Stella and I are certain at this point, the Howertons are ours. While we are little fuzzy on the specifics, we can claim Ira Howerton as our 3rd Great Grandfather. William Howerton and Nancy Bounds Howerton, his parents are our lineage.
Back reading this blog about our search, I had forgotten how much history we had pieced together.
In the review, I discovered Nancy Bounds Howerton residing with her son Jesse Bounds Howerton on the 1880 census. Nancy was 87 years old at the time and living with her son's family in Liberty, Missouri. I was struck by how far this elder had traveled in her life. She was born in Virginia in 1796, just twenty years after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Records show she lived in Tennessee then migrated west to Arkansas then later Missouri on what could have only been horses and wagons. Along the way she married William Howerton and produced a passel of kids.
Then it dawned on me that this Nancy Bounds Howerton was my grandmother.. my 4th great grandmother. How could I have forgotten this?
I recalled that for a couple of years the Howerton's were on probation as kin. Stella and I built a separate tree, called Tenneesee Howertons, because we just were not sure the Howertons were our relatives. Susan Laird, our great great grandmother has no record of ever been married, though she gave her children the Howerton surname in the census.
Pro genealogical researchers rely on what is called the "Genealogical Proof Standard."
It has five elements:
- a reasonably exhaustive search;
- complete and accurate source citations;
- analysis and correlation of the collected information;
- resolution of any conflicting evidence; and
- a soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion.[1]
source wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogical_Proof_Standard
The Board of Certified Genealogists, the professional organization spells out 81 standards that build on the above ideas. ** They are stringent. Even then, many folks say that there can never be absolute genealogical certainty... rather than a good case for relativity. In genealogy, like the criminal court you can convict on a preponderance of evidence. And when push comes to shove, the jury adds up all the facts, and uses it's intuition.
Name matches, geographical proximity, and DNA matches all support our claim to the Howertons. The Search Sister's rely on Stella's genealogical intuition. She is flat out convinced that these Howertons are ours.
Virginia born Nancy Bounds is our gran.
** http://www.bcgcertification.org/resources/standard.html
