Research successes and cautions

During the past week I was helping a friend research his German-speaking ancestors from Russia,  

Philip Fischer married Anna Marie gab. Moraisk, and died in Calgary, Alberta in 1920 at the young age of 23.

I know enough German to recognize that "gab." was an abbreviation for the word "born" in German, Research showed repeatedly that her maiden surname was actually Morasch. Her obituary listed her parents as Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Morasch. I found the death of a John Morasch, whose parents were Conrad Morasch and Elizabeth Leinweber. Aha! Now I knew the name of Anna's mother,

Looking for Philip, I found two good possibilities in the censuses. One was the son of Markus Fischer and one was the son of Frederick Fischer. I found the marriage of Philip and Anna in the Alberta Marriage Index. Fortunately, my friend was able to order their marriage certificate.

Wow! Philip's parents were neither of the couples I had found in the census records. His parents are identified as Philip Fischer and Elizabeth Leinweber. I have found no other records for them. Anna's parents are identified as Conrad Morasch and Maria Katharine Gerlitz. Fortunately, I was able to find their family living in Calgary in the census, which listed Anna and her siblings.

Despite a systematic search of records available on FamilySearch, Ancestry, and FindMyPast, I had identified the wrong potential parents for Philip, and the wrong mother for Anna. Ouch! A little humble pie can be a good addition to the diet. 

This is a good reminder that I will make mistakes in my personal research, despite my best efforts. I draw encouragement from the words of a speaker at the big annual genealogy conference, RootTech "I do my very best and then I move on." Later evidence often allows us to correct earlier mistakes.

May you enjoy success in your research and in your efforts to preserve old family stories and photos  Remember that FamilySearch.org is free and is an excellent place for preserving treasured memories. As part of the Genealogical Society of Utah, they have been preserving genealogies since 1894.