, the year is the same except for California recorded his birth as Aug 12 1882 on the death cert. My great grandmother is the reporting person but I still went back through his childhood, and adulthood census comparing parents, children and spouse, and only at that point could I set it in stone so to speak.

[ConcettaPhillipps]

Connie, great idea for a video. I disagree with you about research logs, however. For a potentially difficult search like this, a research log can really help you track not only what you have checked but when you last checked it. You can then check it again later against the last collection update to know if updates were made since you last checked. It saves me a lot of time to go onto the collections that *have* been updated since I last looked.

[portialancaster]

My first thought was that a reasonably exhaustive search had not been done. County and township boundaries were still changing at that time. In Pennsylvania they were still changing decades later. I would have researched the formation of counties in the state of New York and looked for boundary changes. I also would have checked if they lived with their in-laws at that time.

[caseyzahn]

Thank you, Connie, for that fabulous explanation. I heard ESM's talk last year on Negative Evidence and thought I had a grasp of the concept. This made it clearer.
Loving the AI Tool on Family Search! I had to take a break from it because I wasn't getting my chores done! LOL! Seriously, I have been able to add more information to my research project and learned wonderful stories that are slowly coming out-like my ancestor's home burned down and another ancestor building a cider mill on the property that was owned by HIS uncle and my ancestor. We certainly are living in a genealogy heyday.

[suzannechalifoux]

Thank you so much for this video, such great good advices… as always! ;-)

[stevelaursen]

Is there a recents. On Ancestry like in Family search. Thanks

[whyaskwhybuddry]

@Genealogy TV, Connie, what can you tell me about the Rowland Family of Rowan Co, NC?

[jeanksiazek]

Wow that was awesome Connie. Thank you for another great video.

[Red__Penguin]

After tons of searching, I just re-found the disc for my Great-Grandparents wedding in 1951, what do you think I should look out for and should I see if I can see any of my ancesters on it. Basicly, do you think it will help in my research, Thanks :)

[barbarah]

Another great video, very informative and much appreciated. I do have a question about another matter...On Ancestry, when working on trees, what is the best way to use the Common DNA Ancestor tag? It basically applies only to persons you have had a DNA match with, right? What about their parents? Is it appropriate to tag the name of the parent or parents (if there is a match to both) as well, or is this too confusing? I understand the difference between Common DNA Ancestors and Direct Ancestors, but want to add as much information to each ancestor as possible. I like to think doing so will aid the algorithm for Ancestry and give us better hints. What is your take on this? Thanks so much. Barbara

[jonazacasamabeabi]

I have tried for 2 1/2 years to find my grandparents’ marriage certificate. Supposedly, they got married in Niles, MI having gone there from central Indiana. I have found all of their siblings’ records (both were the youngest of 9) and even records of their parents. I’ve looked at all the free places with no results. I found a newspaper article that mentioned that they got married in Niles, MI, but no date (says they were married in April, 1942, but was published in September.
I wrote to Berrien County and paid for a search. Nothing. But, it mentioned that their marriage records could be sealed. I did some more research and found out that Michigan allowed “secret marriages” and the documents can only be requested and accessed by the individuals involved. I really wish they had an “expiration date” for revealing the records as my grandparents have been gone for some time. I could petition the court, but don’t have the money for that. And I don’t know for sure if the record is even there!

My theory is that they were expecting my dad when they got married and wanted to hide the marriage date.

[BenAlembik]

Question: Sould I add the spouses of the other children of my ancestors in my family tree?

[SassyCrafter]

I’m curious. The viewer stated they searched the entire county in NY for 1840. Did they search neighboring counties and check county boundaries???

[suenorton]

the older version of family tree maker allowed you to print out a report of everyone in your index. Family tree maker 2019 doesn't seem to have that or am I missing something? It allows for individuals only? I want to print out a full report of everyone i have added. Can you help? Also want to say i find familysearch more user friendly than ancestry.

[susannayeakel]

Silver Blaze, the Sherlock Holmes short story that was quoted.

[christenehoffert]

How would you classify a census record that was missing the place where the family lived like the 1891 UK census for the residence of my Grandmother when she was born. I do have her birth registration and baptism and that of her younger sister to confirm the address?

[wandajohnson]

I have had a hard time finding a death record for my grandfather and marriage records for him and my grandmother. I have gone to Kentucky and Tennessee Archives and Health Departments, and County Clerks office for both states. He is in the 1930s census living in his parent’s home. He died in 1938, so he isn’t on the next census with his family. His name is on my dad’s birth certificate and I have found his grave. Other than that, I cannot prove he is my grandfather. Would this be considered exhaustive research?